Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows how excited I was to get my blue check mark back in December 2021. I had tried for years, but Twitter had a pretty stringent procedure. Even though I had thousands of followers, aired on a weekly television show and had been an honest and fair journalist for years, it was a no go.
Eventually though — after much effort — the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette got the coveted mark, as did I and a few other colleagues. When I left the JG in May, I lost my check mark but eventually recovered it, along with the rest of our team at the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
It might seem lame and egotistical, but to me, the blue check mark was an important part of being able to do my job well. The most important part of the check mark is to verify that the person or entity is real and authentic.
Recently, I had someone create an identical account to mine — with one letter added in the name. It was barely noticeable. They used my picture, copied the same verbiage. I noticed that dozens of sources and readers had followed it thinking it was me.
The only thing it was missing was a blue check mark, which is why several people sent it to me expressing concern. The imposter me was liking controversial posts that could have threatened my journalistic reputation.
I was able to get it shut down through Twitter — partly because of the blue check mark.
But under the new proposal, anyone could create a fake media account, buy a check mark and spew false information.
The checkmark simply establishes someone’s identity. Twitter’s guidelines say, “… To receive the blue badge, your account must be authentic, notable, and active.”
If anyone can buy a blue check mark, it automatically devalues it. After all, Twitter currently can take away the blue check mark for spreading lies or hate speech — as with Louis Farrakhan in 2018.
If anyone can get it for $8 month without going through a vetting or verification process, then the blue check is no longer influential or important.
So if Elon Musk does end up charging for the check mark, what do I do? I think I’ll be keeping my $8.
Niki Kelly is editor-in-chief of indianacapitalchronicle.com, where this commentary first appeared. She has covered Indiana politics and the Indiana Statehouse since 1999 for publications including the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Send comments to [email protected].
