There, gone and there again: Twitter confuses with a new tick

Elon Musk announced that Twitter will try "a lot of stupid things" in the near future to see what works.

There, gone and there again: Twitter confuses with a new tick

Elon Musk announced that Twitter will try "a lot of stupid things" in the near future to see what works. There will be a foretaste during the course of Wednesday. The platform first introduces a new verification hook and collects it again shortly afterwards. A little later he comes back.

Confusion on Twitter: The short message service introduced a new verification symbol within a few hours, abolished it again and finally introduced it after all. "Please note that Twitter will do a lot of stupid things in the coming months. We will keep what works and change what doesn't work," said the platform's new owner, tech billionaire Elon Musk. A short time later, the responsible Twitter manager Esther Crawford finally announced that the innovation would be implemented after all.

On Wednesday, Twitter initially equipped some accounts of celebrities, politicians and various media with the new verification symbol. A gray tick in a circle and the word "Official" should indicate that the accounts are official. After the first accounts had already received the sign, Musk made a U-turn and withdrew the innovation. "I just buried it," the entrepreneur wrote on Twitter just an hour later.

Minutes later, Twitter director of product development Esther Crawford assured the "official" icon would be introduced as part of the redesign. However, the online service begins “with state and commercial institutions”. Musk's tweet only referred to "the fact that we are not currently giving the 'official' icon to individual users," Crawford assured.

Up to now, a white tick in a blue circle has stood for a verified account on Twitter, and the symbol was given away free of charge. Musk has already announced that all users will be able to get this hook for eight dollars a month in the future. The billionaire had criticized the previous system as an unfair two-class system "of feudal lords and farmers". After taking over Twitter, he had already announced that he would redesign the verification system.

Among the first accounts marked "Official" on Wednesday were those of the Pope and rapper Kanye West. US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron also received the symbol, as did the New York Times and the BBC. A few hours later, the new tick had disappeared again.

Musk took over Twitter at the end of October for 44 billion dollars (around 44 billion euros) and immediately fired the top floor. A week later, he fired around half of the 7,500 employees. Several large corporations have now suspended their advertising on the network.