Elon Musk’s attempt to democratise Twitter verification only lasted two days. Twitter has temporarily suspended new Twitter Blue signups after the site was taken over by verified trolls. According to Platformer’s Zoe Schiffer, the firm informed employees that memberships were on pause to “help resolve impersonation concerns.” It turns out that paid verification was just as bad as almost everyone expected.
At first, it seemed like Twitter had a strategy in place to solve the impersonation problem. It established a distinct “official” emblem that will be affixed to “government accounts, commercial firms, corporate partners, significant media outlets, publishers, and select public personalities” just before the launch of the new Twitter Blue. But Musk swiftly changed his mind, and the proposal was cancelled only hours after it was unveiled. Paid verification went live without a label on Wednesday.
