Elon Musk announces Twitter Blue Verging Scheme

It's possible that you're going to be more colorful on Twitter.

Elon Musk wants to expand its blue verification badge with a few more colors, including a gold check for companies, a grey check for government accounts, and the already infamous blue check for individuals.

Musk stated that the multi-colored verification system is tentatively launching next week, and all verified accounts will need to be manually authenticated in a painful, but necessary process.

The Tesla TSLA and SpaceX CEO stated in the Twitter thread that all verified individuals will have the same blue check, regardless of whether they are notable accounts or celebrities, and that a further explanation of Twitter's verification plan will come next week.

Musk said that deliberate impersonation deception will result in account suspension, and we will see how it goes. Musk and Twitter were not immediately available for comment.

Elon Musk has no mercy for Alex Jones and won't reinstate his Twitter account.

The multi-colored verification plans came while Twitter paused its $8 a month Twitter Blue verification service after several users created fake verified accounts that impersonated notable accounts and spread misinformation. These included accounts impersonating numerous reporters and drugmaker Eli Lilly LLY, whose stock price plummeted, erasing billions in market value after a phony Eli Lilly account tweeted the company would be giving out insulin for free, as well as several world leaders.

In 2009 Twitter verification was launched to help users distinguish which accounts we know are real and authentic. While Twitter was still run by founder Jack Dorsey, a blue verification badge or blue check mark was something users could apply for free and was awarded to notable public figure accounts, including politicians, journalists and celebrities.

What does Twitter verification mean? Musk has made expanding the verification process a cornerstone of his Twitter takeover, along with combatting bot accounts. So earlier this month, Twitter introduced an official gray badge to go along with its blue verified badge - but Musk slashed the plan after a few hours, warning that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in the coming months. See also: Tesla stock climbs, shrugging off the recall of about 80,000 cars in China.

During this time of flux for Twitter, some users have turned to other social media platforms that are somewhat similar, including Tumblr, Mastodon and Hive Social. It turns out that it caused a headache for other companies named Hive. Read more: 9 Twitter alternatives like Mastodon and Hive - Social in case the social network shuts down on Elon Musk's watch, or just want to quit.

Another Hive site is getting a boost in traffic thanks to the Twitter alternative Hive Social.

After Musk acquired the platform, Twitter fired about half its staff in late October, and the company is about to lay off more Twitter workers in the near future, according to a report by WSJ. The platform is being pulled out by a number of high-profile advertisers, leading critics like author Stephen King to joke that the only advertiser left on Twitter will be MyPillow.