The history of verified accounts on Twitter has come to an end. (Finally.) After several months of protracted changes, the program that once identified famous accounts – for example, those owned by journalists, large corporations and public figures – is forever gone.

However, the blue checkmarks originally meant verified status Not disappearance Instead, their meaning is now different. Now checkmarks of other colors have joined the line.

You can think of the entire system as a set of subscriber icons, with differences between each one. We’ve explained them for you below, but keep in mind: Twitter is constantly changing its approach to checkmarks and how they are applied to accounts. What is relevant now may change even in a couple of weeks.

As for making sure the Twitter account is official, you will now need to verify the account name yourself (for example, check it against the official website).

blue tick

Before Elon Musk took over Twitter, a blue check mark meant the account was verified, meaning the person’s identity was verified. This distinction has helped people believe that the account really belongs to a prominent person, such as a business, government official, journalist, or other public figure or brand. These legacy verified accounts lost their badge on April 20th.

Now this blue check mark means that the account is following TwitterBlue. For $8/month online (or $11/month via iOS and Android), eligible accounts get a badge plus additional features such as reduced ads, the ability to edit tweets, longer tweets up to 10,000 characters, and text formatting. To be eligible, an account must be active for the past 30 days, have a display name, photo, and verified phone number, and cannot impersonate another account or entity. (The latter requirement is likely related to the chaos that erupted when Twitter Blue first ticked off followers immediately.)

Accounts with one million or more followers are also automatically blue-ticked, in some cases against the express wishes of the account holders. In other cases, the mark has been applied to high-profile accounts belonging to deceased public figures.

golden tick

PC world

Twitter is short on money and wants subscription money from the people who can actually pay for it: businesses. Companies that participate in Verified Twitter organization programs receive a yellow checkmark to indicate their participation, as well as a square avatar icon, Twitter Blue features, and the ability to add partner accounts (i.e., individuals, divisions, or sub-brands associated with the organization).

Considering the cost of the subscription – $1,000 per month in the US – it’s unlikely that you’ll run into a fake account with, say, a bank or other large institution, but not impossible. Program conditions don’t describe the actual verification process. Twitter no longer has a media relations team to answer questions about this.

gray tick

PC world

A variant of the verified organizations badge, this variant of the subscription icon means a government organization or official, or a multilateral agency such as the United Nations.

Previously, Twitter also used this icon to identify media, but now this policy has changed and now such organizations are indicated by a golden tick. Labels further identifying government-affiliated media appear to have disappeared as of April 21, along with a company help page that explained his definition of state media. Meanwhile, rival Facebook is still sticking to its media labeling policy with direct government control over editorial content.

The change closes a short period when news outlets, usually considered independent, displayed a golden checkmark along with a label indicating they were government funded. High-profile examples include NPR, which decided to stop using Twitter entirely, and the Canadian Broadcasting Company.

When the CBC explained its funding, Twitter changed the account’s label as a publicly funded media outlet to include the following information:

PC world

According to a Reuters report, CBC is 58 percent funded by government sources.