Here's why Virat, Rohit, Dhoni, Babar and other celebrities lost "Blue-Tick" on their Twitter profiles
On Thursday, some prominent figures from Team India's past and present, including the captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, lost their verification ticks on Twitter. Since Elon Musk bought over the firm last year, the platform has started the process of removing "legacy verified ticks" from Twitter profiles.
Under Musk's instructions, Twitter developed its paid membership service known as "Twitter Blue," which charges a monthly price for the verified ticks. As a result, a significant number of Indian cricketers, including renowned former batter Sachin Tendulkar, lost their verification ticks on Twitter.
It's interesting to note that it wasn't just Indian cricketers who were affected; Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the greatest football players ever, also lost his "tick" on the platform. The coveted blue checkmarks that were formerly granted to celebrities, journalists, businesspeople, politicians, and organisations after validating their identities were modified under Musk's ownership of Twitter.
Twitter Remove blue-tick️ of famous celebrities:
— Saqlain Khaskhely (@SaqiiTweets) April 21, 2023
Cristiano Ronaldo
Virat Kohli
Imran khan
Sachin Tendulkar
Ms Dhoni
Rohit Sharma
Babar Azam
They served as a symbol of legitimacy. In an effort to establish additional revenue streams outside of advertising, Musk stated in November that Twitter would start charging $8 per month for the badge. Later, the business provided checkmarks in additional colours, including grey for government and multilateral organisations and officials and gold for enterprises.
Additionally, it has begun labelling accounts with "state-affiliated" and "automated by" to indicate whether they are bots or related to the government. The cost of maintaining the marks varies from $8 per month for lone online users to $1,000 per month for organisation verification, plus $50 per month for each affiliate or staff account.
Tomorrow, 4/20, we are removing legacy verified checkmarks. To remain verified on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https://t.co/gzpCcwOXAX
— Twitter Verified (@verified) April 19, 2023
Organizations can sign up for Verified Organizations here: https://t.co/YtPVNYypHU
As was the case with the prior blue tick distributed during the platform's pre-Musk management, Twitter does not validate individual accounts. It will be exciting to see whether individuals are ready to spend money in order to receive a "blue" tick today. Experts predict a decline in popularity as a result of Elon Musk's decision as CEO of Twitter.