Elon Musk makes $43 Billion offer for private buyout of Twitter

You can still "buy" blue check marks, right? If so, having one is meaningless from the perspective of someone "influential" enough to not have to pay for it. And it shouldn't mean much to the typical user who knows that the blue check mark could mean you're someone they should take seriously - or it could just mean you paid $8.99 a month for it. If you can simply buy a "distinction" that otherwise has to be earned, the value of having that distinction decreases dramatically.