The new color-coded Twitter badges will make it easier to distinguish accounts. According to Musk, Gold is for companies while Grey is for government accounts. Meanwhile, Blue is for verified individuals, regardless if they’re popular or not. Musk added that the platform will “manually” authenticate each verified account before it gets a badge. Musk previously proposed a paid subscription model where users pay a monthly fee to get a blue “verified” badge. However, it didn’t take long for trolls to take advantage of this. The platform was immediately full of fake accounts masquerading as Nintendo, among others. Musk later took down the feature and postponed its re-release to the 29th of November and December 2. It remains unclear if Musk will push through with his initial plans. But, from the looks of it, the Tesla owner is serious. Musk reasons that the introduction of paid verification will help the platform diversify its revenue stream. Unfortunately, the move has backfired already and the damage it’s done might be irrevocable. For example, several major brands have already withdrawn their advertisements on the platform. When you consider that advertisements make up 90% of the company’s revenue, Musk will need to find a way to stop the bleeding and introduce new ways for the platform to make money off its massive user base. Speaking of Twitter, the social media platform recently reinstated Donald Trump after fans voted for it. The platform banned the former U.S. president’s account last year. However, it doesn’t look like the controversial billionaire intends to return to the platform.
