Elon Musk Kills New Twitter Feature Hours After Implementing It

It was a whirlwind 24 hours for Twitter’s short-lived “official” verification feature. On Tuesday, the social media site announced a new check mark to be added to verified accounts, distinguishing them from accounts that had simply paid for a blue checkmark under the new rules created by Elon Musk. However, on Wednesday the site quietly shut the feature down.

Twitter’s blue checkmarks were created for identity verification but have become a status symbol over the last decade or so. When Musk completed his purchase of Twitter and took over managing the site, he announced that the checkmarks would become truly meaningless, promising that anyone could acquire one for a subscription price of $8 per month. However, this immediately led to widespread fraud and confusion on the site, prompting Twitter to add its second verification marker on Tuesday. This redundancy had just enough time to suffer serious mockery before it was removed.

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It’s unclear when the “official” label was rolled out and when exactly it was reeled back in, but according to a report by The Associated Press, it was just a matter of hours. The gray labels were visible beneath the display name and handle, but at the time of this writing none seem to be present on the site anymore. Musk announced that the feature would be abandedon in a call with advertisers on Wednesday.

“Apart from being an aesthetic nightmare when looking at the Twitter feed, it was simply another way of creating a two-class system,” the billionaire said. “It’ wasn’t addressing the core problem.”

Advertisers were reportedly the main reason this short-lived feature was even introduced. After Musk made verification available to anyone, many companies reportedly became fearful of advertising on Twitter. They felt that their brands could be imitated and mocked too easily, creating an environment that would not be conducive to friendly corporate promotion.

Musk himself has been very open about his concerns for advertising on Twitter and revenue in general. He has made sporadic tweets about charging users various fees to “keep the lights on” while taking some kind of retribution against advertisers who boycott his site. At the same time, the company has slashed its workforce since Musk took over in ways that have baffled many industry insiders.

Twitter’s future remains unclear, but some users are already fleeing the site and seeking other social media platforms. Musk has indicated that he expects the confusion to continue as his new regime tries to find its equilibrium.