Since taking over social media platform Twitter, new owner and CEO Elon Musk has put forth many changes, including the Twitter Blue subscription program.
The social media platform is now charging users who want their accounts to have a checkmark, which acts as a verification service and comes with additional perks and features (i.e., ability to participate in polls, showing up higher in replies and appearing in the For You section).
What Happened: Among the accounts that have blue checkmarks as of Friday, April 21, are parody accounts of Jesus, God and Satan.
An account missing a blue checkmark is none other than Pope Francis, head of the worldwide Catholic Church.
The official account of Pope Francis (@pontifex), which isn't a parody, saw its blue checkmark removed on Thursday, April 20. The account has 18.8 million followers.
On Friday, the account was given a gray checkmark and listed as verified due to being “a government or multilateral organization account.”
The account of Jesus Christ (@jesus), meanwhile, is listed as a “carpenter, healer, God.” The account, which has 886,000 followers, is subscribed to Twitter Blue and costs $8 a month. The profile picture features “Buddy Christ,” a Jesus statue first seen in Kevin Smith's 1999 comedy "Dogma."
Another parody account, @god, joined in 2007 and has the tagline: “I will judge you. I am a parody, just like your god." The account touts more than 540,000 followers and has a blue checkmark from paying for the monthly subscription.
The account @satan is listed as suspended, but another account with the name Satan and the appropriate handle of @s8n boasts more than 2.2 million followers. The account joined Twitter in 2008 and mainly posts memes and news headlines of a religious nature. The tagline of the account is “not evil, just misunderstood.” The account subscribes to Twitter Blue and has a blue checkmark. It might also be worth noting that the account of Satan has more followers than Jesus and God combined.
Related Link: Pope Francis 'Drippy As Hell' Image Gets Elon Musk's Attention, Breaks Internet - But Is It Real?
Why It Matters: Celebrities and former athletes were among the people calling out the new blue checkmark subscription service.
On Thursday, many on social media were quick to highlight that many celebrity and notable accounts are now missing their blue checkmarks, signaling that they are not paying the monthly subscription fee required for the new Musk-led Twitter Blue.
Benzinga highlighted that the accounts of Donald Trump, Cristiano Ronaldo, Bill Gates and J.K Rowling were among the big names without blue checks.
The accounts of LeBron James, Stephen King and William Shatner had blue checkmarks, which it was found out were being paid for directly by Musk.
The concern from many is that, by not paying for the checkmark, Twitter users are more vulnerable to impersonation and potential scams.
Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, has not caved on the new platform and sees Twitter Blue as a way to gain additional revenue from accounts.
He also appears to be quite happy with the rollout and the changes being made.
“Great song,” Musk tweeted sharing a link to the song “Blue (Da Ba Dee).”
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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