Twitter's bigwigs protest blue tick 'refund'

The weekend has been filled with backlash for Twitter after they reinstated the blue ticks on high-profile accounts that they had taken away under the new strategy. On Thursday 20, 2023, Twitter implemented "Twitter Blue" which they announced last year. Under the new policy, non-paying accounts lost their blue ticks which have been going for $8 a month.

However, the strategy did not perform well, with less than five per cent of the 407,000 affected profiles subscribing according to Travis Brown, a Berlin-based software developer who tracks social-media platforms.

Less than 24 hours after implementing the policy, a number of profiles regained their blue ticks including author Stephen King, Basketball player LeBron James and former US president Donald Trump.

Musk said that he was paying a subscription for a few people using his own money.

However, celebrities and media houses denied having any hand in regaining their blue ticks.

American rapper Lil Nas X tweeted: "On my soul i didn't pay for twitter blue, u will feel my wrath tesla man!"

"No means no, boys," tech journalist Kara Swisher tweeted on Saturday, saying that she had gained the blue tick without her consent.

"Inquiring minds need to know: Does Elon love me for me or for my 1.49 million followers?" Swisher added, two hours after saying she would not pay "$8/month for blue check and meh features."

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) tweeted Saturday: "We did not subscribe to Twitter Blue."

Economist Paul Krugman, who mocked Musk last year, saying he had "poor impulse control," said on Saturday: "So my blue check has reappeared. I had nothing to do with that, and am definitely not paying."

The accounts of some deceased celebrities, such as US chef Anthony Bourdain, also received a blue tick.

A number of official media accounts also regained a tick, including AFP, which did not subscribe to Twitter Blue.

The New York Times, which is among the media groups with the $1,000/month gold tick, got back its gold badge this month after Musk had bashed the news organization as "propaganda".

Some media houses, however, were not impressed by this move and have maintained their suspended activity on the accounts as of Sunday 23, 2023. This includes US public radio NPR and Canada's public broadcaster CBC.

Musk responded with an image of a baby smeared with tomato sauce, crying over his plate of pasta and wearing a bib with a superimposed blue tick.