By by Oyero Abiodun Yakub
Following the complete takeover of Twitter by Tesla boss, Elon Musk, there have been changes to some of the modus operandi of the micro-blogging site and its company.
The businessman started by laying off staff from its headquarters, and some of its offices around the world including the one in Ghana being the sole office in Africa. He claimed the action was to cut costs.
On the 1st of November, 2022, Elon Musk announced via his verified Twitter handle that the micro-blogging site will start attaching a price of $8 per month to its verified users. Also, new users can get the blue tick for the same price. Under former CEO, Jack Dorsey, the badge was given out for ‘free’ after meeting certain criteria.
Following the paid verification service launched earlier last week in its iPhone apps, a lot of ‘fake’ verified accounts flooded the street of Twitter, impersonating brands and top officials with the Blue tick.
One such is a parody account claiming to be Jesus Christ. The owner of the account @Jesus handle bought the badge, and it skyrocketed its followers count from over 772K to 831K in days. Also, a fake account carrying the name of former United States of America President, Donald J. Trump was also spotted. The handle @DonaldTrumpReal made tweeps think the former President is back on the app, following his permanent suspension on January 8, 2021.
However, the paid verification system has been suspended, due to the abuse by some users. Brands complained of loss due to impersonations. Pharmaceutical giant, Eli Lily wasn’t spared from the great blow as its stock price dropped by 4.5% after a verified fake account with the brand’s name tweeted “we are excited to announce that Insulin is free now”. Additionally, some other users who paid for the blue tick before Friday could no longer find it on their account, including the ‘Jesus’ handle.
