The blue check verification has been like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Everyone wants to get their hands on it, but not everyone can get it. The point of having this is so that your account is less likely to be hacked or copied. And… if you’re a business or content creator can also be seen as a status symbol. This is good for those with larger followings but doesn’t really matter for the lay person who uses social media to connect with friends and family. Recently, Elon Musk has announced that it will be offering Twitter Blue subscription from$5-$8 per month that offers subscribers the coveted blue check mark. Meta followed suit and is trying this out in Australia and New Zealand. Two-factor authentication will be removed from those that don’t subscribe and that leaves room for some angry users. This increases the chances of their accounts being hacked and raises security concerns for typical users. Subscribers will also receive increased visibility. This will blur the line of whether we see content from the algorithm or because those accounts paid for it. Good for content creators and business owners. Not so much for everyday users. “Nearly 1/5 of U.S. teens and adults experienced their social media accounts getting hacked within the first three months of 2022,” according to Time magazine. Social media will now be become a space of pay-to-play, where those that have privilege will have the better hand dealt. This will not only continue to increase the gap between lower and upper social classes, it will further perpetuate suppression of those groups that are underserved.
