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As Elon Musk promised, Twitter’s previous blue check-mark verification regime will soon be history. The social network, which the mega-billionaire bought last year in a debt-heavy $44 billion deal, announced on Thursday that starting April 1, it will remove the verified check-mark status of accounts that Twitter had been verified as notable before Musk’s takeover unless they have subscribed to Twitter Blue or the business-focused Twitter Verified Organizations plan. On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https://t.co/gzpCcwOpLpOrganizations can sign up for https://t.co/RlN5BbuGA3…— Twitter Verified (@verified) March 23, 2023 The only individual Twitter users who will have verified blue check-marks are those paying for Twitter Blue, which in the U.S. costs $8/month via the web and $11/month through in-app payment on iOS and Android. Earlier Thursday, the company announced that Twitter Blue was now available worldwide. For companies and brands, Twitter recently introduced a gold check-mark and has shifted government accounts to a gray check-mark. As previously indicated, a subscription to the social network’s new Twitter Verified Organizations program in the U.S. — which will be

Twitter may be working on a feature that lets you hide the blue checkmark you got by paying for its Blue subscription. A screen found by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi shows that the company is working on a control panel for verification settings, with one of the options being “Show or hide your blue checkmark on your profile.”This report should definitely be taken with a grain of salt, given that it appears to be an in-development feature that Twitter hasn’t announced (and that the company’s taking a long time to ship things it has said are coming). However, I can see why Twitter might want to add it. Depending on what part of the site you’re on, the blue verified checkmark can make you as much of a pariah as having an NFT profile picture. If a tweet from a Twitter Blue user goes viral, the comments are likely filled with memes about how “this mf paid for twitter,” and there are even tools to block everyone who has the subscription. Soon, the blue checkmark may become an even more glaring indicator of your subscription status — at the moment, having it means that you either pay for Blue or

Valve updated the banner of the official CS:GO account on Twitter to a new logo today, giving fans even more hope that Source 2 is set to be released in the coming days. The new logo on Twitter features the classic Counter-Strike: 1.6 icon between the letters “C” and “S,” which are the initials of Counter-Strike. Valve has updated the Twitter banner a number of times since the speculation around CS:GO 2 started, changing it to “Counter-Strike” and the icon once and switching to just the icon after. It’s unclear if this new logo will be CS:GO’s definitive logo moving forward. Valve filled out new trademarks for “Counter-Strike” and “CS2” last week, as first reported by reputable leaker Aquarius, and could come up with a new logo when the update is out. Related: CS:GO community continues teasing Source 2 after 2 weeks—and we’re getting tired of waiting All that we know thus far, though, is that Valve is expected to launch its game engine Source 2 for CS:GO this month, according to a report by independent reporter Richard Lewis. Anonymous sources told Lewis that the game was “about ready to go” and that professional players had already playtested the update.

Image Source : TWITTER/HIMANSHUPAREEK Delhi earthquake memes take over Twitter Earthquake in Delhi-NCR: After tremors shook buildings and people on Tuesday night, memes quickly took over Twitter. After a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit India, worried netizens found humor on Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram. According to reports, the earthquake's epicentre was in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region.  Tremors were felt in Turkmenistan, India, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China, Afghanistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Many logged in to their Twitter accounts to confirm with one another if there was an earthquake, which was followed by jokes and memes flooding the social media platform. Many took inspiration from songs and scenes in Bollywood to explain their experience.   The depth of the earthquake was nearly 156 km, according to the National Center for Seismology. "Earthquake of Magnitude:6.6, Occurred on 21-03-2023, 22:17:27 IST, Lat: 36.09 & Long: 71.35, Depth: 156 Km ,Location: 133km SSE of Fayzabad, Afghanistan," the National Center for Seismology tweeted.  The tremors were felt in several states in North and central India. People in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, and some cities of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh were seen outside their homes with their kids. Panic-stricken people started screaming when the earthquake hit residential areas.  People

The Twitter account of Canada’s New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh has been blocked in India. File picture | Photo Credit: Reuters Pro-Khalistan Twitter accounts have been withheld in India. The withheld accounts include the Twitter accounts of Canada's New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh. The Twitter accounts of Canadian poet Rupi Kaur, the voluntary organisation United Sikhs, and Canada-based activist Gurdeep Singh Sahota have also been blocked.When trying to access these Twitter accounts from India, it says they have been withheld in response to a legal demand.The blocking of Jagmeet Singh's account is significant as he is known for his anti-India comments. The development comes at a time when there has been a rise in attacks by these Khalistani elements in foreign countries.Khalistani supporters vandalised the Indian High Commission in London on Sunday. After vandalism in London, Khalistani supporters allegedly attacked the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. Videos of supporters breaking the doors and barging into the office surfaced on social media.Visuals shared online showed a huge mob brandishing Khalistan flags mounted on wooden poles, using it to smash glass doors and windows of the consulate building. They raised pro-Khalistan slogans as they broke through makeshift security barriers raised

A left-wing politician unwittingly helped a fascist clothing brand go viral on Twitter. @AntonioAttolini On March 7, Antonio Attolini Murra, a member of Mexico’s ruling party, quote-tweeted a post that he hated: “These idiots think that wearing a brand labeled as ‘fascist’ is something to be proud of. They’re brain-dead.” His tweet referred to an apparel brand, Fachos.mx, named after the Spanish-language slang term for “fascist.” On its e-commerce platform, Fachos sells T-shirts brandishing controversial slogans like “It’s a beautiful day to smash feminazism” or “No to gender ideology.” Among its assortment of headwear, browsers can also find a red “Make Mexico Great Again” cap, reminiscent of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign hat. Far from being cowed by criticism, Attolini’s angry post was just what Fachos wanted. The site has found an unusual but effective marketing strategy: posting sexist and nationalist content with the intention to goad high-profile social media users like Attolini into quoting them with criticism, consequently amplifying Fachos’ message. The company counts on users’ tendency to unintentionally promote a brand to which they’re viscerally opposed. Within 24 hours of quote-tweeting, Attolini’s post had been seen by over 100,000 people and had received over 500 replies, most

Twitter CEO Elon Musk is not a fan of press departments. Tesla had one in the past, but the electric vehicle maker abolished it despite complaints from both the company’s critics and supporters.  Twitter was the same thing. Amidst Musk’s turbulent takeover of the social media company, reports emerged suggesting that Twitter has thoroughly trimmed down its communications team. Following this, reports covering the company would frequently mention that inquiries sent to Twitter were left unanswered. This won’t likely be the case anymore, as in a recent post on Twitter, Musk announced that the social media platform will be implementing an automatic reply system for press inquiries.  press@twitter.com now auto responds with 💩 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2023 As noted by Musk, any message sent to Twitter’s press team, whose email is set at press@twitter.com, will receive an automated reply. In true Elon Musk fashion, the automated reply for Twitter press inquiries is a single poop emoji. Numerous users on the social media platform tested and confirmed the update. Teslarati did too, and we got the same response.  Twitter’s automated press reply update was received with much appreciation from users of the social media platform, though members of the press

Douglass Mackey tried to trick Black people into thinking they could vote by text in the Clinton-Trump presidential election, prosecutors said.Send any friend a storyAs a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.Prosecutors say Douglass Mackey went too far by trying to dissuade people from voting in the 2016 presidential election.Credit...Todd Heisler/The New York TimesMarch 20, 2023, 3:00 a.m. ETThe images appeared on Twitter in late 2016 just as the presidential campaign was entering its final stretch. Some featured the message “vote for Hillary” and the phrases “avoid the line” and “vote from home.”Aimed at Democratic voters, and sometimes singling out Black people, the messages were actually intended to help Donald J. Trump, not Hillary Clinton. The goal, federal prosecutors said, was to suppress votes for Ms. Clinton by persuading her supporters to falsely believe they could cast presidential ballots by text message.The misinformation campaign was carried out by a group of conspirators, prosecutors said, including a man in his 20s who called himself Ricky Vaughn. On Monday he will go on trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn under his real name, Douglass Mackey, after being charged with conspiring to spread misinformation designed

The No. 9 Auburn Tigers were in control for the first half against the No. 1 Houston Cougars. They were unable to hold onto their momentum during the second half as they went ice-cold offensively and fell 81-64 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.The loss ended Auburn’s season with a record of 21-13.The Tigers scored just 23 second-half points and went 4-of-24 from the field as they watched their 41-31 halftime lead evaporate. Their struggles included the free throw line, where they went 19-of-36 and failed to take advantage of Houston’s committing 25 fouls.Auburn fans took to Twitter to react to both the loss and the season overall, here are the top reactions.Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire

Etsuo Hara/Getty Images As reported, Ring of Honor Wrestling star Eddie Kingston deactivated his Twitter account ahead of Friday's announcement from Over The Top Wrestling that Kingston could not appear at their ScrapperMania event due to him testing positive for COVID-19. On Saturday, Kingston took to Instagram to reveal why he quit Twitter. Kingston shared a photo of Terry Funk with the words, "Terry Funk is the G.O.A.T." and below that, "I got rid of my tweeter because I saw some evil sh**t tweeted at Riho and I'm done." The former AEW Women's Champion quit the social media site due to the constant online abuse that she was receiving. Like Kingston, Riho took to Instagram after quitting Twitter. On her Instagram stories, she thanked fans for all of their messages of support and "realized that she was loved by more people than she thought." Kingston is not the first to speak out about online bullying either. As noted, last month, AEW EVP Kenny Omega commented on Swerve Strickland's podcast about the online harassment that Riho and other Joshi stars in AEW had been dealing with and reminded fans that not every pro wrestler is the same size. One of Riho's most