According to a tweet released by Twitter verified, the verification unit of the microblogging platform, Twitter, organizations and their affiliates can get verified easily without waiting for the previous official verification process.
It claims this reduces the “reliance on Twitter to be the sole arbiter of truth for which accounts should be verified”.
The statement reads, “Verified Organizations is a new way for organizations and their affiliates to distinguish themselves on Twitter. Rather than relying on Twitter to be the sole arbiter of truth for which accounts should be verified, vetted organizations that sign up for Verified Organizations are in full control of vetting and verifying accounts they’re affiliated with.
Accounts affiliated with the organization will receive an affiliate badge on their profile with the organization’s logo and will be featured on the organization’s Twitter profile, indicating their affiliation. All organizations are vetted before they can join Verified Organizations“, it says.
However, after careful inquiries as to what it will cost to have an organization verified, we discovered that a Twitter Verified Organizations subscription is $1,000/month (plus any applicable tax) and $50/month (plus any applicable tax) for each additional affiliate in the U.S. Prices may vary by region and are subject to change.
For proper context, that’s about N450,500 and N23,030, respectively, for Nigerian users. Nigerians and other Tweets have expressed their concerns and shock at the ridiculous pricing of the services, which they term ‘overpriced’ and ‘laughable”.
Read also: Twitter asks GitHub to produce user who leaked its source code as it faces major exposure
About Twitter Verified Organizations?
Twitter Verified Organizations enables organizations of all types–businesses, non-profits, and government institutions–to sign up, manage their verification, affiliate, and verify any related account.
Any organization that purchases a subscription to Verified Organizations will receive a gold checkmark and square avatar if they are a business or non-profit, or a grey checkmark and circular avatar if they are a governmental or multilateral organization.
In addition, organizations can choose to affiliate with any individual or entity associated with them. An affiliated account receives verification (denoted by either a blue, gold, or grey checkmark) and an affiliate badge, a small image of their parent company’s profile picture, displayed next to their checkmark. Clicking or pressing this badge takes a user directly to the affiliated organization, making it a great driver of followers from your whole network on Twitter.
For example, companies can affiliate their leadership, brands, support handles, employees or teams. A government can affiliate its precincts, officials, or other entities. There is no limit to the number of affiliates an organization can have or who they can affiliate (as long as they are related).
By subscribing, organizations can access our new tool to manage verification, meaning you have full control over your organization’s presence on microblogging platform. You’ll be able to add and remove affiliated accounts at any time. Affiliates must accept an invite and double opt in to receive verification.
What is the benefit for users?
Verified Organizations elevates and distinguishes organizations and their affiliates on Twitter. Gold and grey checkmarks, square avatars, and custom affiliation badges verify and differentiate you and your entity’s main account, spokespeople and subsidiary accounts. “We will continue to improve our service and may change our features occasionally,” the statement reads.
However, it states that it reserves the right, without notice, to remove your checkmark or other badging at any time at its sole discretion, including if you violate our Purchaser Terms, Terms of Service, and policies or if your account is suspended.
Netizens react
Tweeps have voiced their disbelief at the absurd price of verifying organizations. Since users presently pay $8 per month for a subscription, some even call it ridiculous and overpriced. Therefore, for a business with affiliates of no more than 20 people still falls short of that amount.
Others say that the idea is dumb and shouldn’t even be in place given that a similar idea already exists.
Other users say that it may be advisable for businesses to take the opportunity to grow their engagement because of the authenticity and validation it gives them for their audience.
Read also: Twitter polls: Musk says only verified accounts can vote from April 15
Well, the introduction of paid features has become what users would get used to in the coming months, given the earlier statement made by Elon Musk, where he reiterated his plan and commitment to making Twitter a profitable venture.
Recently, Elon Musk put the current value of the social media platform at $20 billion, less than half the $44 billion he paid for the social media platform just five months ago, according to an internal email seen by American news media.
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