Twitter Blue Subscribers Can Now Hide Their Blue Checks

Twitter Blue (now X Blue) subscribers now have the option to hide their blue checks, which (outside of some legacy publications) has served as a widely-mocked indication that a user willingly paid $8 per month for a free service. Why? As The Verge notes, it’s probably because of an array of harsh memes that seem to infiltrate the conversations of any Twitter Blue user’s post, the most famous of which is a mannequin pointing at another mannequin with the caption “this mf paid for Twitter.”

Elon Musk’s Plans to Change Twitter’s Name and Logo to X

X marks the spot — literally, in this case

Twitter Blue is an option where paid users can make longer posts and get prioritized rankings in conversations and search. And it’s now fairly easy to hide this status. “As a subscriber, you can choose to hide your checkmark on your account,” notes a Twitter/X support page. “The checkmark will be hidden on your profile and posts. The checkmark may still appear in some places ,and some features could still reveal you have an active subscription. Some features may not be available while your checkmark is hidden. We will continue to evolve this feature to make it better for you.”

Oddly, this somewhat contradicts another Twitter policy on the same page. “Blue checkmarks obtained with a Twitter Blue subscription cannot be turned off by subscribers during the term of their subscription,” they suggest. “Even canceling the subscription will not remove the blue checkmark until the subscription term expires.”

Now available… Twitter Blue lets you hide your verification checkmark ✅ pic.twitter.com/j4ctvVjPit
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) August 2, 2023

Twitter/X owner Elon Musk debuted a creator monetization program for some high-profile Twitter Blue users earlier this year, which has resulted in a few people — primarily right-wing rabble-rousers — making some sizable bank. That’s one of several reasons that Twitter Blue accounts have been mocked; there’s even a popular Chrome extension that blocks all Blue accounts.

As for the initial reaction to this new hidden policy? This tweet sums it up nicely.