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Twitter's $8 verification system releases a gusher of brand-damaging impersonators [1]
['Mark Frauenfelder']
Date: 2022-11-10
Elon Musk has been quick to delete Elon Musk parody accounts, but when other people and companies are the targets of impersonators, he finds it hilarious.
Last night, Twitter launched its $8-a-month verification system, allowing anyone who subscribes with a credit card to receive a blue check next to their username. Someone with the username @nlntendoofus bought a checkmark and called themselves Nintendo of America. They began posting images of Mario, flipping the bird, and with an ahegao expression.
One person, apparently fooled into thinking it was the real Nintendo of America account, responded to the image of Mario flipping the bird and said, "Mario would never do that :("
The impersonator, replied, "well he did."
When Twitter user James Felton alerted Elon Musk about the confusing Twitter account, mosque, replied with two laughing face emojis.
Nintendo, and other major brands, are going to love that.
Other fake verified accounts pretended to be Ben Shapiro and President Biden saying ridiculous sexual things.
Musk appears believe impersonators are a good source of revenue, too:
Moment of silence for the poor @Twitter lawyers who, in a year or two, will be tasked with explaining these tweets away during the inevitable FTC investigation of whether the company knew if was incentivizing and profiting from fraudulent activity.
https://t.co/gLD2xJWI6n — dave karpf (parody account) (@davekarpf) November 10, 2022
Are lawsuits coming Musk's way soon?
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