Picture:Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images.
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter was anything but smooth. With last Thursday’s removal of the blue tick for verified legacy accounts, the Tesla CEO hoped there would be a slew of celebrities who would subscribe to his $8-per-month Twitter Blue subscription plan. Well, things didn’t go as planned.
Musk has added just 28 new subscribers to Twitter Blue as of Friday, for a total of 19,497 subscribed accounts, according to independent researcher Travis Brown. That’s not a great number for the billionaire, whose fortune has fallen by billions since he bought Twitter last year. He needs to generate money to keep the social media platform stable. However, Hollywood celebrities are rebelling against his new system.
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Whoa! No idea how, but the blue tick is back. I’m Priyanka again! 😜
— PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) April 23, 2023
Musk revealed that he paid for several prominent accounts to remain verified, including LeBron James, Stephen King, and William Shatner, although he didn’t pursue the idea from them. And then, suddenly over the weekend, other famous faces like Priyanka Chopra, Patton Oswalt and Sir Ian McKellen were re-verified – all shocked at the reappearance of their blue tick and letting everyone know they hadn’t paid for the service.
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Furious! Did the “change your name and then back” trick and the blue tick is gone. Good to know.
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) April 22, 2023
Oswalt even found a workaround to make his blue tick go away again because he’s embarrassed at the association of paying a billionaire for an emoji (or doesn’t want to look like a Musk fanboy). “Angry! Did the ‘change your name and then back’ trick and the blue tick is gone. Good to know,” he tweeted get the blue tick, which could set a dangerous precedent as the social media platform advances It’s unclear if other rivals like Mastodon, Spoutible or Tribel will become true rivals, but Twitter’s golden age is officially over.
Before you go, click to see all of Elon Musk’s family members, exes, and children below.
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