X now lets X Blue subscribers hide their verified checkmarks, although “the checkmark may still appear in some places” and some features “may not be available”
Social media company X, formerly Twitter, now lets paid users hide their verification checkmarks.
TechCrunchIvan Mehta
Context & Ripple Effects
The release follows a March discovery of in-app verification settings that suggested X was preparing an option for Blue subscribers to conceal the badge. It turns verification from a fixed profile signal into a user-controlled subscription setting.
The policy’s limits matter: X still reserves the ability to show the checkmark in some contexts and can withhold features from users who hide it. Later coverage shows the setting was not durable: X said it would retire the checkmark-hiding feature after extending checks to larger accounts.
First-order effects
X Blue subscribers can pay for Premium benefits without consistently displaying the blue check, although X may still surface it and restrict certain features.
The checkmark becomes a less reliable visible indicator of who is subscribing, while X retains control over when the status is disclosed.
Second-order effects
Users and audiences have less ability to infer a poster’s paid status from the profile badge alone, reducing the badge’s value as a simple social signal.
The change fits X’s wider experimentation with subscriber visibility controls, including its subsequent plan to let paid users hide their Likes, while tying some product access to disclosure choices.
Third-order effects
Verification is shifting from a stable identity marker toward a configurable bundle of subscription entitlements and platform-controlled visibility rules.
The later withdrawal of checkmark hiding and distribution of checks to larger accounts suggest the meaning of the badge may remain fluid as X balances subscription incentives, status signaling, and account-access rules.
The trend: X is recasting verification as a flexible Premium-access mechanism rather than a single, durable public trust signal.
I mean sure it was announced, and not hard to understand why some would want this but it's still stupid bc they will still push some himbo nxzi's reply up the thread and you can't even mock them for paying ? Lame — https://techcrunch.com/...
Under Musk, Twitter Blue was pitched as being all about getting that blue check, “power to the people!” Now it's become such a liability he's letting people hide it with the hope of boosting subscriber numbers.
Twitter before Musk: Blue ticks are a validation that the user is verified, and people respect them. Twitter after Musk: Blue ticks are sold to any scammer who wants to buy them. X (nee Twitter): Blue ticks are now so toxic that you can hide the fact that you have one. [image]
UPDATE: You can now hide your Blue checkmark across the web, iOS and Android versions of X! On web you can also now hide your list of Subscriptions. [image]
btw, the new XPro installs and runs beautifully as a web app through Safari on macOS Sonoma... it even automatically uses the right icon and name now... and of course notifications work too... [image]
It's extremely funny because @\xpro exists but is inactive and it's not like they care about stealing handles from randos. But also I guess TweetDeck is truly dead now. [image]