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I think this is smart. The blue checkmark is in practice just a symbol of vanity. That you're a genuine somebody, worthy of extra verification. There are so man

I think this is smart. The blue checkmark is in practice just a symbol of vanity. That you're a genuine somebody, worthy of extra verification. There are so many self-important people in life and on social media that think they are in a class above everybody else, I bet a large percentage of these not noteworthy but need to be verified people will happily pay for it.

MontyCarloHall 4y ago
>The blue checkmark is in practice just a symbol of vanity. That you're a genuine somebody, worthy of extra verification. Absolutely. But if anyone who pays $20/month can get a blue checkmark, it is no longer the status symbol you describe and its appeal totally disappears.
- miked85 4y ago
  The verification process doesn't change, you just need to pay for it.
  - MontyCarloHall 4y ago
    From the article: >The directive is to change Twitter Blue, the company’s optional, $4.99 a month subscription that unlocks additional features, into a more expensive subscription that also verifies users Sure sounds like they’re planning on giving blue checks to anyone willing to pay. It wouldn’t make financial sense otherwise; there are currently only around 300k verified users, so this would only generate a maximum of $6M/month in revenue.
  - marklubi 4y ago
    Of course it changes. They're outsourcing the verification to the payment processing company.
  - ryanbrunner 4y ago
    If anyone can get a blue checkmark, verification can become way simpler. It turns from "is this person actually notable, and is the user behind this account actually this notable person" to "does the name on the ID provided by this user match their account name". It goes from a subjective process requiring manual review to one that can be automated with off the shelf tools (if you wanted to get really basic, "does the name verified on this person's credit card match their account name")
- LightHugger 4y ago
  Good? Why are there people who think it should be a status symbol, to by recognized by twitter staff of all people as "noteworthy?" It's ridiculous and more than a little pathetic that people considered it a valid status symbol to begin with, and it should be dismantled as such. It's not called a "status symbol and we like this person mark" it's called "verified".
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    If anything it has become the opposite. “Blue checkmarks” is almost a slur these days.
    - LightHugger 4y ago
      Depends a lot on which crowd you're in. I certainly use it negatively every time i bring it up, as do my friends. But to them it really is a status symbol.
    - ryanbrunner 4y ago
      I've definitely seen people devote their twitter stream for weeks at a time to advocating for getting a blue checkmark. Among certain crowds it is 100% a status symbol.
    - watwut 4y ago
      It is definitely not. And it comes with pack of tools that allow you to manage harassment a bit more effectively.
  - ryanbrunner 4y ago
    Good for everyone else, potentially. Not really great for the strategy of charging for it, if they think that the blue checkmark is going to be a valuable part of charging for Twitter. The second it's available to the general public, it loses 99% of its value and doesn't really do anything to serve it's purpose of making Twitter Blue / paid twitter more attractive.
    - frumper 4y ago
- twiceaday 4y ago
  There is implicit lying by omission, in your favor, in these kinds of situations. You create value through scarcity but some won't know why the value is there, while others will take a long while to catch-on, giving you plenty of time to capitalize on the running-on-fumes value by lowering the scarcity.
reustle 4y ago
Telegram recently launched a very similar feature to the verified checkmark https://telegram.org/blog/700-million-and-premium https://telegram.org/blog/700-million-and-premium
- Hamcha 4y ago
  And it depends on existing verified pages (you get verified by.. having two other verified social network accounts). If you can pay to get one of those, that's half of the job done for 20$.
  - reustle 4y ago
    Telegram Premium does not at all depend on your other social profiles, it’s $5/mo. Maybe they have a separate verification feature? (Edit: yep https://telegram.org/verify https://telegram.org/verify )
    - Gigachad 4y ago
      Telegram premium adds a star to your name rather than a check mark. It only signals you paid for premium.
donohoe 4y ago
Beyond celebrity it addressed the issue of impersonation - which will return as a problem
- dclusin 4y ago
  Anybody famous enough to warrant a special verification process can probably afford $20/mo.
  - donohoe 4y ago
    No. It's not about being famous or money. It is about the original reason the verification process emerged - harassment and impersonation.
target8123 4y ago
Pay for a different badge exists in LinkedIn. Most people do not wear it as a status symbol, and it doesnt get such treatment from non paying members. The current value of check mark is a proof of a person's influence vs the proposed one means I can spend $20 this month
bamboozled 4y ago
Twitter was so so much better without the checkmark, it went down hill from there. I liked it was it was people, pretty anomalous Tweeting. That was an exciting time.

MontyCarloHall 4y ago

>The blue checkmark is in practice just a symbol of vanity. That you're a genuine somebody, worthy of extra verification. Absolutely. But if anyone who pays $20/month can get a blue checkmark, it is no longer the status symbol you describe and its appeal totally disappears.

miked85 4y ago
The verification process doesn't change, you just need to pay for it.
- MontyCarloHall 4y ago
  From the article: >The directive is to change Twitter Blue, the company’s optional, $4.99 a month subscription that unlocks additional features, into a more expensive subscription that also verifies users Sure sounds like they’re planning on giving blue checks to anyone willing to pay. It wouldn’t make financial sense otherwise; there are currently only around 300k verified users, so this would only generate a maximum of $6M/month in revenue.
- marklubi 4y ago
  Of course it changes. They're outsourcing the verification to the payment processing company.
- ryanbrunner 4y ago
  If anyone can get a blue checkmark, verification can become way simpler. It turns from "is this person actually notable, and is the user behind this account actually this notable person" to "does the name on the ID provided by this user match their account name". It goes from a subjective process requiring manual review to one that can be automated with off the shelf tools (if you wanted to get really basic, "does the name verified on this person's credit card match their account name")
LightHugger 4y ago
Good? Why are there people who think it should be a status symbol, to by recognized by twitter staff of all people as "noteworthy?" It's ridiculous and more than a little pathetic that people considered it a valid status symbol to begin with, and it should be dismantled as such. It's not called a "status symbol and we like this person mark" it's called "verified".
- Gigachad 4y ago
  If anything it has become the opposite. “Blue checkmarks” is almost a slur these days.
  - LightHugger 4y ago
    Depends a lot on which crowd you're in. I certainly use it negatively every time i bring it up, as do my friends. But to them it really is a status symbol.
  - ryanbrunner 4y ago
    I've definitely seen people devote their twitter stream for weeks at a time to advocating for getting a blue checkmark. Among certain crowds it is 100% a status symbol.
  - watwut 4y ago
    It is definitely not. And it comes with pack of tools that allow you to manage harassment a bit more effectively.
- ryanbrunner 4y ago
  Good for everyone else, potentially. Not really great for the strategy of charging for it, if they think that the blue checkmark is going to be a valuable part of charging for Twitter. The second it's available to the general public, it loses 99% of its value and doesn't really do anything to serve it's purpose of making Twitter Blue / paid twitter more attractive.
  - frumper 4y ago
twiceaday 4y ago
There is implicit lying by omission, in your favor, in these kinds of situations. You create value through scarcity but some won't know why the value is there, while others will take a long while to catch-on, giving you plenty of time to capitalize on the running-on-fumes value by lowering the scarcity.

reustle 4y ago

Telegram recently launched a very similar feature to the verified checkmark https://telegram.org/blog/700-million-and-premium https://telegram.org/blog/700-million-and-premium

Hamcha 4y ago
And it depends on existing verified pages (you get verified by.. having two other verified social network accounts). If you can pay to get one of those, that's half of the job done for 20$.
- reustle 4y ago
  Telegram Premium does not at all depend on your other social profiles, it’s $5/mo. Maybe they have a separate verification feature? (Edit: yep https://telegram.org/verify https://telegram.org/verify )
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    Telegram premium adds a star to your name rather than a check mark. It only signals you paid for premium.

donohoe 4y ago

Beyond celebrity it addressed the issue of impersonation - which will return as a problem

dclusin 4y ago
Anybody famous enough to warrant a special verification process can probably afford $20/mo.
- donohoe 4y ago
  No. It's not about being famous or money. It is about the original reason the verification process emerged - harassment and impersonation.

target8123 4y ago

Pay for a different badge exists in LinkedIn. Most people do not wear it as a status symbol, and it doesnt get such treatment from non paying members. The current value of check mark is a proof of a person's influence vs the proposed one means I can spend $20 this month

bamboozled 4y ago

Twitter was so so much better without the checkmark, it went down hill from there. I liked it was it was people, pretty anomalous Tweeting. That was an exciting time.