 Verification on #Twitter was sought after because it conveyed status. Now a blue check is meaningless or even suggests that those paying for it have fallen for a scam. The Verge explains: “The basic truth of cool, as anyone can tell you, is that trying to be cool is not cool, and paying to be cool is for suckers.” https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/4/23668722/elon-musk-twitter-blue-checkmark-verified 23 comments
 @bhawthorne @troll5 Actually that's an excellent question. You become cool by incorporating cultural capital, as defined by Bourdieu in La Distinction and Les trois états du capital culturel (both published in 1979). I probably should sum it up on Gemini, I have an English-speaking section there. Anyway, you incorporate cultural capital on your free time, and this is mostly true for the upper class (social media being a distraction for the lower class). @bhawthorne @troll5 Having a high IQ also helps and this is still something specific to the higher class; I define mine as the transfert of my basic trust ((?) Abram Kardiner) to school symbolism, which was introduced to me since my birth or even before by my mother, who's a good enough mother, would talk to me while being pregnant, etc. @bhawthorne @troll5 And then there's the cultural capital here, which is _how_ you reach a higher class or rather a higher social course ("trajectoire sociale"), as well as the economic capital, because obviously struggling to make both ends meet stresses mothers. But cool people don't especially have a high IQ, it just helps when you use the right information tools, not when you're addicted to Twitter. The key is a well-informed brain, and free time.  @Sheril I’m beginning to think more and more the goal was just to discredit journalists. The fact the NYT was first and only (to my knowledge) outlet to lose their verification lends credibility to that in my opinion. Let’s see if WaPo is next  which just amplifies the idiocy of journalists and news outlet still giving Twitter priority and credibility @Sheril Now it's like an ugly hood ornament that even if someone bought one for me, I'd bash it off with a baseball bat. @Sheril Except it wasn’t s status symbol, it was a way that Twitter added value, by validating that the person was who they claimed. Musk thought it was a status symbol, because he thinks everything is a status symbol. I am torn between thinking he is just an idiot obsessed with status or that he deliberately decided to use his wealth to tear down a site that had been used to foment opposition to fascism. Maybe it’s a bit of both. @queenofnewyork @Sheril No, he's just an idiot. There were easier and cheaper ways to tear down Twitter w/o spending $44B @Sheril Twitter is not what it was. I set up accounts here and on Post. Many of the influencers I follow did as well. Unfortunately, it was a symbolic move by most as they continued to live in the Twittersphere. Meanwhile my feed became filled with hyperbolic and frankly dangerous MAGA vitriol. I finally had enough and deactivated my account. I hope the influencers who remain on Twitter will finally make the move ecause I do miss them, but I will never go back.  @Sheril The core reason for verification was to confirm that you are who you say you are. Other people assumed there was status to it ... and too many verifieds bought into that false narrative, sadly. For most journalists, it let sources know that, when you approached someone seeking information, you are indeed a bona fide member of the press. @Sheril - For me, replacing the Twitter bird logo with the @#$%!!! Doge Coin mascot was the last straw. Twitter has been "Musked"   @Sheril The Blue Check was always a terrible feature. I explain why here: https://blog.atomicpoet.org/YdJMHV8ASc2E_loByi0vRQ# On an entirely different angle, the problem with blue checks so that the signal was their absence rather than their presence. Browsers realized this when they switched from prominent lock icons on https to prominent insecure icons on http. What Twitter needed was a prominent icon on unverified accounts instead I'm not persuased by the argument that there'd be nothing to game for status without blue checks |
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@Sheril well then how the hell do I be cool?