Twitter is clamping down on a famous verification hack that fools people

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By Luke Filipowicz
published

You can't put certain emojis in your Twitter name anymore

Twitter Profile Settings User name
(Image credit: Future)

The chaos at Twitter continues as the full implications of Elon Musk's new Twitter Blue subscription and verification strategy launched today take hold. The latest development? Certain emoji appear to no longer be allowed in your Twitter username.

Any sort of checkmark is no longer allowed to be included beside your username on Twitter. That means several emojis, such as the white checkmark in the green box, the standard black checkmark, the square root symbol, and more, can't be added beside your name on the social media platform.  

Note: If you are reading this on a device where you can see emoji, these are just some checkmarks that are no longer available. ☑️, ✔️, ⍻, ☑, ✅

I even tried it for myself, and sure enough, I got a little notification saying that the checkmark emoji I put in my username was not allowed. 

I'm assuming this is to "avoid confusion" over which account are verified and which are not, as some users used to put checkmark emoji in their username to poke fun at Twitter verification. The checkmarks look nothing alike, so I'm not sure why Musk feels the need to enforce this sorta of rule. 

Just another layer to the checkmark drama

This isn't the only confusing aspect of Twitter's new verification system, which will see iOS users have the option to pay an $8 monthly subscription fee for the Twitter verified checkmark. Twitter also released information on a second checkmark coming to people's profiles, making the verification even more complicated.

Whether this whole mess eventually settles down or not will remain to be seen, but it's clear that Musk is cracking down hard on people changing their usernames at all. Earlier in the week, he announced that anyone changing their name to resemble someone else's name would immediately be banned after a few notable verified members of Twitter changed their name to Elon Musk. 

Luke Filipowicz
Luke Filipowicz
Staff Writer

Luke Filipowicz has been a writer at iMore, covering Apple for nearly a decade now. He writes a lot about Apple Watch and iPad but covers the iPhone and Mac as well. He often describes himself as an "Apple user on a budget" and firmly believes that great technology can be affordable if you know where to look. Luke also heads up the iMore Show — a weekly podcast focusing on Apple news, rumors, and products but likes to have some fun along the way. 

Luke knows he spends more time on Twitter than he probably should, so feel free to follow him or give him a shout on social media @LukeFilipowicz.