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Andy Murray was one of the celebrities who saw his blue tick return without warning or publicity.
Blue tickets, once a free authenticity and/or popularity indicator, must now be purchased by subscribers for $8 per month, Twitter says.
Non-paying accounts with the blue logo, unveiled last year, lost ground Thursday as owner Elon Musk fully implemented a strategy dubbed «Twitter Blue» to generate new revenue.
My blue tick reappeared 🤔🤔🤔
For free… some game— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) April 23, 2023
According to Travis Braun, a Berlin-based software developer who monitors social media platforms, less than 5 percent of the 407,000 profiles are blue-tagged users who sign up for the subscription.
However, on Friday and Saturday, some famous celebrities regained their blue badges, seemingly without any action on their part, including Murray and author Stephen King, NBA champion LeBron James and former US President Donald Trump, among others.
On Friday, the South African-born billionaire announced that he would personally pay for blue tickets for a handful of high-profile users.
Many celebrities have noticed that blue ticks are restored without any questions or requests from the user.
Most of those who received the tick were quick to make it clear to their followers that they had not signed up for the premium service.
The celebrities in question had mixed feelings about the reformation, with many feeling they were being used as a promotional tool.
Tech reporter Kara Swisher tweeted Saturday that she received a blue badge without her permission, saying, «No, guys.»
«Inquiring minds need to know: Does Elon love me or my 1.49 million followers?» She added, two hours after saying she wouldn’t pay «$8 a month for blue check and meh features.»
Read more: Andy Murray looks set to return to French Open this year if he feels fit to compete
Also returning to some blue ticks were popular media outlets and new agencies like the New York Times and AFP.
The changes did not cause US public radio station NPR and Canada’s public broadcaster CBC to reduce their postings on the platform.
Other institutions have seen their ticks return, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) noting the change and responding on Twitter: «We do not subscribe to Twitter Blue.»
Musk has hit back at critics, including Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, who mocked the billionaire’s ‘loss of control under pressure’.
“So my blue check showed up again. I had nothing to do with this, and I certainly won’t.
