I just killed it: Elon Musk scraps “Official” label hours after launch

“Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months. We will keep what works & change what doesn’t,” he added to explain the U-turn.

The rollout came ahead of the introduction of a revamped subscription model in which the famed Twitter blue checkmarks are becoming paid. Twitter users would have to pay a subscription fee of $8 for those (and some other benefits on the platform).
What exactly was the ‘official label’
The Blue tick on Twitter has been a mark of an account’s authenticity. It means that the account belongs to the person/company/institution on whose name it is. However with the Twitter Blue going paid, there were doubts how the accounts of public figures and corporations will work and if they too would be required to pay for them.

The official gray tag that appeared on a few government and companies’ Twitter accounts yesterday for a few hours was seen as a workaround. The official label was seen on the accounts of companies such as Apple, BMW; public figures like PM Narendra Modi; and public institutes such as White House. The new “official” label was seen as Twitter’s answer to verify an account’s legitimacy outside of the blue checkmark, which can now be bought through Twitter Blue subscription for $8 per month.But just hours later, it was gone.
‘Official label’ is not paid
Earlier today, Twitter early stage products executive Esther Crawford tweeted that the new Twitter Blue service would be an “opt-in, paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark and access to select features.” In a long thread on Twitter, she explained the changes to Blue tick, and how they work.

“A lot of folks have asked about how you’ll be able to distinguish between @TwitterBlue subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that are verified as official, which is why we’re introducing the “Official” label to select accounts when we launch,” she wrote. “Not all previously verified accounts will get the “Official” label and the label is not available for purchase. Accounts that will receive it include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures,” added Crawford. “The new Twitter Blue does not include ID verification – it’s an opt-in, paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark and access to select features. We’ll continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types,” she further posted.