X is removing the ability to hide your blue checkmarks. The update was spotted by X user Nima Owji, who received an in-app notification that says: “The hide your checkmark feature of X Premium is going away soon.” X didn’t specify when the option will disappear; the notification simply urges people to “tap to manage your X Premium features.”
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The change comes a week after X began giving blue checkmarks to accounts with a certain number of subscribers. Many expressed irritation at the move, however, since they didn’t want people thinking they were paying for X Premium. Followers were quick to point out that they could hide their checkmarks, an option that’s been available since August 2023.It looks like that may no longer be the case. Owji suggested that people should be able to “hide their checkmarks by changing their profile picture and name constantly [since] X hides your checkmarks for a few days if you change your profile picture or name until they’re reviewed.” But that’s obviously ridiculous.The blue checkmark has been on a bit of a reputational roller coaster since Elon Musk acquired the company. For years, account verifications were a mysterious process and used to signal that the account in question was legit. Musk, however, argued that “the legacy blue checkmark system was corrupt to the core” and removed them from accounts that declined to pay.
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Of course, this allowed bad actors to buy a blue checkmark for a few bucks. Twitter implemented a checkmark waiting period, but Musk was forced to return the checkmarks to accounts with over 1 million followers. He then added them to accounts with 2,500 subscribers, ironically reinstating the popularity-based system he had disparaged as corrupt just a few months before.
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