Who’s verified? Who’s not? Who knows, it’s Twitter

Did a Twitter account get a blue checkmark by paying for Twitter Blue or is it a legacy verified account? Right now it’s nearly impossible to tell.

Why we care. Twitter’s designation for “notable” accounts was supposed to disappear April 1. Some have (e.g., The New York Times lost it) but many others have not yet lost the designation. And with April 15 approaching, Twitter CEO Elon Musk has said that “only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations” starting April 15.

What it looks like. On all blue checkmarks, Twitter now says: “This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account.”

Before April 2, Twitter showed a different message: “This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue.”

The addition of “or is a legacy verified account” has made it impossible to tell who paid for their checkmark and who didn’t. Probably the hope is Twitter will drive more sign-ups for Twitter Blue.

And before April 1, on legacy verified accounts you would see the message “This is a legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable. Learn more“:

Many search marketers have said they won’t pay for Twitter Blue, so they are voluntarily giving up the blue checkmark. Such as Google’s Ads Liaison, Ginny Marvin.

“Twitter has been an integral aspect of my professional life for more than a decade,” Marvin tweeted. “I don’t need a blue check mark for that to continue.”

Twitter Blue. About 180,000 U.S. accounts (approximately 290,000 worldwide) had signed up for the $8 per month (or $11 on mobile) service, as of mid-January, according to documents obtained by the Information (warning: paywalled).

Furthering the confusion. Twitter’s top 500 advertisers, as well as the 10,000 most-followed organizations with prior verification, reportedly will continue to have verified accounts – without paying – under the new Verified Organizations program.

Update. Martin MacDonald, founder of MOG Media, pointed out to me on Twitter that verification status can be verified. While it’s not visible to the average user, It’s all in the JSON payload. Both “verified” and “is_blue_verified” have flags.