Twitter announces a new “Official” label for select verified accounts
Since the checkmark was previously only available to verified accounts, it was a sign of genuineness on Twitter. The badge showed an account holder is a genuine person, organization, or company that the social network has verified. As such, anything they say or post on the platform could have implications outside it as well. This discouraged such accounts from being biased. But with the new system, everything changes. Twitter is now selling the checkmark to everyone without verifying the account. It’s not difficult to see how this may lead to a greater spread of misinformation on the platform. To that end, Twitter has now announced that it will add an “Official” label to select verified accounts (see image below). Not all existing verified accounts will get it, but the company plans to give it to government accounts, companies, businesses, major media outlets, publishers, and public figures. More importantly, it will not be available for purchase. So the “Official” label will be the true sign of genuineness on Twitter going forward, rather than the checkmark. The problem is it will only appear on the account page, at least as things stand. So it doesn’t fully address the concerns around the potential misuse of the checkmark. Twitter has other measures to curb misuse of the tool, though. CEO Elon Musk has announced that accounts (with or without the checkmark) engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” in their handle will be permanently suspended from the platform. This will reduce the number of fake accounts with a checkmark impersonating prominent personalities and spreading misinformation or misleading others. Accounts with the checkmark will temporarily lose it if they change their name. That’s another measure to prevent its misuse. According to Esther Crawford, who is the Director of Product Management at Twitter, the company is exploring more ways to differentiate between account types. Elon Musk frequently updates Twitter users about upcoming changes to the platform. We will keep you posted with all the information as the social network undergoes a massive transformation following the high-profile privatization a couple of weeks back.
