Twitter claims dead celebs are subscribing to Blue from beyond the grave

Re:Twitter claims dead celebs are subscribing to Blue from b... by AlexandrB on Monday April 24, 2023 @10:53AM (#35688380)

This makes sense in isolation, but the way that Elon has approached managing Twitter has turned the verified status into a symbol of allegiance with one side or another. So now being verified doesn't just communicate something about your account, but about your political ideology and whether you agree with Elon's decisions or not. It's this aspect that's a bit of an ethical hot potato here.

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Re:Twitter claims dead celebs are subscribing to Blue from b... by mrozbarry on Monday April 24, 2023 @11:00AM (#35688469)

I'm not confident about the entire statement you're making. Paying $8 does not equate to agreeing with Elon or what side of politics you sit, paying $8 only equates to whether or not you want a blue "verified" checkmark.

I really hate this culture of "cancel person X" and if you use anything "person X" has made, your a racist/bigot/whatever.

This whole blue check politic statement you are making is a strawman.

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Re:Twitter claims dead celebs are subscribing to Blue from b... by AlexandrB on Monday April 24, 2023 @11:22AM (#35688755)

Like it or not, Musk has worked hard at tying Twitter to his personal brand since he took over. Consider that Twitter has no PR department outside of Elon himself. It's not as closely tied as something like Tesla, but still if you don't like Elon or his politics you're less likely to pay for verification. This means that the checkmark now has an associated political/social connotation. No it's not 100%, but it's there.

Edit: This applies in reverse as well. There are definitely fans/admirers of Elon who subscribed immediately as a show of support. But I admit all of this is anecdata, I don't have numbers on how widespread it is.

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