Do blue ticks make you worthy, or do you have a blue tick because you are worthy?

Oh! People lost blue ticks,

But wouldn't you still be an influencer even without a blue tick,

Though a tiny minuscule part of the aura is gone...

But eventually, your audience will get used to it.

Blue tick or no tick,

Greatness lies in you!

Recently a lot of influencers across the globe lost their blue ticks on Twitter. Word spread like wildfire, influencers lost their blue ticks, influencers lost their blue ticks, and Elon Musk has finally done it. No blue tick if you don’t pay.  

The influencers will have to finally abide. Not many can risk losing the status of a blue tick just because they don’t want to pay or have $8. 

Remember when Koo tried to become Twitter

There was a phase in 2021 when Twitter was being bashed left and right for being too leftist and favoring liberalism. Koo, the Indian copy of Twitter, tried to replace it, riding over public sentiment. I still remember their eagerness to have politicians, movie stars, singers, writers, eminent personalities, and influencers across different niches on their platforms. Because they knew having influencers on their platform would boost their credibility, the common man would follow, and their stocks would rise up. 

Didn’t Twitter do the same during its initial phase? Inviting influencers across different niches, rewarding them with blue ticks and making them feel important so that they leverage them as user magnets. The plan worked for Twitter but failed for Koo; after all, first-hand copies don’t last that long, and people know it. But here is the thing, times changed. Musk took over, and influencers who didn’t abide lost their blue ticks. The user magnets became mere users. 

Why Do Legacy Blue Ticks Matter?

Blue ticks were introduced around June 2009 to protect public figures and celebrities from impersonation. Slowly, something intended to be a security feature became a status symbol. The good thing about legacy blue ticks was it felt like people needed to earn it. Someone well-established in their niche could only get it making blue ticks a scarce but valuable entity. One reason why the blue tick became an aspiration for everyone who wanted to become an influencer.  

Enter Digital Marketing Agencies

Now say a person with loads of cash wants to become an influencer. They may be a nobody, but they want to show the world they are somebody. So, what do they do? They go to a digital marketing agency and ask if they could help them get a blue tick on their Twitter account. The marketer says, well, sure, consider it done. 

What You Know Doesn’t Matter. Whom You Know Does. Bingo!

The marketer calls someone they know inside Twitter and requests them if their client could get a blue tick. The insider from the Twitter office says, yeah! Sure. Keep the cash ready.

The first instance when someone undeserving got a blue tick through their clout and wealth is when the downfall of blue ticks began. Why call yourself legacy blue ticks when people inside Twitter themselves began tarnishing its legacy?

Slowly and steadily, the number of not-so-deserving blue ticks increased, making it a mere sign of clout. They got a blue tick, yeah, so what. A lot of morons got one is what people started saying. 

Marketing agencies made money, as did Twitter insiders, and of course, people without significant contributions got blue ticks. 

The Rotting System, the Arrival of Musk, and Decentralization

In a surprising chain of events, Musk takes over Twitter spending $44 Billion and disrupting the rotting system. He puts the blue tick on sale for $8. Now the plan is transparent. Anyone with $8 and a credible background can be blue tick verified now. So, cool, right?

When the system gets rotten and a few people on the top abuse their power, decentralization happens. But here is the catch, in a world where everyone can get a blue tick, it loses its value. Yes, you will be verified, but why reduce the blue tick to a mere ID card when it could be more?

Legacy Blue Ticks Were Terrific, But…

As long as they were given to deserving people, a blue tick was like a pearl in the right hands. But when you start giving pearls to pigs, the value of the pearl goes down.

When I go through the timeline of Twitter, I feel it could have been a beautiful platform, and when Jack Dorsey started it in 2006, he must have had a great vision or, if not, at least some great thoughts about how he wanted Twitter to be. It’s like the story of every kingdom.

There would be a wise king, and his subjects would be happy. As time passed, some ministers would use corrupt ways to earn money which eventually would become the reason for the downfall of the kingdom, 

It would have been a different story if these platforms had people who could remind them of their values and vision. It wouldn’t have been the mess it is right now. It would have been an aspiring place for creators, writers, journalists, and the common people to share their thoughts, no matter how crude it could be. 

If their ideas gained a certain following, their work got a certain recognition, and what they did over the years earned them a blue tick, how beautiful it would have been. 

Twitter would have become a platform where creators witness their evolution, just like YouTube does. It rewards views and engagement. It doesn’t give creator awards just because Tom, Dick, and Harry have wealth and some clout in the Google office.