Not a joke: Twitter will take your blue checkmark on April 1 if you don’t pay

Twitter’s blue “verified” checkmark was originally a way to tell real accounts from fake one.

Then, after Elon Musk took over Twitter, the checkmark became a status symbol, which users can get if they opt for the $8 per month Twitter Blue subscription.

Notably, to get a blue checkmark you still have to meet Twitter’s eligibility criteria, which include having a display name and profile photo, having an account that’s older than 90 days, and show no signs of being misleading or deceptive.

Users who already had the checkmark were allowed to keep it even after Twitter Blue (re)launched, but the company said it will be taken away at some point in the future. Now, the time is drawing near: The blue checkmark will be removed for non-subscribers on April 1.

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There are some exceptions, though. For example, Elon Musk says that any individual person’s account that’s affiliated with a verified organization will automatically be verified.

For most users, however, the choice will be between paying the Twitter Blue fee or being checkmark-less.

Twitter Blue comes with other perks, such as the ability to write longer tweets or edit tweets, as well as upload videos in 1080p quality. But the fact that you have to pay to retain a checkmark that verifies your identity rubbed a lot of users the wrong way, which you can see by looking at the replies under Twitter’s post on the matter.