Till a year ago, Priyanka Lahiri, a 43-year-old nutrition and fitness coach from Bengaluru, would watch influencers talk about fitness and enjoy massive reach on Twitter, despite the fact that their content didn’t reflect their knowledge. Lahiri’s tweets, on the other hand, would receive modest traction although she had undergone an inspiring transformation, having lost 27 kg. Obese, pre-diabetic and struggling with hypothyroidism is how she remembers herself back in her 20s. At 43, she sports a sculpted physique as sustained strength training and diet control show results. “The difference between them and me was small and blue,” says the now certified fitness coach. “I didn’t meet Twitter’s standards back then. So, when Twitter announced that the blue tick was on sale, I jumped to buy one.”

Earlier this month, the micro-blogging platform’s CEO Elon Musk removed all blue ticks from legacy accounts. He introduced a new and controversial system that offered the prized checkmark to those who subscribe to Twitter Blue, an exclusive service that costs R900 a month for iOS and Android users and Rs 650 on web.