After the recent acquisition by Elon Musk, Twitter’s activity looks somehow chaotic. As we witness, the new owner feverishly tries to find new ways of monetization, but not all of them are easy to implement. To avoid the inevitable public backlash, Twitter delayed the introduction of Blue subscription with verification until November 9.

The new Twitter Blue subscription is now $7.99, and it comes with some perks that it didn’t include previously. For example, a subscriber can now post longer videos, sees fewer ads in the feed, and enjoys better positions in search returns. Yet what can be the real issue is the verified checkmark which now requires no verification by Twitter staff. It just costs you $7.99 for your microblog to appear as a verified account.

This feature got heavily critcized from the beginning, especially when it comes to political matters. Under the current state of affairs, literally anyone can disguise themselves as a politician or a public figure and publish provocative posts with fake or misleading information. Musk himself has already become a victim of this type of trolling.

Will Twitter return to the previous practice when these checkmarks could only be obtained by notable persons or organizations that could prove their identities? It seems unlikely. The checkmark is a solid selling point, and Musk is desperate to make money on Twitter in order to justify the purchase. After the midterms, the social pressure on Twitter (and other media) will probably relax – at least, until the next elections. Instead, Twitter may introduce a separate verification “Official Account” label, which has been corroborated by some data miners.

Have you ever seen a misleading tweet with the blue “Verified” checkmark? Or maybe you are a Twitter Blue subscriber? What do you feel about Twitter’s prospects? Let’s have a discussion in the comments! Verification is not necessary.