BLUE TICK ‘BLUES’ SWARM CELEBS!

Blue Tick is nothing less than an identity verification mark on Twitter. It helps identify the real celebrity handle from among a host of fake or parody or fan accounts. But, when as part of its new policy ‘to wind down the legacy verified program and removing legacy verified check marks’ the Twitter decided against its earlier policy to allot the service without a charge, many celebrity handles found themselves without the privilege mark. It was in these circumstances, mega star Amitabh Bachchan’s humourous tweet became viral on social media.

(India Input Mumbai Bureau)

The Blue tick is in the news. The social media micro blogging site Twitter has been witnessing a host of transformations lately, after the much talked about take over by Elon Musk.

On Friday 21st April 2023, a news broke many a hearts of the twitter users.  The Blue tick had been withdrawn from all those ‘earlier verified but not yet paid’ handles. The Blue Tick is considered to be a mark to proclaim the handle as a genuine and not imposter, a fan or a parody account.  More importantly for some users, it happened to be a status symbol.

The list of ‘victims’ of this new policy step by Twitter bosses, to have lost the Blue Tick Check Mark from their Twitter handles, seemed much longer and heavier. It included names such as Bollywood celebs such as Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Kajol and Alia Bhatt Kapoor besides political heavyweights like Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Delhi CM Arvind Kejariwal, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, Tamilnadu CM M. K. Stalin, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra besides Cricket stars such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

India’s most known Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar who enjoys 38.6 million followers on Twitter, was among the most notable Sports icon to lose the verified status.

AMITABH BACHCHAN’S TWEET

Mega star Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) twitted in hindi which meant, “Hey Twitter brother..! Are you listening? Now I have even paid.. so, put back the blue lotus (tick)  in front of my name, so that people know that it is Amitabh Bachchan only. I have already requested with folded hands. Now, should I also fall at your feet?”

Actor Shahid Kapoor was more humouros when he jokingly twitted in Hindi, something that goes like, “Who touched my blue tick? Elon (Musk) you stay there.. I am coming..!” The tweet accompanied his image riding a bike as the famous character Kabir Singh.

SACHIN TENDULKAR SCORED !

But, the most graceful response came from legendary Sachin.

He posted his own selfie as an interim verification.

“As of now, this is my blue tick verification” twitted Sachin Tendulkar with a his pic in a blue shirt, his left hand fingers showing a smiling posture.

GOI MINISTRIES LOST THE TICK

The important arms of the Government of India (GoI) viz. India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Ministry of Labour, ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), ministry of Power, ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and ministry of Commerce and Industry were some of the other prominent handles to lose the mark.

‘THE BLUE TICK’ HAS A PRICE TAG NOW

Since 2009, the Blue Tick has been the identification mark for a verified account on the Twitter. It protected the well known handles from impersonation and also tackling fake or false information.  It was subject to approval and didn’t cost anything before.

However, it now costs approximately rupees nine thousand four hundred per year. It also comes with attractive key facilities such as better visibility, prioritized rankings, ability to edit tweets besides post longer and high definition videos etc. That means, the proud users, who still have blue tick check marks on their twitter handles, are paying USD 8 per month via the web or USD 11 per month through in app payment on iOS and Android.  Sources claim that the social media service is now charging individuals rupees 650 per month on the web and rupees 900 per month on mobile devices to maintain the ‘verified account/handle’ status.

GREY TICK VERIFICATION

A Government or multilateral organization or official now has a grey verification check mark on its handle. The Twitter handles of President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal and Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav are among those with grey tick verification check mark.   Ministry of Finance, ministry of Railways, ministry of Education, ministry of Health were among those who got grey tick mark.

(Featured image : Pexels.com)