Bye, bye blue checks: Twitter wipes legacy verified badges from the platform

It's the dawn of a new day on the embattled app.
By Tim Marcin  on 
people with checkmarks as head, illustrated
Will we actually see legacy checks go? Credit: Mashable / Vicky Leta

Chief Twit Elon Musk promised that Thursday — which just happened to be 4/20, you know, the stoner holiday — legacy blue checkmarks would disappear from Twitter.

That means people who were actually verified — celebrities, journalists, politicians, etc. — would be stripped of their verification badge, leaving only the folks who paid for Twitter Blue with checkmarks. As of publish time, the legacy check marks are slowly disappearing from our timelines, and users are reporting that their badges are "flickering" — there one second and gone another. Previously, Musk falsely promised to strip the badges — he last did so on April 1 — and he didn't even wait for the clock to strike 4:20 p.m. to do the deed.

For its part, Twitter even promised that April 20 is actually the day.

Still, as we're in the middle of the mass blue-check removal, Twitter users were joking and meme-ing as we waited for the complete blue-check wipeout.

Halle Berry had a great joke about it.

People wondered if Musk's plan all along was to make it seem like legacy checks actually did pay for Twitter Blue. After all, Musk has had tremendous difficulty getting legacy checks to pony up the $8 per month.

Lots of jokes were made at Musk's expense.

And then there just lots of jokes, in general.

It remains to be seen if today is actually the day Musk strips folks of checkmarks. But for now, we can all sit around, wait, and joke about it.

Mashable Image
Tim Marcin

Tim Marcin is a culture reporter at Mashable, where he writes about food, fitness, weird stuff on the internet, and, well, just about anything else. You can find him posting endlessly about Buffalo wings on Twitter at @timmarcin.


Recommended For You
How to try Sora, OpenAI's AI video generator


Elmo's wellness check turned into a mass online trauma dump


Netflix's 'Scoop' teaser recreates BBC's infamous Prince Andrew interview

More in Life

How to track your tax refund online

The best Presidents' Day deals you can shop right now, from mattresses to tech


12 products on sale that make great Valentine's Day gifts

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for February 21

Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for February 21

NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for February 20


How to try Sora, OpenAI's AI video generator
The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!