X, previously Twitter, is offering blue ticks to its most "influential" users in a major policy shift.
Those with more than 2,500 verified followers who have already paid for X Premium have received premium features for free.
In addition to the blue tick, consumers will see fewer advertisements on X.
The social media network also declared that it was cleaning bots, so individuals may see a decrease in following counts.
Blue ticks were first used to verify that users were who they claimed to be, but they became a paid-for feature after Elon Musk acquired the platform.
However, according to messages received by users who have obtained the features, they are now being given out for free if a person is an "influential participant of the community."
Premium users also have their tweets ranked better when responding to others, and they may apply for income sharing from the site's advertisements.
Meanwhile, users with over 5,000 verified followers have been granted free membership to Premium+, which eliminates practically all advertisements and ranks their tweets even higher when responding to another user.
It comes after Elon Musk revealed the functionality in late March.
This article was originally published on the BBC.