Today’s messes: a possible crypto venture; blue tick blackflips; advertiser assurances; and a promise to try dumb things
The Twitter “Official” label that showed up on the platform yesterday as a way to fix an arguably unbroken verification system has apparently disappeared from many accounts in less than 24 hours.
The “Official” label was announced as a way to differentiate verified accounts from Twitter Blue subscribers, all of whom get the formerly exclusive blue checkmark.
Pro YouTuber and ultimate Frisbee player Marques Brownlee posted about the change when he noticed the “Official” label below his Twitter handle, along with the blue check. When Brownlee noticed it had disappeared, he received a snappy reply from Musk.
“I just killed it,” Musk tweeted. “Blue check will be the great leveler,” he added.
But that doesn’t appear to be the case, at least according to Esther Crawford, Twitter’s director of product management. When asked about the status of the Official label, Crawford said it will still be a part of the Twitter Blue launch, and that Twitter will initially focus on awarding it to government and commercial entities. “What you saw [Musk] mention was the fact that we’re not focusing on giving individuals the ‘Official’ label right now.”
As ever with the now-Musky social network, the situation is fluid and developing.
