“Well he did,” the Nintendo scammer replied.
It’s been a tumultuous time for Twitter. On November 1st, the social media company rolled out changes to Twitter Blue, allowing subscribers to get the legendary blue tick for $7.99 per month. The change has caused widespread confusion. The blue tick previously meant that the account holder’s identity was verified by the company; Now it simply means that a user has paid for Blue.
Twitter disabled signups for Twitter Blue on Friday, citing “impersonation issues” in a note to Twitter employees seen by The Washington Post.
A user paid Twitter Blue for an account called @valvesotfware (note the clever typo) and posed as video game publisher and distributor Valve to post a fake game sequel Notice, some gamers baffling. The account later posted a follow-up tweet aimed at Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, and how easily the new Twitter Blue could be used to spread misinformation.
“Twitter Blue is a problem, misinformation is so easy to spread… You now own a massive platform and what you do with it make it better,” the account wrote.
Another account, @RockstarGamse, impersonated the Grand Theft Auto developer with a bogus update to the studio’s upcoming title, Grand Theft Auto VI. All of these accounts were eventually banned.
A Twitch parody account that uses “twitch” as its display name but clearly identifies itself as a parody account in its bio is still active. The account tweeted on Wednesday fake changes on the controversial revenue sharing of Twitch. (Twitch is owned by Amazon, whose founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post). Musk has previously said that Twitter users will be banned if they are caught impersonating other parties, but that parody accounts will still be allowed.
Currently, you can only verify that an account’s blue tick means it’s a verified account or a Twitter Blue subscriber by clicking on the badge itself next to the account’s display name. A Twitter Blue account is defined as “verified because subscribed to Twitter Blue” while a blue Twitter account browses previous verification system indicates that the account is “verified because it is notable as a public figure.”
Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October, is a popular target for impersonators. Comedian Kathy Griffin and actress Valerie Bertinelli posed as Musk to crack down on Twitter’s new verification system.
Musk has drawn widespread criticism for his aggressive early changes to Twitter. His approach to content moderation has made advertisers suspicious, and Musk has threatened a “thermonuclear name & shame” campaign against brands that have left the platform. Last week, he initiated layoffs aimed at shedding almost half of the company’s workforce.