Keeping an account verified on Twitter comes at a price now that the social media giant is charging monthly fees to keep the coveted check mark.
But even though Twitter said users who don’t pay for their existing check marks will lose them come Saturday, it doesn’t appear accounts have lost verification — except for the New York Times.
The New York Times’ main account lost its blue check mark over the weekend after saying it would not pay the $1,000 monthly fee for the new gold check reserved for some businesses on the platform.
Twitter owner Elon Musk took to Twitter to denounce the New York Times’ content, calling it uninteresting and “unreadable.”
“Their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea,” Musk tweeted.
Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable.
They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles.
Same applies to all publications.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2023
But the New York Times isn’t the only official account refusing to pay for verification status. The White House has reportedly said it will not pay for some of its official staff members to be verified.
Other top users refusing to pay include NBA star Lebron James, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and actor Ben Stiller.
Twitter says the 10,000 most-followed organizations and top 500 advertisers can stay verified at no cost.
Users wanting a blue check mark, whether previously verified or not, will be required to pay $8 monthly with web sign-up or $11 monthly with iOS sign up to obtain one.
