Social media giant X, previously known as Twitter, now offers its paid users the option to conceal their verification checkmarks. The company, which is owned by Elon Musk, initially introduced paid verification through the Twitter Blue relaunch last year, but it has now been rebranded as XBlue.
To provide clarity on the paid subscriptions, the company has updated its help page titled ‘About Twitter Blue.’ It states that even if a user chooses to hide the checkmark, it might still be visible in certain instances, without further specifying these occurrences.
“As a subscriber, you have the ability to hide your checkmark on your account. This means the checkmark will be hidden from your profile and posts. However, there may still be some places and features where it could appear, and certain functionalities might indicate that you have an active subscription. During the period your checkmark is hidden, some features might not be available. Rest assured, we are continuously improving this feature to enhance your experience,” the page explains.
This feature aims to allow users to enjoy the benefits of a subscription without publicly displaying that they are a verified account. The option to hide the checkmark will be accessible in the “Profile customization” section of the account settings.
In March, Twitter was reported to be working on a feature that would enable users to hide their checkmarks by undergoing ID verification, as shared by app reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi.
The introduction of paid verification sparked considerable controversy, as it became challenging to distinguish between legacy verified accounts of prominent individuals and users who had paid for the checkmark.
In April, Twitter removed legacy checkmarks, only to reinstate them later for top accounts, even if they hadn’t paid for the verification.
Since the relaunch, the company has implemented numerous novel features. These encompass a generous 10,000-character threshold for posts, the capability to upload videos of up to 3 hours in length, a reduction in the number of advertisements displayed on the timeline, and, most notably, ad revenue sharing for subscribed users. All of these innovations are strategically designed to encourage heightened user engagement on the platform.Additionally, in May, the platform enabled encrypted direct messages (DMs) for verified users.
