Twitter to add gray ‘official’ mark to verified big accounts

NEW YORK, Nov 9, (AP): Twitter said Tuesday it will add a gray “official” label to some high-profile accounts to indicate that they are authentic, the latest twist in new owner Elon Musk’s chaotic overhaul of the platform’s verification system.

The site’s current system of using what are known as “blue checks” confirming an account’s authenticity will soon go away for those who don’t pay a monthly fee. The checkmarks will be available at a yet-to-be-announced date for anyone willing to pay a $7.99-a-month subscription, which will also include some bonus features, such as fewer ads and the ability to have tweets given greater visibility than those coming from non-subscribers.

The platform’s current verification system has been in place since 2009 and was created to ensure high-profile and public-facing accounts are who they say they are.

Experts have expressed concern that making the checkmark available to anyone for a fee could lead to impersonations and the spreading of misinformation and scams. The gray label - a color that tends to blend into the background whether you use light or dark mode to scroll Twitter - is an apparent compromise. But it might lead to more confusion, as Twitter users accustomed to the blue check as a mark of authenticity will now have to look for the less obvious “official” designation.

Esther Crawford, a Twitter employee who has been working on the verification overhaul, said Tuesday on Twitter that the “official” label will be added to “select accounts” when the new system launches.

“Not all previously verified accounts will get the ‘Official’ label and the label is not available for purchase,” said Crawford, who recently was the subject of a viral photo showing her sleeping on the floor of a Twitter office while working to meet Musk’s deadlines.

Crawford said those receiving the label include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures.

There are about 423,000 verified accounts under the outgoing system. Many of those belong to celebrities, businesses and politicians, as well as media outlets.

But a large chunk of verified accounts belong to individual journalists, some with tiny followings at local newspapers and news sites around the world. The idea was to verify reporters so their identities couldn’t be used to push false information on Twitter. Musk had previously floated designating official accounts in a way other than the blue check.

Also:

NEW YORK: Twitter’s new owner and Tesla CEO Elon

Musk sold nearly $4 billion worth of Tesla shares, according to regulatory filings.

Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion, sold 19.5 million shares of the electric car company from Nov. 4 to Nov. 8, according to Tuesday’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He sold $7 billion of his Tesla stock in August as he worked to finance the Twitter purchase he was trying to get out of at the time. In all, Musk has sold more than $19 billion worth of Tesla stock since April, including those in Tuesday’s filings, likely to fund his share of the Twitter purchase.

The takeover of Twitter has not been smooth and the social media platform has seen the exodus of some big advertisers in recent weeks in including United Airlines, General Motors, REI, General Mills and Audi.

Musk acknowledged “a massive drop in revenue” at Twitter, which heavily relies on advertising to make money.

Musk had signaled that he was done selling Tesla shares and the revelation that those sales continue left some industry analysts exasperated.

“Our fear heading into the final days of the deal was that Musk was going to be forced to sell more Tesla stock to fund the disaster Twitter deal and ultimately those fears came true which speaks to some of the massive selling pressures on the stock of late,” wrote Daniel Ives at Wedbush. “For Musk who multiple times over the past year has said he is ‘done selling Tesla stock’ yet again loses more credibility with investors and his loyalists in a boy who cried wolf moment.”

Most of Musk’s wealth is tied up in shares of Tesla Inc. On Tuesday, his personal net worth dropped below $200 billion, according to Forbes, but he is still the world’s richest person.

Musk had lined up banks including Morgan Stanley to help finance the Twitter deal. His original share of the deal was about $15.5 billion, Ives estimated . But if equity investors dropped out, Musk would be on the hook to replace them or throw in more of his own money.

“The Twitter circus show has been an absolute debacle from all angles since Musk bought the platform for all the world to see: from the 50% layoffs and then bringing back some workers, to the head scratching verification roll-out to users which many are pushing back on, to the constant tweeting in this political firestorm backdrop, and now ..... selling more TSLA stock,” Ives wrote. “When does it end?”

Shares of Tesla Inc., which were flat before the opening bell Wednesday, have fallen 8% this week and are down 46% this year, far outpacing broader market declines in what has been a dreadful year for investors.