Twitter Verified has evolved in recent years. Originally, it was intended to authenticate the accounts of celebrities, influencers, politicians, businesses, and people in the public eye Verification Guide .
Since then, it’s transitioned into Twitter Blue, a paid subscription with additional benefits for Twitter users. Now that Twitter has rebranded to X, there have been more changes made to the service.
If you feel out of the loop or are new to Twitter/X and aren’t sure whether to become verified, this guide will walk you through what being verified means and how you can earn a blue Twitter Verified checkmark.
Let’s start by saying that although Twitter is now officially X, we know that the rebrand has been challenging for long-time Twitter users. Therefore, for simplicity’s sake, we’re going to refer to the new platform as Twitter/X in this guide.
Twitter Verified was Twitter’s initial verification system. To verify an account, a user needed to fill out a form for Twitter’s verification specialists to review. A person also had to have some proof that they were a public figure in some way, such as media articles written about them.
Once verified the user earned a blue
checkmark for their profile. This checkmark signified that the account has been verified and is, therefore, an official account for that person. Verification made it more difficult for parody and fake accounts to resemble public figures and businesses.
Changes to Twitter & Twitter Verified
In 2022, Elon Musk bought Twitter and made changes to the verification system, transforming it into a paid subscription. For $8 a month, Twitter users could subscribe to Twitter Blue to get a checkmark and other india telegram phone number list features, like Tweet editing and high-quality uploads.
In 2023, anyone who previously earned verification through Twitter lost their verified status and checkmark unless they subscribed to Twitter Blue. Because anyone could pay for Twitter Blue to get a blue checkmark on the power of marketing their account, there was no longer a way to determine whether an account was authentic.
Fast forward to later in 2023, when Twitter became X. Twitter/X has maintained the Blue subscription model, but it appears that new features may be in the works following the rebrand. For instance, the first change, announced in August 2023, allows Blue subscribers to hide their checkmarks if desired.
Screenshot via Twitter
If you’re browsing Twitter/X, you might also notice profiles labeled with gold and grey checkmarks. Here’s what they mean:
Gold Checkmark: The gold checkmark is used for official business accounts through Twitter Verified Organizations. Users can sign up for Twitter Verified Organizations here. This is a paid membership and fees vary, aleart news but in the U.S. a base subscription is $1,000 per month and affiliate seats are $50 per month for each additional affiliate.
Grey Checkmark: The grey checkmark represents government/multilateral organizations and government/multilateral officials. These checkmarks are complimentary for eligible accounts, although users must a