Twitter Blue backfires on Elon Musk — here are the most chaotic parody accounts

Twitter might be the most entertaining place on the internet right now thanks to Elon Musk’s changes backfiring.

Last week, the tech billionaire announced his plan to charge users $20 per month to be verified on the social media app.

The plan, an update of the company’s optional $4.99 monthly subscription Twitter Blue, went live on November 9, but for $7.99 per month.

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Many have pointed out how paying for a verified account changes the purpose of the blue check mark, which is originally supposed to help combat disinformation and help users know which public figures are who they say they are.

So, when the update went live, users set out to prove this point in the most chaotic way possible.

People started buying verification to create parody accounts of celebrities, brands, and even politicians.

At first, many impersonations targeted Musk.

“Starting today we’ll begin offering Twitter Gold: a free subscription that gets you yearly family vacations and nightly dinners with me,” tweeted user @elon_rnusk.

“If your name is Grimes. Please come back. I love you.”

Then people moved on to notorious celebrities including O.J. Simpson and Dave Chapelle.

“Ya I’m ngl I did that sh*t,” tweeted user @ThaRealOJ32.

And of course, politicians weren’t off-limits.

Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford got his own Twitter parody account.

“Folks, I’ll be honest. Lecce’s drivin’ me friggin nuts,” tweeted user @DougFord_ON.

Folks, I’ll be honest. Lecce’s drivin’ me friggin nuts.

— Doug Ford (@DougFord_ON) November 10, 2022

It seems Twitter Blue signups have disappeared amid the dumpster fire of fake accounts, according to The Verge.

Musk himself has addressed the chaos, asking people to include “parody” in their usernames.

To be more precise, accounts doing parody impersonations. Basically, tricking people is not ok.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2022

Musk confirmed his takeover of Twitter on October 27 after months of back-and-forth with the social media company.

In an alarming outcome, the social media platform saw the use of racial slurs spike in the immediate hours following Musk’s acquisition.