I think the "blue check" verification on Twitter is its most powerful asset. The most important people in the world (culture icons, heads of state & companies, and subject matter experts) congregate there to share their thoughts.
Elon has proposed selling blue check marks for $240/year. That's a lot of money for a lowly academic and nothing to a rich kid who wants to shout about their chosen topic. If that happens your heuristic for quality is going to break down very quickly.
This isn't a criticism of Elon's idea. Blue check marks has always been a verification that the account isn't an imposter. They've never been a mark of subject matter authority. As a business strategy selling them makes a lot of sense; even more so if people believe they're buying credibility.
That is true _at the moment_, but do you think that when Elon starts charging money for the check mark, he's going to leave money at the table for something as small as authenticity?
> Blue check marks has always been a verification that the account isn't an imposter.
It might have started out that way, but over the years Twitter also added behavioral requirements primarily aimed at undesirables. Most prominent case I can recall is Richard Spencer.
Elon has proposed selling blue check marks for $240/year. That's a lot of money for a lowly academic and nothing to a rich kid who wants to shout about their chosen topic. If that happens your heuristic for quality is going to break down very quickly.
This isn't a criticism of Elon's idea. Blue check marks has always been a verification that the account isn't an imposter. They've never been a mark of subject matter authority. As a business strategy selling them makes a lot of sense; even more so if people believe they're buying credibility.