Mario Flips Elon Musk The Bird During Twitter Verification Farce
Well, Twitter verification is going well then, isn't it? Since Elon Musk took the keys to the kingdom, there's been drama after drama. If facing the backlash of mass firings seemingly without telling Twitter staff wasn't painting him in a bad light, the world's richest man has been dealing with THAT Twitter verification debacle.
Previously, verification was a way to distinguish celebrities, politicians, journalists, or people of interest from the general public. Imagine a lawless world where without it, anyone could claim they're Queen Elizabeth II back from the dead. Unfortunately, that's exactly what's going on right now.
What's Going On With Twitter Verification?
As part of his Twitter overhaul, Musk confirmed he was doing away with standard verification, and instead, would charge you a fee to have the blue tick. That would raise eyebrows enough, however, that was nothing compared to the fact anyone can get the previously exclusive nod. Since Musk announced his plans, things have gone from bad to worse.
Originally being laughed out of the room at the idea of charging $20 a month, Mr. Musk quickly gave us a Black Friday sale and promised he'd only charge $8 a month. There's been huge backslash as those at the top promised to clamp down on faux impersonators. This bizarrely led to Kathy Griffin being permanently suspended when she pretended she was Elon Musk, then returned using her dead mother's Twitter account.
In the latest misstep for Twitter verification, fake accounts for everyone from LeBron James to Valve, Nintendo to Jesus Christ have popped up. As anyone can not give themselves a tick, it means the Twitterverse is a confusing place right now. If you used to get your official news from there, you should probably stop. Already, "LeBron James" has announced he wants a trade away from the Lakers, while Mario defiantly flipped the bird to Musk for hours from the "official" Nintendo account.
How Is Twitter Tackling Fakes?
The thing is, if you looked closely, you'd notice it was from @nIntendoofus. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier shared the image of Mario and added, "Can't imagine why all the advertisers are pulling out of Twitter lmao." The nIntendoofus account also shared some NSFW video announcements and went viral before it was taken down. We'd say it was worth the $8 for the clout. Even though most of us can see through these phonies, the real Nintendo account and the others are likely to be flooded with complaints.
NIntendoofus was having a bit of fun, but in darker corners of the Twitterverse, fake accounts for George W. Bush and Tony Blair are discussing the Iraq War. In an ironic twist, the Twitter Support account vowed to clamp down on impersonators. Given the way it was written in such an informal tone (remember, Elon fired most of his copywriters), no one was sure whether this was the real Twitter Support or just another fake. Even if Twitter promises to weed out these impersonators, the damage is already being done.