Twitter to Get Blue, Gold, and Grey Verification Based On Account Type, Says Elon Musk

Elon Musk has revealed that his plan for Twitter verification is undergoing another set of changes.

On Twitter, Musk said the platform is rolling out three distinct types of verification: a gold check for companies, a grey check for government, and blue checks for individuals, celebrities or not. Musk also said that all verified accounts will be “manually authenticated” before the check appears on the profile.

In another tweet, Musk said that accounts belonging to an individual person can get a secondary logo showing they belong to a specific organization. This means sports teams could verify its athletes, news organizations could verify its journalists, and so on. Twitter’s new CEO also said they are tentatively launching the new Verified plan this Friday.

Sorry for the delay, we’re tentatively launching Verified on Friday next week.

Gold check for companies, grey check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates.

Painful, but necessary.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2022

In Musk’s one month as CEO, the plan for revamped verification has undergone a number of drafts. First, reports surfaced saying Twitter was set to charge $20/month for Verification. Musk took to Twitter to defend the fee, then eventually dropped the price to $8/month for Twitter Blue and the verification checkmark.

The Twitter Blue plan opened up verification for any account that wanted it, quickly leading to many fake accounts attempting to impersonate businesses, politicians, and Musk himself. Twitter then rolled out an “Official” non-paid grey verification checkmark to try to weed out the fakers. Eventually, Twitter disabled the Twitter Blue verified checkmark while Musk and the company decided what to do next.

The verification back-and-forth is far from the only thing happening at Twitter right now. Hundreds of employees have been let go from the company over the last few weeks, with hundreds more resigning after Musk’s ultimatum that they commit to what he calls “hardcore Twitter 2.0.” Musk has also suggested that his time as Twitter CEO is only temporary.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.