Elon Musk’s Twitter promised a purge of blue check marks. Instead he singled out one account | CNN Business

Elon Musk's plan to purify Twitter's blue check mark system backfired, with the billionaire ending up singling out one prominent account instead of a mass purge as intended.

Instead of rolling out a blanket ban on legacy blue checks for verified users, Musk and his team focused on targeting the main account of The New York Times, which had expressed reluctance to pay for verification. After posting a meme poking fun at the idea of paying for verification, the Times' account was removed from Twitter's blue check list.

This move comes as part of Musk's ongoing campaign against legacy blue checks, which he claims are not necessary and can be expensive. Under his new system, users must pay $8 per month to join the platform's subscription service in order to maintain their verified status. However, most legacy blue check holders found that their verification marks had been appended with a new label reading: "This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account."

This change has raised concerns over whether users are being treated equally under the new system. While Musk claims that his changes will treat everyone equally, critics argue that this approach may drive revenue and create more confusion among users.

In a separate move, Twitter's blue bird logo was replaced with doge, the meme representing the cryptocurrency dogecoin, which Musk has promoted. The price of dogecoin shot up 20% on Monday following its appearance at the top of the site.

Musk's decision to target The New York Times' account highlights how his platform is often guided by whims rather than clear policy decisions. As a result, many users are left wondering what exactly will happen next, and whether Musk's actions are truly in their best interests.

Ugh , this just keeps getting crazy on Twitter! I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole blue check thing... like, I get it, Musk wants to make more money, but does he have to target The New York Times like that? It's one account vs thousands of others who are already paying for verification. And now they're just adding this "verified because subscribed" label? Not sure what the point of that is... and don't even get me started on dogecoin , anyone else think Musk is playing a weird game? Anyway, I'm definitely keeping an eye on how this all plays out

Ugh I don't get why Elon Musk can't just make up his mind about Twitter's verification system already It's like he changes it every 5 minutes and then targets some random account like The New York Times Like, what even is the point of trying to "fix" something if you're just gonna mess with people's trust again? And now the blue check mark thingy looks like it's got a bunch of extra words on it like what's up with that?! Can't they just keep things simple for once?

idk about this new blue check mark system, it just feels like musk's trying to stir up drama instead of making things clearer. targeting the nytimes account was lowkey weird, i get why they were hesitant to pay but come on. and what's with the doge logo? is he seriously going to let his personal crypto obsessions dictate twitter's branding? anyway, it just feels like musk's all over the place right now

idk wut's goin on at twitter rn this blue check mark thing is gettin too complicated... i mean, $8 a month to stay verified? that's crazy talk musk thinks he's all about equality but really he's just makin money off us and what's w/ the meme? tryin to silence nytimes by takin out their account? low blow, dude

omg can you even imagine having to pay $8/month just to keep your verified status it's like they're trying to nickel & dime us to death... but seriously, who thought it was a good idea to single out one account over the rest? The New York Times should be able to keep their "legacy blue check" without being targeted for being cheap and now their logo is replaced with doge lol what's next, a meme-ified Twitter?

omg did u see this?! so Elon Musk just tried to "fix" Twitter's blue check mark system but ended up making a mess instead! he was supposed to remove legacy blue checks from verified users but instead targeted The New York Times account because they didn't wanna pay for verification lol. now their blue check is gone and it's like, what even is the point of having a blue check if u can just lose it? & btw did u see that doge logo?! I mean I know Elon loves Dogecoin but come on! 20% price increase?! that's crazy talk!

I gotta say, this whole thing is wild! So Musk tries to take aim at legacy blue checks and ends up squaring off with one major account instead of making a clean sweep? That's just shady . And now The New York Times is basically being treated like a joke on Twitter? Not cool. It's all about the Benjamins, right? This whole system feels like it's still in beta testing and we're all just along for the ride . Can't help but wonder what Musk's next move will be...

Ugh, this is getting ridiculous ... I mean, I get it, Elon wants to make money, but can't he just decide on one plan and stick to it? This whole thing with the blue check marks has been a mess from the start. First, you're telling users they have to pay for verification, then you're suddenly targeting specific accounts like The New York Times just because they didn't want to shell out the cash. And now the logo is doge? Are you kidding me? It's like Musk is just playing some kind of twisted game with Twitter users. I'm not sure what his end goal is, but it's definitely not making the platform more user-friendly...

I'm low-key confused about this whole blue check mark situation . Like, I get it, Elon wants to make money off Twitter, but targeting The New York Times' account instead of just getting rid of legacy checks was a weird move . It feels like he's trying to make a point, but not really explaining it to us users. And now the dogecoin meme is everywhere - I mean, I love a good meme, but is this really the direction Twitter should be headed? It's making me question whether Musk has our best interests at heart or if he's just doing what he wants . Can we get some clarity on this blue check mark thing already?

omg i dont get why musk decided to target just 1 account instead of going for the whole legacy blue check thing like, isnt it all about equality now? and what's up with the new label they added "this account is verified because its subscribed to twitter blue"... sounds like a total scam and now dogecoin is making a comeback but seriously, musk needs to get his priorities straight