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Social media platform X is making waves again for its blue checks. This time, the Elon Musk-led platform has announced that it will no longer allow users to conceal their blue verification checks. This feature is a premium one.
This decision revealed to users via a pop-up notification on Thursday, marks a significant shift in the platform’s approach to user verification and subscription offerings.
The move follows X’s recent introduction of blue checks for accounts with at least 2,500 followers who subscribe to its premium service.
While X’s CEO, Elon Musk, framed this addition as a perk, it sparked a backlash from some users, particularly those who had previously been verified without subscribing to premium services, before Musk started charging money for a verified badge.
What’s bizarre is that several users, usually prominent celebrities, reporters, and other X users, do not pay for the premium badge but are still given one. Many of these people hid the blue checkmark because of the stigma it started to carry after Musk took over.
Now that X will remove the option to hide verification checks, users who may be reluctant to showcase their subscription status or associate with paid features will have no recourse.
X justifies its decision by positioning the blue checkmark as a symbol of authenticity and using it as an anti-bot measure. X aims to distinguish genuine accounts from potential bot accounts by making verification checks more visible, enhancing user trust and engagement on the platform.
However, critics argue that X’s handling of the entire verification fiasco has severely undermined and stigmatized the value of the blue checkmark as a status symbol. The proliferation of “verified accounts,” which today mainly include accounts that had to be paid for through premium subscriptions, diluted the significance of the blue checks, rendering them meaningless.
Moreover, X’s premium subscription offering, which prominently features the blue tick as a feature, still needs to evolve into what Elon Musk hopes it to be. Despite initial forecasts predicting millions of subscribers and billions in revenue by 2028, X Premium has struggled to attract a sizable user base. It accounts for less than 0.5 percent of the platform’s total users.
As X grapples with declining revenue and user engagement, the platform faces mounting challenges in sustaining its operations. Efforts to secure additional investment and lure advertisers to the platform underscore the urgent need for strategic restructuring and innovation within X Corp.
While Elon Musk’s vision for an all-encompassing “everything app” remains ambitious, skeptics question the feasibility of X’s long-term viability amid mounting financial pressures and user discontent.
As the platform navigates uncertain terrain, the future of X hangs in the balance, with stakeholders eagerly awaiting developments in the coming months.
