- People have found a way to get their Twitter blue checks back for free — though it's just a temporary fix.
- The hack involves adding the words "former blue check" to one's Twitter bio.
Legacy verified Twitter users have found a temporary fix to get their blue tick back for free — just by adding in a few words to their bio.
By adding the phrase "former check mark" or "legacy check mark," users found that the blue icon appeared beside their name, albeit for a short period of time.
Television personality Anthony Carboni was one of the people who tried out the hack, per his tweet on Monday.
—Anthony Carboni (@acarboni) May 1, 2023
But he removed the phrase from his bio quickly, saying, "I deleted it because how could anyone with self esteem keep that in their bio."
David Nemer, a professor from University of Virginia, reported a similar experience, but said that the tick lasted for "about 5 hot seconds."
—David Nemer (@DavidNemer) May 1, 2023
Taylor Lorenz, a journalist at The Washington Post, also tweeted that the fix temporarily restores one's legacy blue checkmark.
However, Theo Burman, a journalist writing for an esports media outlet Dexerto, said the tick could only be seen by the user, and not their followers.
Cheryl Teh, a news editor from Insider — who lost her blue tick when Twitter CEO Elon Musk axed the legacy blue tick program on April 1 — confirmed that writing "former blue check" in her bio restored the blue tick.
However, she noted that the icon disappeared after about 30 minutes.
The legacy blue tick program handed out the blue checkmarks to active accounts of "public interest," including accounts belonging to politicians, public figures, celebrities, and journalists.
But Musk replaced it with a subscription-based service, where legacy verified users could keep their checkmarks by signing up for the Twitter Blue subscription program.
The program costs $8 a month, or $84 a year, per Twitter's website.
—Twitter Verified (@verified) March 23, 2023
There's also been considerable backlash surrounding some aspects of the Twitter Blue rollout.
For one, the platform indicated that several dead celebrities — like Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant and Anthony Bourdain — subscribed to Twitter Blue, despite the fact that they had passed away before the subscription service existed.
The posthumously installed blue tick beside these celebrities' names on Twitter erroneously claims: "This account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number."
Insider contacted Twitter for comment via an email to its press department. The company responded with an automated message that did not address Insider's queries.