Twitter users have been left scratching their heads as blue ticks have reappeared on certain accounts, despite not subscribing to the Twitter Blue service. The social media platform has faced a series of glitches lately, with the most recent one apparently involving the resurgence of Blue Check verification badges on accounts boasting at least one million followers, without the account holders enrolling in the subscription service.
A striking similarity among these accounts is their follower count, which exceeds one million. The blue tick restoration appears to apply to both individuals and organizations. However, the absence of blue ticks on some celebrity accounts with over one million followers adds to the confusion. Twitter has not officially confirmed whether the reemerging blue ticks are glitches or if the company has decided to grant them for free to accounts with a large following.
Before Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, blue ticks were freely awarded as a badge of verification to combat fake accounts and the spread of misinformation. Now, the blue tick signifies a subscription to Twitter Blue, a premium service with a verification process linked to its payment, costing around $8 per month.
Legacy blue ticks began to vanish on April 20 for those who chose not to pay the subscription fee. Reports suggest that removing legacy blue ticks required manual intervention, and the restoration process could also be manual and slow.
Elon Musk previously revealed that Twitter was operating at a loss of $4 million per day when he took over. With the introduction of Twitter Blue and its $8 monthly charge for blue ticks and other features, thousands of legacy accounts, including prominent figures like Pope Francis and Bill Gates, lost their verified checkmarks for not subscribing by the April 20 deadline.
As of now, it seems that regaining a blue tick without subscribing to Twitter Blue may require having over one million followers and a bit of luck. However, given the current confusion surrounding the verification process, it remains uncertain how long this trend will continue or if Twitter will provide clarification on the matter.
nope
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) April 23, 2023
