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‘May or may not be notable’: Verified Twitter users are ushered into legacy limbo

Don’t feel bad if you see a vague new message next to your badge. Tom Hanks and Beyoncé are in the same boat.

‘May or may not be notable’: Verified Twitter users are ushered into legacy limbo

[Source Photos: Getty Images and Alexander Shatov/Unsplash]

BY Christopher Zara2 minute read

Twitter users who were verified under the old system that was in effect before Elon Musk took control of the company are discovering this week that they still have their blue badges, albeit with a slightly less enthusiastic description.

“This account is a legacy verified account,” says a pop-up message when you click the checkmark. “It may or may not be notable.”

In the words of this verified user—ouch.

Previously, user accounts were verified because they were notable in some way, belonging to either celebrities, elected officials, brands, journalists, or some other public-facing category. The core purpose, however, was not to denote notability but to prevent impersonation. From the very beginning of his tenure, Musk has sought to revamp the system, tying it to the Twitter Blue subscription service and, in effect, charging users to be verified.

After a botched attempt last month, the new Twitter Blue launched again on Monday, with users once again being able to purchase a badge. To prevent the impersonation debacle that happened the last time around, a new review system is also in place.

With this change, hundreds of thousands of legacy verified users are now likely to see the vague pop-up message about maybe or maybe not being notable next to their badges. Many, of course, have already discovered it. And this being Twitter, they’re using it as an opportunity for a little humor and self-deprecation:

None of us should feel especially bad about this. After all, at the time of this writing, Tom Hanks, Beyoncé, and even Elon Musk’s personal account were all described the same way. So even if you may or may not be notable on Twitter anymore, at least you’re in good company.

[Screenshot via Twitter]

It’s unclear how long this message will continue to appear alongside legacy accounts. Musk has repeatedly indicated that legacy verified users will lose their badges if they don’t pay up. (Most recently, he tweeted that the old system was “corrupt” and that badges would be removed “in a few months.”) However, the help center for the new Twitter Blue doesn’t lay out a timeline.

We’ve reached out to Twitter for clarity and will update this post if we hear back.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christopher Zara is a senior editor for Fast Company, where he runs the news desk. His new memoir, UNEDUCATED (Little, Brown), tells a highly personal story about the education divide and his madcap efforts to navigate the professional world without a college degree. More


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