Trolls impersonating celebs to foil Twitter’s verification plan

Last Updated on November 9, 2022

Elon Musk has a plan to “destroy the bots” of Twitter…but that doesn’t mean he can tame the trolls. In the same week that Elon Musk announced Twitter would be charging to become and remain verified and earn that precious little blue checkmark, users have started effectively exposing the faults in a rather curious and comical way.

The problem arises in that Twitter users desiring the coveted blue checkmark could pay for one, pass themselves off as celebrities and cause general havoc on social media. As reported by The New York Times, “Mr. Musk’s new Twitter Blue subscription service, which will give subscribers the check mark next to their username, is aiming to begin on Nov. 7 in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, according to internal documents seen by The Times. Subscribers would not need their identities authenticated to get the check mark, the documents suggested.”

As seen below, Twitter user @bdgrabinski is jokingly passing himself off as Vin Diesel. He isn’t posting anything too malicious, but he has pinned Diesel as a fan of Chris Kattan in Monkeybone, which could cause serious damage to his reputation.

Another user has changed their name and icon to Keanu Reeves, with a bio reading, “i am john fuckin wick”. However, he is indeed not John fuckin’ Wick, although his $8 says otherwise.

Obviously, not everyone would use the identity of a celebrity for simple fun. Actor Rob Kazinsky shared a story of the time someone used his supposed online identity in a kidnapping case.

On November 1st, Elon Musk tweeted, in part, “[the plan] will destroy the bots. If a paid Blue account engages in spam/scam, that account will be suspended.” Whether or not it will “destroy the bots” remains to be seen. So far, any fight against trolls–whatever their cause may be–has proved futile. Musk has also promoted “power to the people” regarding the verification situation, which…yeah, that is definitely happening.

What do you think? Will the trolls initiate change in the new Twitter verification process? How will Elon Musk react?