Octopus Overlords

pr0ner wrote: Thu Apr 20, 2023 5:21 pm Legacy blue checks are gone.

Let the chaos begin.

Rumpy wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 12:13 am Gonna guess that celebs are somehow unaffected by the paid subscription model and were never going to be in the first place and that it just shows a standard verification message.

Rumpy wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 12:13 am Gonna guess that celebs are somehow unaffected by the paid subscription model and were never going to be in the first place and that it just shows a standard verification message.

• Halle Berry: No
• Robert Downey Jr: No
• Samuel Jackson: No
• Ryan Reynolds: Yes
• Chris Evans: No
• Hugh Jackman: Yes
• Matthew McConaughey: No
• Leonardo DiCaprio: No
• Rihanna: Yes
• Taylor Swift: Yes
• Katy Perry: No
• Shakira: No

So who is paying?

Some of the biggest celebrities to cough up the $8 include musical artists like Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and Miley Cyrus. In fact, of the few celebs that have signed up, singers and artists probably make up the bulk of it. Britney Spears, The Weeknd, Joe and Nick Jonas, Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, Coldplay, David Guetta, Shawn Mendes, and Snoop Dogg are among the other big names in music who have subscribed.

Over in Hollywood, actors Ryan Reynolds, Chris Hemsworth, Hugh Jackman, and Neil Patrick Harris are keeping their blue checkmarks for a monthly fee.

In sports, pro tennis player Novak Djokovic as well as NBA stars Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony subscribed. Pro wrestlers John Cena and Randy Orton did too.

Talk show hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Ellen DeGenres also subscribe to Twitter Blue, as did online influencers like Mr. Beast and both Jake and Logan Paul.

Even one of the Kardashians decided it was worth it. (It's Khloe.)

Some celebrities who publicly declared that they wouldn't subscribe, or criticized the move to pay for a checkmark, like LeBron James, Stephen King, and William Shatner, all have a blue checkmark and are labeled as paying subscribers of Twitter Blue.

There are a few other big-name actors and artists with smaller followings than the ones mentioned who have subscribed to Twitter Blue, but the ones above make up the biggest. Following that you have quite a few big personalities in right-wing politics who have subscribed such as Tucker Carlson, Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, and Joe Rogan.

pr0ner wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 7:18 am Elon Musk is "paying" for some famous celebs to keep their blue checks. He's said so himself, at least in the case of LeBron James and Stephen King.

hepcat wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 9:23 am

pr0ner wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 7:18 am Elon Musk is "paying" for some famous celebs to keep their blue checks. He's said so himself, at least in the case of LeBron James and Stephen King.

If Stephen King accepted that, I will have lost faith in his integrity considering his past stance on all this.

Skinypupy wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 9:29 am

hepcat wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 9:23 am

pr0ner wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 7:18 am Elon Musk is "paying" for some famous celebs to keep their blue checks. He's said so himself, at least in the case of LeBron James and Stephen King.

If Stephen King accepted that, I will have lost faith in his integrity considering his past stance on all this.

Sounded yesterday like Musk is turning it on for certain people (mostly those high profile folks who have been particularly vocal about not paying for it), whether they actually want it or not.

LawBeefaroni wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 7:44 am Plus many celeb twitter accounts are probably maintained by a PR staff, at least at the administrative level. The staff may have just paid like any other recurring cost.

gilraen wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 12:57 am

Rumpy wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 12:13 am Gonna guess that celebs are somehow unaffected by the paid subscription model and were never going to be in the first place and that it just shows a standard verification message.

They are affected if and when someone impersonates them.

Max Peck wrote: Fri Apr 21, 2023 1:42 am
I just did a quick sampling of celebrities and there are plenty of who no longer have blue check marks:

After approximately two days of purging “legacy checkmarks,” Twitter CEO Elon Musk appears to be waving the white flag.

Across Twitter on Saturday, some of the platform’s biggest names, from Stephen King to Chrissy Teigen, expressed surprise when their fickle checkmarks suddenly reappeared.

“Friends told me my blue verified check was restored. Dont know why. I've paid nothing. I gave no number,” tweeted Seinfeld star Jason Alexander.

It appeared that Musk had only restored the blue checks to users with the highest follower counts, seemingly caving on an issue that has deviled the platform since he made the decision to introduce his $8-a-month Twitter Blue verification system.

Musk’s decision on Thursday to finally make good on his promise to only verify those who paid the fee threw the platform into chaos, with the mass de-verification opening the door for a host of celebrity imposter accounts.

Yet in classic Musk fashion, the Chief Twit initially attempted to cast his capitulation as an epic troll.

“I will pay for your blue check – my gift to you,” Musk tweeted in response to a thread in which former Labor Secretary Robert Reich rejected his blue check and denounced the “oligarchs who have too much power over the Internet.”

Musk later tweeted “check mate.”

However, the move appeared to be much more far-reaching than a mere prank on those who had criticized the verification system.

From Pope Francis to former President Donald Trump, numerous notables who had not waded into the blue check debacle also saw their verifications restored after briefly losing them.

Max Peck wrote: Sun Apr 23, 2023 6:43 am Twitter Blue now means either that you are a paying customer or that Elon wishes you liked him enough to be a paying customer.

Twitter is now Auto-Verifying accounts for FREE with 1M+ followers including originally Unverified accounts

Dead celebrities are the latest to endorse Twitter Blue — at least according to the verification badges applied to their profiles.

Kobe Bryant, Norm Macdonald, Anthony Bourdain, Chadwick Boseman, and Michael Jackson were among the celebrities who each got a posthumous blue check added to their Twitter accounts as the site began to purge legacy verifications on Thursday, pivoting to only displaying the checks on the profiles who pay for the subscription service.

gilraen wrote: Sun Apr 23, 2023 12:58 pm

Twitter is now Auto-Verifying accounts for FREE with 1M+ followers including originally Unverified accounts

Holman wrote: Sun Apr 23, 2023 5:13 pm

gilraen wrote: Sun Apr 23, 2023 12:58 pm

Twitter is now Auto-Verifying accounts for FREE with 1M+ followers including originally Unverified accounts

Although a certain asshole seems to be imposing some degree of editorial discretion here.

For example, @GretaThunberg has nearly 6 million followers, but she doesn't have the free restored checkmark.

Plus, does "verification" even mean what it used to? If I create the account @Greta_Thunberg and throw eight bucks to Elon, will I *not* get a checkmark?

Zaxxon wrote: Sun Apr 23, 2023 5:19 pm It means they've verified that you have $8.

malchior wrote: Thu Apr 27, 2023 7:21 pm Musk totally throwing ideas at the wall to try to make up for the fact he totally eviscerated the site's business model.

https://twitter.com/business/status/1651713082274508802

LordMortis wrote: Thu Apr 27, 2023 7:49 pm

malchior wrote: Thu Apr 27, 2023 7:21 pm Musk totally throwing ideas at the wall to try to make up for the fact he totally eviscerated the site's business model.

https://twitter.com/business/status/1651713082274508802

I mean isn't it natural to charge $50,000 a month to have voice in the public square run by the free speech absolutist?

Holman wrote: Sun Apr 23, 2023 5:23 pm Right. They say it means that the user has "verified their phone number," but I believe all that means is that I provided a number to which they could send a security code, which I sent back. It doesn't mean anything remotely like checking to see that I am really Thunberg.

Jeff V wrote: Sat Apr 29, 2023 12:10 am

Holman wrote: Sun Apr 23, 2023 5:23 pm Right. They say it means that the user has "verified their phone number," but I believe all that means is that I provided a number to which they could send a security code, which I sent back. It doesn't mean anything remotely like checking to see that I am really Thunberg.

Holman Thunberg. Has a sort of Nordic bad-ass ring to it, doesn't it?