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In 2009, Twitter took a big step when it launched its “Verified accounts” program. It lent admirers a legitimate peek into the lives of their favourite celebrities. For journalists,getting updates about public personalities got easier. And a small tick also made it easier to look for the right source of information, in general, on the vast social networking platform.
The program was not initiated for larger public good per se. It originated after a lawsuit by former baseball player and St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La over impersonation concerns.
In a blog at the time, the social media giant did not acknowledge the significance of the suit. “With due respect to the man and his notable work, Mr. La Russa’s lawsuit was an unnecessary waste of judicial resources bordering on frivolous. Twitter’s Terms of Service are fair and we believe will be upheld in a court that will ultimately dismiss Mr. La Russa’s lawsuit,” the post read.
However, Twitter launched the blue tick and stressed it was “an opportunity to improve Twitter user experience and clear up confusion beyond simply removing impersonation accounts once alerted.” Well, that’s another thing that the network got the label of one of the largest cesspools of misinformation, so to say, during elections in various parts of the world at different times. Besides, spreading hatred – in various shapes and sizes – became convenient too for faceless users who came to be called as “trolls”. It still is.
One tech billionaire who enjoyed being a spectator and a commentator perhaps did not know he would become a showrunner in no time. Against his recognisable face, a Twitter badge had ensured his following kept growing over the years. Once he was at the helm, he took that badge off for some of the most known personalities of the world within a few months of taking charge. Twitter changed the description of BBC, one of the biggest global news organisations in the world. The friendly bird now started looking like a dog.
Elon Musk has been known for good and bad business decisions in his journey of becoming one of the world’s richest, which started back in the 90s. But what he is doing with Twitter is effectively killing the brand, many are of the opinion, one step at a time. The concept of buying credibility is flawed even for a business model that’s trying to make money out of it.
Firing people at his will since taking over, Musk effectively tried telling the Twitter employees – “Who is the boss?”. By redefining the brand persona (and generating controversies with almost every move), he is saying the same thing to a galaxy of world personalities who use the social network. They are being impersonated with a verification mark now.
Instead of boosting the reliability of the platform, Elon Musk is doing just the opposite of what he promised when he bought the platform.
