2023-08-02 20:39:01
Social networks
Hide the blue tick of X (ex Twitter) that I cannot see
X now allows “Blue” subscribers to hide the blue checkmark on their profile, that mark of distinction that has become cumbersome since Elon Musk transformed the network.
UpdatedAugust 2, 2023, 10:39 PM
Image d’illustration.
AFP
Users have the option of subscribing to Blue by paying between $8 and $11 per month to enjoy certain privileges, such as seeing fewer ads, posting longer tweets and videos, canceling or editing a tweet, testing ahead- premiere of new tools, send private messages, etc. Above all, their tweets appear in priority and they are awarded a blue tick, a sign that their account has been verified by the platform.
Before Elon Musk made it payable and accessible to everyone for a fee, this brand was free but reserved for authenticated accounts and considered well-known. It has become embarrassing for users who do not wish to disclose that they pay for the controversial billionaire’s social network. Or those who are tired of receiving memes (hijacked humorous images) mocking Blue subscribers.
“You can choose to hide your account tick. It will be hidden on your profile or messages,” says the X website, help.twitter.com. The blue mark may nevertheless appear “in certain places, revealing that you have a subscription”. And some tools might be disabled as long as the mark is concealed.
The irony of this measure has not escaped many commentators. “It’s crazy that Musk managed to turn this coveted status symbol into something so shameful that people who are now paying for it might want to hide it,” notes Ross Maghielse. associate editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, on X.
Confusion
The chaotic launch this winter of the Twitter Blue subscription, now X Blue, has made the social network more confusing, with paid accounts promoted by the algorithm that are held by anonymous people, and/or created to spread false information.
Elon Musk was looking, among other things, to diversify the company’s revenue sources, but in April, according to data from Travis Brown, an IT developer specializing in social networks, less than 5% of the 407,000 accounts that had the old free blue badge had subscribed.
Since then, the president of the network has multiplied measures to encourage users to subscribe. Without Blue, they can no longer send private messages and cannot read as many messages as before. And they will soon no longer have access to TweetDeck, a popular application for journalists and researchers to view multiple accounts and lists on the same screen.
(AFP)Show comments
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