> However, once an account gets the blue check, the owner is free to change the profile pic and display name, and the blue check doesn't go away.
I worked at Twitter and built the verification service. I recalled that this was the case back in 2012. You couldn't change your name or username if you were verified (or if you change one of those, you would lose the checkmark).
I believe around 2015/2016, a verified account I follow changed his name and avatar (but not username) to "Italian Elon Musk", and a Mario mustache and hat superimposed on Musk's then avatar. He made many posts along the lines of "I skippa tha taxes! Mamma mia!". Pretty obviously a joke, and after a while (I think a few days), he lost his tick, which I think was in a way his goal all along.
So if you're saying such changes for verified accounts have been disallowed since 2012, and if my dates are somewhat accurate, then I don't think that's right. But maybe you're just saying it used to be disallowed around 2012, not that it became disallowed then.
I can see why that requirement was dropped, because display name is sometime used as a profile line. e.g.:
- “Corporate, Inc. @ tradeShow Hall A”
- “DisplayName / A Trusted Brand”,
- “Individual (LIVE 09/21 21:00-)”,
etc.
Profile pics change for similar reasons. screenname(@username) is the only bitwise consistent visual element for a Twitter account so there will have to be either a magical audit algorithms to verify user perceived consistencies for changes, or simply a degraded experiences with impacts on engagements for verified users, to enforce that.
I worked at Twitter and built the verification service. I recalled that this was the case back in 2012. You couldn't change your name or username if you were verified (or if you change one of those, you would lose the checkmark).