Twitter verified is in absolute chaos right now with a surge of fake Nintendo, Rockstar Games, Valve and Twitch accounts.
Following Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter, all chaos has broken loose. Over the weekend, many users plotted to leave the platform in protest of the acquisition. Furthermore, Musk also announced that he will charge $8 per month to be verified.
Anyone can be Twitter verified!
Previously, it didn’t cost a penny to be verified. This feature existed so that it can be easily identified which accounts are genuine and which are fake. As with Facebook and Instagram, Twitter is plagued with thousands of fake accounts posing to be someone or something they are not.
Prior to the takeover, the verification is to “let people know that an account of public interest is authentic. To receive the blue badge, your account must be authentic, notable, and active.”
Well, as you might have guessed, now that anyone can pay to be verified, it is becoming even more difficult to identify genuine and fake accounts. Thankfully, it seems some of the accounts such as Rockstar Games and Valve have been dealt with. For now.
Mario wouldn’t do that!
Take for example this fake “Nintendo of America”, which posted an image of Mario flipping the bird. However, as entertaining as that might be, we’re not sure this is something Mario would do. Let alone, something that the genuine Nintendo company would approve.
However, it doesn’t stop there. Just take a look at this fake Twitch account which has seemingly offered its partners, affiliates and ambassadors a very generous split of that streaming revenue.
At quick glance, thanks to the “verified” tick, the account looks genuine. This is despite it having the handle “@twitchparody”.
Twitter verified is out of control!
We’re sure there are many, many more fake accounts on Twitter, so much so that at this rate it’s practically impossible to keep on top of them. That being said, it seems Elon Musk is aware of the problem and hopes that things will calm down in the coming months.
Following the Twitter takeover, Elon Musk enforced a relentless cost-cutting purge making a large chunk of the workforce redundant. According to CNN, Twitter lost $270 million in the quarter ending June 30th, 2022.
Finally, do you think Elon Musk will ever get a grip on all the fake “verified” Twitter accounts? Let us know across our social media channels.
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Featured Image Credit: Not Nintendo/Source: Eurogamer