As Elon Musk has repeatedly noted, Twitter’s verification system was broken when he took over at the app, with misinterpretations of its guidelines, both externally and internally, which had led to profiles being verified that shouldn’t have been, and subsequent confusion, while some blue ticks were even sold by Twitter staff, further polluting the whole process.

But was the system fully broken, as Musk suggests, or have Musk’s changes to the verification system been as much motivated by personal grudges as they are by operational and functional efficiencies?

Elon, of course, wants to generate more revenue from subscriptions to diversify Twitter’s income streams, while also tackling bots and spam. But is charging for blue ticks the real answer?

To provide some additional context, here’s an overview of how Twitter’s verification process has evolved over time, which shows where it broke, how it was fixed, and what’s coming next for the app.