Not everyone will pay $8 a month, or $11 on mobile, for Twitter Blue after the new owner ditched the old authentication system.

Today, we can go to Twitter and subscribe to Twitter Blue at any time because that’s how we now get the blue tick next to our name. Today, the check mark is no longer a badge of honor or a high-status item because anyone can open their wallet to the CEO of Twitter (X Corp.), Tesla, and SpaceX to get it. Users who like the old system have started a hashtag campaign (#BlocktheBlueChecks), but Elon Musk and his fans have picked up on it.

Twitter has a block list, The Block List, an automated app that can instantly block undesirable users. Its creator has created the BlockTheBlue Twitter account to draw attention to those who would rather pay for Twitter Blue. It has since been suspended by Musk, even though it had twice as many followers as new subscribers to Twitter Blue that day…. Then, suddenly, a change appeared on Twitter that bans non-paying users from seeing subscribers’ interactions with them, so mass muting and banning are not so easy.

With that said, we can’t be too surprised by what Musk has done: the most significant contributors to the Block the Blue campaign have suddenly been given a blue tick, meaning he is essentially paying them for the service, which they didn’t ask for. There are currently around 600,000 Twitter Blue subscribers, so it’s not an exceptionally high number given the user base, but it will be worth checking out in a few months to see how this changes.

In the meantime, it’s odd that Musk has removed two flags from user accounts, so the “state-affiliated media” and “government-funded” flags have disappeared, affecting NPR and the BBC, for example. 37 out of 100 people don’t want to pay, and 24 are thinning their ad counts. This is ridiculous!

Source: WCCFTech