Twitter rolls back $8 blue verification check after wave of imposter accounts mimic real brands
Twitter Blue signups unavailable after raft of fake accounts
Twitter's relaunched premium service -- which grants blue-check "verification" labels to anyone willing to pay $8 a month -- was unavailable Friday after the social media platform was flooded by a wave of imposter accounts it itself had approved.
SAN FRANCISCO - Twitter CEP Elon Musk's idea of charging users for a blue verification checkmark was put on hold Friday, after the social media company verified a wave of imposter accounts posing as real brands.
Musk decided to change the policy on Twitter's blue checkmark that previously verified the identity of certain influential users such as politicians and celebrities. Instead, the $8 monthly fee for the new premium service allowed anyone to get verified, spawning a wave of imitation accounts.
Eli Lilly issued an apology and clarification on its official platform @Lillypad and after an account @EliLillyandCO posted misleading tweet stating "We are excited to announce insulin is free now."
The fake tweet caused Eli Lilly's stock to drop.
Nintendo, Lockheed Martin and Musk's own Tesla and SpaceX also were impersonated.
That continued to cause worry among some advertisers that Musk's now-famous entrance walking into the Twitter headquarters with a kitchen sink, might portend the beginning of Twitter going down the drain.
"Given his track record for rather inflammatory speech, I think advertisers are a little bit are cautious about the quality of leadership he can actually bring to the table," said Professor Olaf Groth at UC Berkeley's Haas Business School and CEO of Cambrian.ai.
Professor Groth says it isn't just advertisers who are exiting.
Some of Twitter's top talent are also taking flight, including Yoel Roth, who changed his Twitter account to read "Former Head of Trust and Safety @ Twitter" after being touted by Musk just last week.
"The same people that have been putting their careers on the line and negotiating with the FTC, and putting safeguards in place," said Groth, "They're now saying well, heck if that's how you want to play it I'm not going to keep put my name on the line here."
The exits come as Musk laid off as much as half of the staff.
Groth says Musk needs to act quickly because the company is losing money.
A leaked recording reportedly capturing Musk's speech to staff this week, included comments about Twitter expanding user-generated video capabilities and payments on the platform.
"There's very limited opportunity for that on Twitter right now, and so I think he's starting to enrich and embellish that which I think is probably the right path," said Groth.
Users are divided on Twitter moving forward.
"I've been re-evaluating my relationship with tech, and I'm in tech, so I wouldn't say I'm a Twitter user for life," said Colton Weeks of San Francisco.
"We'll have to see though how quickly he can generate revenue because he's losing $4 million a month," said Professor Groth, "He's paying a billion dollars in interest on the $13billion loans he's taken out leveraging up Twitter. And all of those things need to be paid back."
Musk posted on his Twitter account Friday that the company plans to add another label "Parody" for accounts that resemble real brands.