Elon Musk's latest update to Twitter verification says that figures like Obama, Trump, and even Musk himself 'may not be notable'

Donald Trump and Barack Obama's Twitter accounts have a confusing new description. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo; Theo Wargo/WireImage; REUTERS/Hannah Beier

• Elon Musk has rolled out updated descriptions for verified Twitter accounts which haven't paid for Twitter Blue.
• Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and Musk himself come with a warning they "may or may not be notable."
• The change is part of Musk's alterations to the system of being verified on Twitter, which he has described as "lords and peasants."

Elon Musk's latest update to Twitter's verification system warns that legitimate accounts of many prominent public figures "may or may not be notable."

Clicking on the blue-tick next to these accounts previously said the account was verified as it was "notable in government, news, entertainment, or another designated category."

But this is now defined as "legacy verification." It suggests that many of these users were never actually notable, despite having to meet a list of criteria set by the company.

Those who achieved the status by paying $8 per month are still labelled as Twitter Blue subscribers, but the description for official accounts has been downgraded. 

The feature hasn't yet been rolled out to all devices, but many Twitter users shared screenshots of the confusing system in action.

It means that public figures like Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and even Musk himself, all have warnings which suggest they "may not be notable."

Trump, Musk, and Obama's accounts all suggest they could be unimportant. Twitter

Others found humor in the confusion, like British political journalist, Alexander Brown, who said he'd been "absolutely bodied by my new tick justification."

Thor Benson shared another screenshot, joking: "The White House? Possibly notable."

And Melissa Martin quipped that she would request "may or may not be notable" for her tombstone.

But others, like Andy Orin, pointed out that the description is merely "the new status symbol."

Musk first teased the update on November 10, when one tweeter said: "The system of lords and peasants will persist until all of these status markers are changed."

The "Chief Twit" replied that he would change the wording to something like the new update, which has taken almost a month to release.

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 10, 2022

However, Musk doesn't seem to have solved the chasm between legacy and paid verification, with the latter initially available to anyone willing to pay for a blue tick.

Twitter Blue was put on hold after numerous impersonations and a spat between Musk and Apple over fees on its App Store, but because Twitter is no longer accepting legacy verification requests, there's currently no way of obtaining a blue-tick. 

Twitter did not reply to Insider's request for comment.