Twitter Blue Team's Alleged Departures May Cause Another Delay

Elon Musk's flagship policy after taking over Twitter involved a revamp of the company's Blue subscription service and changes to how accounts were verified. Blue checkmarks were initially handed out to people who were notable in things like politics, media, and entertainment. Musk proposed to do away with what he called the "lords and peasants" system Twitter had used since checkmarks were first implemented. Instead of having to meet a set of criteria and be notable enough in a field to get a badge, Musk wanted to give one to anyone willing to pay his company $8. 

Despite causing a stir pre-takeover by promising to implement a free speech platform, the focus seemed to shift to the New Blue post-takeover and the billionaire allegedly had teams working round the clock to hit tight deadlines and finish the project as soon as possible. The updated version of Blue was launched the day after the 2022 U.S. Midterm elections and brought with it all of the chaos many people predicted it would.

The original verification badge wasn't meant to be a status symbol; it was designed to show an account was authentic and owned by the person or business it claimed to be. While New Blue may have worked to some degree if government ID was required before a checkmark was issued, it genuinely was just given to anyone who paid the $8. This led to a wave of trolls impersonating politicians, businesses, and celebrities. The trolls' posts varied from offensive statements to commentary on the Iraq war to a couple of tweets that caused major companies' share prices to dip. The ability to sign up for Blue was suspended, and Twitter went back to the drawing board. 

As things stand, Blue 3.0 is set to go live on November 29. Accounts that meet whatever upgraded criteria the launch sets out will again be able to buy a checkmark for $8 per month. That date itself is later than Twitter initially anticipated, but Musk seems determined to make sure his flagship feature is "rock solid" this time around. Unfortunately for the world's richest man, recent events may again delay his plans to change Twitter to his liking. Those recent events are also his fault entirely. 

On Wednesday morning, Musk sent an email to thousands of employees outlining his vision for Twitter 2.0. That vision could only be achieved if his staff agreed to become more "hardcore," work longer shifts, and work those shifts with greater intensity. Furthermore, under this new system, "only excellence would constitute a passing grade," according to the billionaire. The employees who received the email had a choice: respond positively, confirming their commitment to Musk's plans by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, or leave the company.

NEW: The designers leading Elon Musk’s Blue verified project are out, along with the lead web engineer. Many Twitter employees who maintained critical infrastructure have resigned. This is going to look like a very different company tomorrow.

— ZoÃ" Schiffer (@ZoeSchiffer) November 18, 2022

Unfortunately for Twitter's new CEO, hundreds of employees decided to call his bluff and appear to have left Twitter. With regards to Blue, the people leading the project have also left, according to Zoë Schiffer of Platformer. With the date of the relaunch 12 days away, that could indicate some major work still needs to be done and that Musk has a big problem on his hands. With critical engineering teams reportedly also resigning, there may be more pressing matters to attend to than the Blue relaunch, and even if Blue was the only problem, an entirely new team may need to be assembled. So don't be surprised if the relaunch date for paid verification is pushed back yet again.