A new gray check that was deployed by Twitter to designate users’ accounts that had been verified as authentic by the social media platform was quickly eliminated Wednesday (Nov. 9).
“I just killed it,” Elon Musk said in reply to a tweet in which a user noted the appearance and subsequent disappearance of the new symbol.
I just killed it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 9, 2022
The gray check appeared for only a few hours before being removed Wednesday at noon Eastern time, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Wednesday.
Musk suggested that users instead use Twitter’s existing blue check that comes with a Twitter Blue subscription, according to the report.
“Blue check will be the great leveler,” he said in a tweet two hours after acknowledging that the gray check had been eliminated.
Blue check will be the great leveler
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 9, 2022
As PYMNTS reported Sunday (Nov. 6), things have been hectic at Twitter since Musk took ownership Oct. 27. He fired the company’s senior staff, dissolved its board — becoming the company’s sole director — and laid off thousands of workers (some of whom were soon invited back, according to media reports).
Twitter had also proposed charging users a fee of $19.99 per month for its Twitter Blue subscription platform before Musk dialed it back to $7.99 due to pushback.
When several Twitter users and workers expressed concerns that the new system could lead to confusion in the days leading up to the Tuesday (Nov. 8) elections — with users posing as politicians, for example — Twitter decided to hold off on implementing it until the elections were done.
On Wednesday, after the debut and subsequent deletion of the gray check, Musk said in a tweet: “Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months. We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.”
Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months.
We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 9, 2022
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