Elon Musk Begged Twitter Staff to Reverse His Failed Verification Feature

In late 2022, before Elon Musk rebranded Twitter as X, he introduced a controversial change to the platform’s verification system. Musk’s plan involved charging users for verification without properly confirming their identities—a decision he quickly came to regret.

According to “Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter” by Ryan Mac and Kate Conger, Musk’s scheme, known as Twitter Blue, led to a chaotic fallout. The subscription service, launched just before the November 8 US midterm elections, allowed anyone to purchase a blue checkmark. This led to rampant impersonation of public figures and companies, including a viral incident where a fake Nintendo account posted an offensive image.

The chaos alarmed advertisers, with major brands like Nike threatening to pull their ads from the platform. Fearing a massive drop in advertising revenue, Musk urgently requested Twitter engineers to disable the feature, reportedly saying, “Turn it off!”

Twitter Blue, priced at $8 per month, did little to address the financial woes of a company already burdened with significant debt from Musk’s $44 billion acquisition. The platform continued to struggle with disinformation and hate speech, further driving away advertisers.

The Wall Street Journal recently labeled the acquisition as the “worst buyout for banks since the financial crisis,” highlighting the severe financial impact. Musk’s erratic handling of the situation, including lawsuits against advertisers and repeated layoffs, has significantly tarnished his reputation as a successful entrepreneur. Meanwhile, X still grapples with issues stemming from Musk’s ill-fated verification overhaul.

Engineers could only watch as Musk’s poorly executed plans caused a major crisis, with one insider describing it as a “train wreck” that required their efforts to make it as safe as possible.