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This makes sense in isolation, but the way that Elon has approached managing Twitter has turned the verified status into a symbol of allegiance with one side or
by AlexandrB 4y ago
This makes sense in isolation, but the way that Elon has approached managing Twitter has turned the verified status into a symbol of allegiance with one side or another. So now being verified doesn't just communicate something about your account, but about your political ideology and whether you agree with Elon's decisions or not. It's this aspect that's a bit of an ethical hot potato here.
- mrozbarry 4y agoI'm not confident about the entire statement you're making. Paying $8 does not equate to agreeing with Elon or what side of politics you sit, paying $8 only equates to whether or not you want a blue "verified" checkmark. I really hate this culture of "cancel person X" and if you use anything "person X" has made, your a racist/bigot/whatever. This whole blue check politic statement you are making is a strawman.
- AlexandrB 4y agoLike it or not, Musk has worked hard at tying Twitter to his personal brand since he took over. Consider that Twitter has no PR department outside of Elon himself. It's not as closely tied as something like Tesla, but still if you don't like Elon or his politics you're less likely to pay for verification. This means that the checkmark now has an associated political/social connotation. No it's not 100%, but it's there. Edit: This applies in reverse as well. There are definitely fans/admirers of Elon who subscribed immediately as a show of support. But I admit all of this is anecdata, I don't have numbers on how widespread it is.