Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
X is said to be developing a new token to represent accounts that belong to an individual or a group. The company he says “It created these labels to ensure that users are not misled into thinking that such accounts belong to the organization being sued.”
As of now, accounts will be able to add parody characters at will, but X suggests they will eventually be legal.
We’re releasing a visual account label to differentiate these types of accounts from the rest of our platform. We created these labels to ensure visibility and to ensure that users are not misled into thinking that such accounts belong to this organization…
– Safety (@Safety) January 10, 2025
This may sound like history at this point, but when it was rebranded as Twitter, the social network had a clever way to distinguish legitimate accounts from slanderous ones: The blue icon. The badge was well established as a sign of authenticity; users knew to look suspiciously at any account representing a celebrity that did not display a blue symbol. It was easy for people to understand with interest, and that means you don’t have to explain that the story was sarcastic, which ruins the humor.
Yes, when Elon Musk took the platform he decided to take a sledgehammer to the proven program of Twitter. Musk noted that the label, which had been reserved for the likes of journalists and celebrities, had been haphazardly handed out and given credit to people he believed did not deserve it. Neo-nazis and other foreign figures were not given the marks and conservatives saw the program as favoring them. Allowing everyone to have a pen would eliminate hierarchy, making everyone equal, or so the thinking goes. They also have to deal with the problem of bots by uploading accounts that have placed a credit card, verifying “personality.”
Of course, problems appeared quickly. Because users don’t need to verify what they know to match the account name, X was forced to redesign the old authentication system after the fraudsters. started a proliferation of fake accounts creating dirty documents under the names of people like George W. Bush and Joe Biden. Now, corporations and government officials have their own badges – companies can pay thousands a year to get corporate badges for their employees, and accounts associated with government officials or corporations have silver checks.
What’s worse is that the new confirmation system does not seem to be effective in establishing “personality.” Verified users can monetize the platform while their posts take up a lot of time, creating a negative incentive to abuse them. Users like @CharlieKNews and @TuckerCNews have “verified” signs and mock the names of celebrities to entice users to engage with them. Most of these accounts appear to be people who are scamming other people or posting AI-generated baits in order to farm and earn money. For people in countries with very low wages, it can be a good investment, and more than paying the monthly fee. That doesn’t seem like true, human behavior.
The new parody badges are another way X is trying to solve a self-inflicted problem. It might take the company a few years, but it’s back to where it was before. Except this time is difficult.
All of this just takes the platform down for users, but X lost a lot of advertising money after Musk took over and they need money from users who pay checkmarks, so this is what we get.
