On Thursday evening Elon Musk’s Twitter went on a rampage of sorts, taking away the last vestige of Old Twitter: the blue check marks the beautiful people had accumulated over the years.
For those who aren’t on Twitter, which is most American adults, the Blue Check was a verification of identity. It was supposed to tell users that @TomBrady was really Tom Brady.
For Tom, the check really didn’t mean anything. But for less famous content creators and Twitter users, getting the check became important. With the check came increased visibility for your posts, more traffic for your website, and more influence. The check mark could literally take a nobody at MSNBC and turn them into one of the biggest accounts on Twitter. Not getting the check meant your posts would be de-emphasized, your reach restricted. That, in turn, meant liberal tweeters could grow their brands faster, land jobs at big media companies, even turn their brand into a lucrative enterprise.
Over the years, it just happened to work out that snotty liberal “disinformation” reporters, CNN talking heads, and anyone who hated Trump could earn a check in an instant. The liberal narrative tweeted from liberal verified accounts became the authoritative version of political reality, while those who tweeted from a conservative perspective languished in the world of shadow bans. You’re average conservative Joe Six-Pack couldn’t possibly get verified as the real Joe Six-Pack. Eventually, having that blue check Twitter badge became a status symbol for the liberal elite — the social media equivalent of PhD or whatever.
Then Elon came along.
Today, Musk destroyed the fake prestige liberal programmers from Silicon Valley bestowed upon so many left-wing dweebs and middling intellects. He has removed all legacy blue checkmarks. All of them. The only way to get a blue check mark now is to buy Twitter Blue, a subscription service that costs less than $10 per month. Full disclosure: I happily paid for the subscription and would pay more just to keep Elon in charge.
Which brings us to the other famous Steve from Maine, Stephen King.
King famously said he would never pay for Twitter. After all, his occasional digs at Trump are worth their weight in gold.
But… somebody still has their blue check mark…
The obvious question is did America’s scariest left-wing Twitter troll cough up some pocket change to keep that check?
King swears he did not.
Which raises yet another question: Did Elon leave King as the only legacy blue check just to troll him?
Because if that’s the case…
Update: Apparently Elon Musk has decided to personally pay for King’s check, along with Lebron James’ and William Shatners’…
