Twitter to see major change this weekend as Elon Musk scraps free feature

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Twitter users should brace for a big change coming to the app this week as the company begins phasing out the iconic blue check marks.From Saturday, the platform will be "winding down" its legacy verification program, which account holders can apply for to prove their profile's authenticity.The feature is generally reserved for celebrities, news publications, journalists and other public interest accounts, who will all lose their blue tick - unless they're willing to pay.

The move is part of a series of revamps made by new owner Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44bn in October last year. Musk himself took to Twitter to further announce verified accounts will soon be the only profiles visible in the For You section, which recommends tweets and accounts to users.

He wrote: "Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations."The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over.

It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle. Voting in polls will require verification for same reason."Initially introduced as a safety measure and to curb misinformation, users will now have to sign up to Twitter Blue and pay £9.60 a month to keep their blue check mark.