Remember the days when being verified on Twitter was cause to show off and brag? Good times. Now, things are different and, according to the company (via The Verge), you can now hide your verified checkmark. This is just in case people are poking fun at you on the internet playground.
Times sure have changed; back in the day, the verified checkmark was a symbol that you’d want people to see. It was a sign that you were relevant on the platform. However, in one fell swoop, Elon Musk uprooted that and gave the badge to anyone willing to part with $8/month.
Now, you can hide your Twitter Blue checkmark
In a Twitter support article, it notes that people on Twitter Blue can dive into their settings and make it so that they appear unverified. The badge will disappear from your profile and from your posts. This means that you’ll appear like the rest of the riffraff. It’s available now, so you can change this on the Profile customization screen.
Why is hiding the checkmark necessary
Elon Musk’s change to the verification system also marked a change in Twitter’s culture. No one really cared about whether a person was verified on the platform or not before. Of course, celebrities, influencers, and other notable figures had the verification mark. It was just a sign that they were popular.
However, when Elon Musk took over the platform, he brought several changes that were frowned upon by the general population. Then, he started charging $8/month for Twitter Blue. Anyone who still bought the subscription was seen as a brainless diehard Elon Musk fan.
So, the verified checkmark turned from a symbol of status to an indicator that you were a mindless drone. This led to verified users being placed into an unfortunate subset of Twitter users. There are people who want to hide the fact that they’re subscribed to Blue in order to avoid online confrontations.
However, hiding their verified checkmarks won’t really be enough if their tweets are as long as novels with bold and italicized text. Those are Twitter Blue-exclusive features.