The topsy-turvey Twitter merry-go-round hasn’t taken a break over the Thanksgiving holidays. Today Elon Musk gave an update on his plans for the new verification system that is “tentatively” launching on Friday, December 2.
In a tweet, Musk said that there will now be three different tiers of verified status, each designated by a unique color. Those colors are:
- Gold checks for verified companies
- Grey checks for verified government accounts
- Blue checks for individuals
Musk also said that all verified accounts “will be manually authenticated before check activates” and added, “Painful, but necessary.”
In a follow-up tweet, Musk said that individuals will be able to have a “tiny logo” showing they belong to an organization (presumably, such as a journalism outlet) if that organization verifies them.
What all this means is that those hoping that the check mark that comes with a Twitter Blue subscription will provide the same social clout as the original blue check will be disappointed. Under Musk’s new plan, the blue check will still be more of a symbol that the user pays $8 a month for a Twitter Blue membership, and the new gold and grey checks, as well as organization logos for individuals, will now convey the most social street cred.
Musk’s new vision for Twitter’s verification system comes weeks after users were first able to buy blue check marks by signing up for Twitter Blue for $8 a month. Within hours of that plan launching, unverified users were already successfully impersonating public figures and companies.
Of course, given how chaotic Musk’s takeover of Twitter has been, this latest check mark system could change before next Friday’s deadline. As of now, however, Musk is promising a “longer explanation next week” for how the new check mark system will work.
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