Elon Musk offered a new heads-up to Twitter users on Wednesday morning, warning that the platform will be trying “lots of dumb things” over the next few months.
The CEO’s notice came shortly after his new verification indicators rolled out on the platform, marking some profiles that already have blue checks “official,” with a secondary check. The plan was first announced Tuesday, just days after revealing that anyone would be able to purchase a blue check.
It was established that, in order to maintain the safety of accounts that had been identity-verified — like companies, notable public figures, etc. — Twitter would introduce a new, gray check mark as part of an “official” label. And indeed, that’s how those checkmarks appeared — before disappearing from the accounts that had earned one just hours later.
“Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months,” Musk wrote. “We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.”
Though Musk didn’t specifically refer to the gray checks in his tweet, he did respond to one user who had briefly gotten one, then pointed out it was gone. “I just killed it,” Musk wrote simply. In a follow-up response, he added: “Blue check will be the great leveler.”
The latter tweet seems to follow Musk’s messaging on the current verification system, which he previously criticized for separating users of Twitter into “lords and peasants,” pushing the idea that the blue check is a mark of status (when, in actuality, it was developed to prevent impersonation of public figures on the platform).
As of this writing, Musk was set to go ahead with his plan to charge users roughly $8 per month to obtain a blue verification check. That said, it was reported this week by Platformer, a Silicon Valley substack run by former editor of The Verge Casey Newton, that Musk is discussing making Twitter itself a paid subscription service.
Both Musk and Sacks have discussed the idea in recent meetings, Platformer reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. One such plan might allow everyone to use Twitter for a limited amount of time each month but require a subscription to continue browsing, the source said.
