Twitter's rollout of its new gray checkmark for 'official' accounts is off to a confusing start, with Elon Musk saying he 'killed it' and a product manager rushing to clarify it's still happening

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Twitter's rollout of its new gray checkmark for 'official' accounts is off to a confusing start, with Elon Musk saying he 'killed it' and a product manager rushing to clarify it's still happening
Musk at a 2022 Halloween party.Taylor Hill/Getty Images
  • Elon Musk told a YouTuber who noticed his new gray checkmark disappear that he had 'killed it."
  • The new tag launched on Wednesday, and quickly started disappearing from some accounts.
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Twitter's rollout of its new gray checkmarks for "official" accounts is off to a confusing start.

Not long after the new gray checkmarks started rolling out to many Twitter accounts on Wednesday, they began disappearing from some accounts.

Elon Musk, Twitter's new owner, responded "I just killed it," to a tweet from Youtuber and tech reviewer Marques Brownlee, who had seen his own gray checkmark disappear.

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In a follow-up tweet, he added: "Blue check will be the great leveler."

"Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months," Musk tweeted separately. "We will keep what works & change what doesn't."

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But Esther Crawford, a Twitter product manager, tweeted a clarification that the gray label would still roll out, but "we are just focusing on government and commercial entities to begin with."

"What you saw him mention was the fact that we're not focusing on giving individuals the 'Official' label right now," Crawford said.

A tag under people's names began appearing on Wednesday that was a gray checkmark followed by the word "Official," to designate verified accounts for public figures and organizations like elected officials, celebrities, and news publishers.

But some people quickly noticed that their tag was gone.

Blue checkmarks next to a person's name have typically signaled a public figure's verified account. But Musk intends to overhaul the verification system and roll it into the Twitter Blue subscription model.

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Musk has said that the new Twitter Blue would cost $7.99 per month, and include the blue checkmark and other features.

Essentially, the blue checkmark will mean that a Twitter user paid a monthly fee, rather than verifying the account of a public figure is real. The upcoming change has drawn concern from some critics who argue it could open the door for impersonations and the spread of misinformation.

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