November 9, 2022 Update #2: Just a few hours later, Elon Musk says he has “killed” the idea of an “Official” badge with a gray checkmark. Instead, he says “blue check will be the great leveler” and that “Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months.” The company will “keep what works and change what doesn’t.”
Original story below. Sigh.
November 9, 2022 Update #1: The new ‘Official’ badge with the gray checkmark is now rolling out to certain accounts. In addition to showing up on the profile page for the account, it also shows up alongside the account name in your timeline.
Original story published the evening of November 8, 2022:
Twitter is finally acknowledging some of the issues with allowing anyone to have a blue checkmark in exchange for $8 per month. The company now says that, in addition to the paid blue check, select accounts will also receive a new “Official” label, denoted by a gray checkmark, on their profiles.
The change in strategy was announced by Esther Crawford on Twitter, who is taking charge of the company’s plans to revamp its Twitter Blue subscription service. Crawford says that this new gray checkmark will be available to “select accounts” when the new Twitter Blue subscription launches.
Those accounts eligible for the new “Official” label will include “government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures.” Further details about how you can apply for this label are unclear, but the company says that “not all previously verified accounts” will get this label. You also won’t be able to simply pay in exchange for the label, unlike the blue checkmark.
Crawford goes on to confirm that the Twitter Blue checkmark won’t include any sort of ID verification, but it seems like the “Official” gray checkmark will. The company will also continue to “experiment with ways to differentiate between account types.”
A lot of folks have asked about how you’ll be able to distinguish between @TwitterBlue subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that are verified as official, which is why we’re introducing the “Official” label to select accounts when we launch.
Not all previously verified accounts will get the “Official” label and the label is not available for purchase. Accounts that will receive it include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures.
The new Twitter Blue does not include ID verification – it’s an opt-in, paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark and access to select features. We’ll continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types.
Crawford shared a mockup of the planned “Official” gray checkmark showing on the main Twitter account, located beneath the account name and account handle. The label isn’t actually live yet.
This doesn’t solve one problem: the blue checkmark is still far more prominent than this planned “Official” gray checkmark. As it stands today, it looks like you’ll have to actually tap through to the account’s profile page to see the “Official” label. You won’t be able to see it at a glance as you scroll through your timeline, for instance.
There’s still no word on when any of these changes are launching. While the new Twitter Blue subscription appeared to go live over the weekend, Twitter backtracked and decided to delay the rollout until after the US midterm elections, which are being held today.
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