Twitter has become a proper mess.

The popular microblogging platform's verification process no longer distinguishes between those that paid for it and those who had it before Elon Musk's takeover of the company, opening the way for potential scams and impersonators.

So how do we know who paid to be verified and who had it from the start?

Why The Need To Distinguish Twitter Verification?

Musk previously promised he would that the company would remove the remaining legacy verified checkmarks on Apr. 1 due to them being acquired "in a corrupt and nonsensical" manner. However, it made a U-turn on that decision; Instead of removing them, Twitter changed the notification in the pop-up people see when checking a legacy checkmark, per Tech Crunch.

Previously, people who had legacy checkmarks can see a notification pop-up that says, "This is a legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable." After Apr. 1, however, the pop-up now reads, "This account is verified because it's subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account." 

Thanks to this change, it is now impossible to differentiate between a legacy blue checkmark and a Twitter Blue verified checkmark. A possible reason why Twitter couldn't follow through on Musk's promise is that it can't do so because removing legacy blue tick badges is mostly a manual process involving verification data saved in a spreadsheet.

This manual process makes it impossible for Twitter to remove all legacy checkmarks before Apr. 1, and as such, it simply replaced the message in the pop-up to indicate if the checkmark was either paid for or given.

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Unfortunately, many Twitter users didn't welcome this change, with some pointing out that the new notification could potentially give scammers and impersonators the guise of credibility. Mashable's Amanda Yeo had some choice words to say about the change in her report: Twitter effectively stripped its whole verification system of "the last shred of meaning it still had."

Browser Extensions To Identify Twitter Blue Subscribers

Thankfully, there is a way for the average Twitter user or average Joe to distinguish who paid to be verified and who had their verification badge before Musk's takeover. A few developers managed to create some browser extensions that could help you tell if the verification badge you see on a Twitter account is bought for or not.

Eight Dollars

Eight Dollars is one of the browser extensions that do what it advertised to perfection, if not the best. It can differentiate those who paid to be verified and those that didn't through the use of two badges: a grey checkmark for those already verified before Musk's takeover, and a blue dollar sign for those who paid for Twitter Blue to get verified. It is available on Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera.

Twitter Blue Nerd

This browser extension works like Eight Dolalrs, but instead of just showing who paid to be verified on Twitter or not, it adds a bit of lighthearted mockery by replacing Twitter Blue verified checkmarks with a spectacled, buck-toothed nerd emoji. However, using it requires a userscript browser extension like Greasemonkey to work.

Twitter Blue Clown

Twitter Blue Clown came from the same developer as Twitter Blue Nerd; both work in the same manner, but instead of a nerdy emoji, Twitter Blue Clown uses a clown emoji to differentiate those who paid to be verified.

Control Panel for Twitter

Control Panel for Twitter works much like Twitter Blue Nerd and Clown, though it has a different developer, and for a good reason: it does more than tell if a Twitter user paid to get verified. Those who paid to get verified will have their blue checkmark replaced with a B marked with Twitter's bird logo - the official symbol for Twitter Blue.

True to its name, it also gives users more control over their Twitter experience, like allowing them to hide the algorithmic "For You" timeline and remove the "What's Happening" sidebar. 

Control Panel for Twitter is available on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Brave, along with other web browsers.

Related Article: Twitter Made Its Old, New Verified Checkmarks Indistinguishable