San Francisco: Users on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, will now be allowed to hide their once-prized blue check marks, the company says.
A coveted status symbol at Twitter before Elon Musk bought the company, the blue checks have been mocked by some as a sign that the user is willing to pay for special treatment.
“As a subscriber, you can choose to hide your checkmark on your account,” an X help page said on Wednesday.
“The checkmark will be hidden on your profile and posts.”
Blue ticks, long free at Twitter, were intended to signal the identity of certain users — such as journalists, celebrities and politicians — had been verified in an effort to build trust in the platform.
But Musk decried that as a “lords & peasants system,” and opened up access to the check marks to anyone who paid for a Blue subscription — an $8 per month program which gives users access to other special features as well.
He quickly put the program on a temporary hold after problems with people buying tick marks and impersonating high-profile personalities, including the tycoon himself.
In April, the eccentric billionaire then followed through with a long-promised move to strip free blue ticks from Twitter users.
Some praised the move as egalitarian while others decried it as being shaken down for money to safeguard their status on the platform.