A new addition to the mountain of changes Elon Musk has implemented since becoming Twitter CEO has a lot of users scratching their heads—and then heavily criticizing the move.
A new disclaimer is showing up when a user taps on the verification mark of a user whose account was verified before Musk implemented Twitter Blue—the new much less stringent system that lets any user pay $8 a month to be verified.
The disclaimer states:
"This is a legacy verified account. The user may or may not be notable."
Many people pointed out this is the exact opposite of reality, as anyone who has a "legacy" verification would have had to prove their identity to receive it—unlike Twitter Blue members.
As shown by MeidasTouch, the accounts of quite notable people such as former President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton have the disclaimer.
\u201c\ud83e\uddd0\u201d— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) 1670864127
@MeidasTouch/Twitter
@MeidasTouch/Twitter
@MeidasTouch/Twitter
Bestselling author Stephen King, who has been incredibly vocal in his criticism of Musk's changes to the platform, has the disclaimer as well.
@StephenKing/Twitter
Apparently the French translation is even more passive aggressive.
\u201c@atrupar Interestingly the phrasing is even more aggressive in French.\n"Verified account: this account has been certified for a while. It might not be notable anymore."\nAnd the prompt doesn't translate to "Dismiss" but "Understood".\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1670865564
Twitter users had an awful lot to say on the matter.
\u201cWhat new fresh hell is this? "It may or may not be notable?"\u201d— Christopher Bouzy (@Christopher Bouzy) 1670541264
\u201c@MeidasTouch Disgraceful. One of the most notable.\u201d— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) 1670864127
\u201c@cbouzy Legacy is the real deal, right? The new blue checks seem more like grade school participation awards that parents buy.\u201d— Christopher Bouzy (@Christopher Bouzy) 1670541264
\u201c@MeidasTouch\u201d— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) 1670864127
\u201c@MeidasTouch The whole place is decomposing before our eyes\u201d— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) 1670864127
\u201c@cbouzy That\u2019s his petty little dig at legacy blue check accounts because that\u2019s all he has\u201d— Christopher Bouzy (@Christopher Bouzy) 1670541264
\u201c@MeidasTouch @kim This new move destroys the very foundation of what made a verified account legitimate.\n\nNow no one can tell who is and isn\u2019t impersonating anyone. \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\u201d— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) 1670864127
\u201c@MeidasTouch A new level of petty jealousy \nBy the guy who wishes he were anything like \nObama's level of notable\u201d— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) 1670864127
Some were just grabbing the metaphorical popcorn to wait and watch the world (or in this case Twitter) burn, though.
\u201c@MeidasTouch\u201d— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) 1670864127
Some people are reporting what a user sees when clicking or tapping on the blue checkmark depends on the platform they're visiting Twitter from, though it is likely the change is just taking a while to roll out to all users.
\u201c@MeidasTouch Depends on the platform. I see the new message on my Safari browser on my Mac, but the Mac Twitter app and the iOS app show the old message. Looks like they haven't updated the apps yet.\u201d— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) 1670864127
It remains to be seen whether Musk will walk back this change at the uproar, but it seems fairly unlikely.
We'll all just have to wait and see what his next bright idea will be.