UW-Green Bay among profiles working to prevent potential Twitter impersonations | WLUK

(WLUK) — UW-Green Bay’s Twitter account is among the many on the defense against impersonators, as the world continues to adjust to Twitter Blue.

Twitter users may have noticed some changes since Elon Musk bought the company last fall.

Just last week, the social media platform revamped its verification system, removing blue check marks from most accounts. Users can now pay $8 each month to have their accounts verified.

“The whole system has evolved and anyone who had had a blue checkmark — that has gone and away, and it’s up to a new color-coding system and also a subscription-based system to verify what users are seeing as authentic,” UW-Green Bay Digital Communication Specialist Jena Richter Landers said.

Richter Landers explained that the change could leave the authenticity of accounts in question.

In addition to being a social media consultant at UW-Green Bay, Richter Landers also runs the university’s primary accounts. Those too lost their verification status.

“We, as part of our strategy, have grabbed a couple handles that could also be potentially impersonated for the university, and we do list on our website different ways to find us on social media,” she said.

Richter Landers says the new system creates a need for prominent figures and companies to do more to distinguish themselves from potential impersonators.

And while the old system may have had flaws, Richter Landers says she would always recommend those with a high follower count try to get verified.

“It was a way to verify what you were seeing and kind of give internet users piece of mind when they were consuming information,” Richter Landers said. “There was kind of an imperfect system, science and art to getting [verified]. But, obviously, it’s really something that I think is valuable.”

Richter Landers says it’s important other users, not just prominent figures and companies, work to be proactive on the app.

“Everyone, obviously, as a patron of the internet should be a critical thinker to make sure that they’re not falling into misinformation traps,” Richter Landers said. “But I think this makes the need for critical thinking on Twitter especially important.”

Twitter also introduced a gray checkmark, signifying a government organization or official, and a gold checkmark to indicate an official business.

Twitter Blue subscribers are also able to edit tweets, and include more characters in a post.

Source: UWGB among profiles working to prevent potential Twitter impersonations