If you have a legacy verified account on Twitter, get ready to pay up or say goodbye to the blue check, as Twitter has revealed it will begin winding down its legacy verified program on April 1.
The official Twitter Verified account made the announcement, saying individuals and organizations can only keep the verified status by subscribing to Twitter Blue or signing up for Verified Organizations, respectively.
On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https://t.co/gzpCcwOpLp
— Twitter Verified (@verified) March 23, 2023
Organizations can sign up for https://t.co/RlN5BbuGA3…
Twitter Blue accounts keep the blue check, while organizations are noted by a gold checkmark. The gold checkmark was introduced after a wave of impersonations forced Twitter to delay and rethink its verified strategy. Government officials are represented by gray checkmarks as another way to prevent the spread of misinformation.
Shortly after Elon Musk took over the social media platform, Twitter quickly changed how the verification process works. Instead of going through a process to get verified, anyone can get the blue checkmark added to their profile by paying $8 a month to subscribe to Twitter Blue.
The blue checkmark isn't the only feature getting locked behind Twitter Blue's paywall. Last month, Twitter revealed that it will charge its users for text-based two-factor authentication. The rollback of that security feature started this week. This followed issues with Twitter's 2FA that users started noting in November.
The verification saga is juts one part of Musk's Twitter takeover, which has included hundreds of layoffs and resignations, reports of a paywalled video feature, Musk saying "bankruptcy isn't out of the question", and a lot more.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
