It could be be recalled that On 1 November, few weeks after Elon Musk bought the popular social media platform, TWITTER, Musk made known his inconveniences with the company’s verification system. In his words, he twitted: “Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.” he later confirmed that users would be paying for accreditation. He added, “Power to the people!” Power to the people indeed.
Following this, famous names like Cristiano Ronaldo, Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, JK Rowling and Sir Paul McCartney has lost the blue ticks that confer verified status on accounts.
Also, famous Nigerian personalities, singers like, Davido, Burna Boy, and Wizkid verification badges have been removed on Twitter.
Secured Naija confirmation shows that the verification badges, which distinguishes them from other Nigerian users have been removed from their account.
This could be as a result of the non-payment of their verification subscription fee as announced by controversial Twitter Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk. He confirmed this via his verified account badges that the deadline for free usage of the verified symbol will be on April 20, 2023. The change has stripped the blue tick from about 400,000 verified accounts.
It is hoped that this move does not damage Trust and patronage on the popular platform, as trust is a priceless but intangible commodity. If truly Musk is replacing a feudal system with a capitalist system and truly wants to give power to the people, he needs structure, strategy and an approach that will last, this is because, popular Journalists, commentators, influencers and some multinational organisations are among the thousands of accounts that lost this unique tick.
