Twitter Blue Users Could Soon be Able Hide ‘Badge of Shame’ Amid Heavy Trolling

Under the leadership of its CEO Elon Musk, Twitter began offering blue ticks for sale last year.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Richa Sharma | Updated: 24 March 2023 18:56 IST

Twitter Blue Users Could Soon be Able Hide ‘Badge of Shame’ Amid Heavy Trolling

Photo Credit: Reuters

Twitter Blue subscription in India costs Rs. 900 monthly

Highlights

Twitter is loading its paid services with newer features
Hiding blue ticks for paid users could be an upcoming feature
Twitter Blue subscribers are often trolled for buying ‘badge of shame’

Twitter might be testing an option to let its blue tick buyers choose if they wish to display their verification badges or hide it. As Twitter gears up to remove legacy blue ticks starting April 1, it is rolling out more profile customisation features for people who have paid to get their blue ticks as part of the Twitter Blue plan. Under the leadership of its CEO Elon Musk, Twitter began offering blue ticks for sale last year.

As spotted by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, Twitter Blue users would soon be able to choose if they wish to show their blue ticks or keep them concealed.

Paluzzi shared a screenshot of the feature, which currently looks under trial, with his followers on the micro-blogging platform.

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#Twitter keeps working on the ability to control everything related to account verification and identity by adding the option to show or hide your blue checkmark on your profile :eyes: pic.twitter.com/6uTjBON21N
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) March 21, 2023

Regardless of what users choose, all Twitter Blue users are expected to still be able to utilise the special features that come bundled with the blue tick, including longer tweets and the option to edit published posts.

This could also save Twitter's paid users from the heavy trolling that have been coming their way for buying a verification badge. Some have even called the iconic Twitter blue tick the ‘badge of shame'.

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Oh, I love this. They realize the Checkmark will become a Badge of Shame. https://t.co/P22qYsSwsZ
— Zack Davisson (@ZackDavisson) March 24, 2023

This is so funny. They remove the verification process and add the check to the paid subscription as an incentive. Turns out everyone hates the paid users so they gotta have the option to hide it https://t.co/g7KsoZk2IA
— Serial Bookmarker (@Kontatheking1) March 24, 2023

so lemme be sure I have this right: twitter is removing legacy checks, meaning blue check=paid sub. but paid checks have been ridiculed en masse, so twt is working on the option to hide the check. meaning that those users are essentially paying $8 for a secret shame to hide? https://t.co/SE1IuhKJKb
— new cat adoptee moss (@Nyarlathojeff) March 24, 2023

As of now, Twitter has not officially disclosed details around the launch of this feature.

The blue check mark — previously free for verified accounts of politicians, famous personalities, journalists, and other public figures — was put on sale last year to grow Twitter revenue.

Buying a blue tick on Twitter costs Rs. 900 per month in India. In the US, it is priced at $8 (roughly Rs. 660) on the monthly basis.

In order to give special features and benefits to only paid subscribers, Twitter has decided to pull back the blue ticks that were issued upon legitimate verification before Musk stepped into the picture.

The company plans to keep loading the Twitter Blue subscription with more features to make it enticing for people to buy.

In January 2023, for instance, Musk had said that a higher priced subscription of the social media platform will not carry advertisements.

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Further reading: Twitter, Apps, Blue Tick, Elon Musk

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More