Elon Musk’s Blue Tick System Spawns Spoof Account Galore
This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app icon on a mobile phone in Philadelphia.
After megabillionaire Elon Musk sealed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter on October 28, amid a plethora of changes, the social media service launched a new subscription service for $7.99 a month that allows users to verify their accounts with the blue check mark next to the account’s name.From ex-President George W Bush to the social media platform itself, Twitter has become inundated with fake profiles in the wake of the social media platform’s $8 per month paid-for verification system launch. So much for new “Chief Twit” Elon Musk’s claims that the pay system would “defeat the bots and trolls.” While users appear to be enjoying the spoof accounts galore, Twitter is in a frenzy to deactivate these parody accounts. However, right now it looks like its losing the battle, with posts being endlessly retweeted by users for kicks. Politicians, businesses, celebrities are all being parodied.
The microblogging site itself was trolled, with the impersonator offering the Blue Tick for “free” to”crypto/NFT holders who authenticated their wallet assets.” Before being suspended, the parody account’s tweet drummed up over 35,000 retweets and 4,990 likes.