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I think the "blue check" verification on Twitter is its most powerful asset. The most important people in the world (culture icons, heads of state & companies,

I think the "blue check" verification on Twitter is its most powerful asset. The most important people in the world (culture icons, heads of state & companies, and subject matter experts) congregate there to share their thoughts. Elon has proposed selling blue check marks for $240/year. That's a lot of money for a lowly academic and nothing to a rich kid who wants to shout about their chosen topic. If that happens your heuristic for quality is going to break down very quickly. This isn't a criticism of Elon's idea. Blue check marks has always been a verification that the account isn't an imposter. They've never been a mark of subject matter authority. As a business strategy selling them makes a lot of sense; even more so if people believe they're buying credibility.

elcomet 4y ago
> They've never been a mark of subject matter authority. That's false, the owner has to be notable enough to get a blue check mark. Authenticity is just one of the requirements
- DandyDev 4y ago
  That is true _at the moment_, but do you think that when Elon starts charging money for the check mark, he's going to leave money at the table for something as small as authenticity?
- MikusR 4y ago
  > That's false, the owner has to be notable enough to get a blue check mark. Authenticity is just one of the requirements That's false, you just have to know/bribe someone who works there.
luke727 4y ago
> Blue check marks has always been a verification that the account isn't an imposter. It might have started out that way, but over the years Twitter also added behavioral requirements primarily aimed at undesirables. Most prominent case I can recall is Richard Spencer.