Twitter is not having a good time. Massive layoffs, questions about a potential bankruptcy, and an influx of impersonators already ruining multiple brands' reputations are only a few problems the platform experiences after becoming "free." If you want to continue using Twitter despite all those issues, a simple Chrome extension can make your experience a little better and help you not fall victim to scammers with an $8 checkmark.
Walter Lim (@iWaltzAround) and his friends created a straightforward Chrome extension (which should also work in other Chromium-based browsers) that replaces the Twitter checkmark with a banner containing more information. People who paid for a checkmark will appear with a "Paid for Verification" badge, and those being legit verified with an "Actually Verified" badge. The extension will help you detect scams next time you see a genuine-looking profile tweeting all sorts of awful stuff.
Elon Musk has attempted to curb the checkmark problem by introducing another checkmark (pro-gamer move right there). But the gray "Official" badge disappeared less than 24 hours after being born. Some users already report seeing the second badge coming back, so nobody knows for sure. While Elon tries to make up his mind (expect more "dumb stuff"), users can download the "eight-dollars" extension from GitHub (installing requires enabling Developer Mode). The project is also coming soon to Firefox.
Naturally, not all users want to keep using a nosediving platform and deal with its issues—Musk's questionable decisions have already caused a large chunk of users to join Mastodon.
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