(New York) Twitter on Wednesday began rolling out an “Official” crest to certain accounts that already have the certified label, including politicians, celebrities and media organizations.
This addition comes as Elon Musk, the new boss of the social network, wants to launch an $8 per month subscription to the Twitter Blue service, allowing users to obtain an authenticated account.
The new “Official” crest, which is gray in color and displayed below the user’s name, is distinct from the blue checkmark that appears next to the name of some verified accounts.
Accounts such as those of the AFP in French, English and Spanish, that of the American deputy Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of Pope Francis in English or even of the controversial rapper Kanye West have already received the “Official” crest.
Some important political leaders have received an “Official Government” badge, including French Head of State Emmanuel Macron, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
On the other hand, the account of Elon Musk, which is followed by more than 115 million subscribers, was not yet recognized as official.
Twitter did not give details on the criteria used to award the new badge or on the order of its deployment.
On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, Esther Crawford, director of product development at Twitter, unveiled this new strategy.
“A lot of people are wondering how it will be possible to distinguish between @TwitterBlue followers with blue crests and accounts verified as official,” M tweeted.me Crawford.
“That’s why we’re introducing the ‘Official’ label for some accounts when we launch,” she added.
The company has not indicated whether it intends to reconsider its paid subscription project for certification.
This decision by Mr. Musk has raised many questions, with several users saying they fear that this system will devalue the guarantee of authenticity of the blue tick by making it accessible to anyone who agrees to pay 8 dollars a month.
For his part, the billionaire entrepreneur presented this development as a means of restoring “power to the people” by abolishing the barrier between “the lords and the peasants”.
The Tesla boss also insisted on the need for Twitter to diversify its sources of income, so far mainly from advertising, even as several advertisers suspended their spending on the platform after the takeover.
