Where there’s smoke, there’s Space Karen

Space Karen strikes again:

I’m telling you that no one! no one! has any respect for April Fools Day. I’ve seen reports that the OG blue checks were applied by hand and that there is no systematic way to delete them. They can run a report to find them, but then Space Karen’s orcs and minions must change each account’s status manually. But I digest…

Variety:

The only individual Twitter users who will have verified blue check-marks are those paying for Twitter Blue, which in the U.S. costs $8/month via the web and $11/month through in-app payment on iOS and Android. Earlier Thursday, the company announced that Twitter Blue was now available worldwide.

For companies and brands, Twitter recently introduced a gold check-markand has shifted government accounts to a gray check-mark. As previously indicated, a subscription to the social network’s new Twitter Verified Organizations program in the U.S. — which will be the only way to keep a gold or grey check-mark badge — will cost $1,000/month (plus tax) and $50/month (plus tax) for each additional affiliate subaccount. (See pricing here.)

The point of the original blue checkmark was to let users know that they were reading the actual Tweet from the celebrity/journalist and not a parody account. Now that anyone can buy a blue checkmark, it’s an $8 Amero/month license to troll.

I honestly wonder if newsrooms are going to pony-up $1k Ameros (+ $50 per actual reporter) per month. I always thought the blue checks were vanity/status markers (“Oh, she has THAT purse!”) than anything else, but maybe confirming you identity is worth it for Brands.

We’ll see.