I don’t know about you, but I’ve personally had it with the “Legacy Blue Checkmark” discussions on Twitter.
Some background: Twitter did away with those who previously showed blue check on their accounts and, in its place, made the process more straightforward. You want a Checkmark, you pay for it.
Well! Old blue checkmark accounts were up in arms!
The Twitterverse watched, in a mix of horror and comic delight, as these old ‘dethroned’ accounts squirmed.
Earning a check mark in the past, you see, has always been quite the badge of honor. But the process, rather nebulous. You had to prove that your were “someone”. To someone no one really knew.
You had to kiss the ring of a magical someone out of view.
Earning a check mark in the past, you see, has always been quite the badge of honor. But the process, rather nebulous. You had to prove that your were “someone”. To someone no one really knew. You had to kiss the ring of a magical someone… Click To Tweet
Which is what makes this turn of events all the more disturbingly comical.
There was no real “merit” to having earned old blue checks. You had to just “know someone”. So really, it was just an entitlement status.
“Hey, look at me! I sport a blue check.”
When Twitter changed its rules, and made the blue check purchasable, it retired what is now termed “legacy checkmarks”. Those accounts quickly went up and arms and, sometimes repeatedly, reminded everyone that they had “earned” their checks.
Earned them how, exactly?
These people act as if they’ve earned some formal education degree.
Simmer down, kids! No one’s taking away your college degree.
I’m not even going to highlight all of the tweets sent out stating, aloud, that they would not pay for a mark. We all know what they were: backhanded pats-on-the-back to remind everyone they once HAD that badge of honor displayed.
“These people act as if they’ve earned some formal education degree. Simmer down, kids! No one’s taking away your college degree.”
No one liked those tweets anyway. Except for the folks who had their blue Checkmark badges of honor removed.
So again, I say, simmer down.
In fact, there’s more to this story. There’s actual irony.
The irony is that the process is now more streamlined, and less confusing, than ever. There’s a clear cut method to obtaining your blue check, and there doesn’t need to be a backhanded way to earn it.
The irony is that the process is now more streamlined, and less confusing, than ever. There’s a clear cut method to obtaining your blue check, and there doesn’t need to be a backhanded way to earn it. Click To Tweet
Reminds me of school admissions. Instead of giving spots away because your Dad went to the school, or donated a nice chunk to it, you have to adhere to the same rules as everyone else (oh, the sheer horror)!
There, I said it. Most of you were probably thinking it anyway.
So stop tantruming, “legacy blues”, and simmer down. Your tweets weren’t all that special.
