Ever see a really funny, engaging social media post and think, “The only thing that could make this better is a gold badge of approval from Elon Musk”? No? Well, like it or not, this is the new feature coming to Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter. “We want to recognize the very best posts that move the timeline, ranked by authentic interactions,” X explained about its new award. “If your post is featured, you will get a Certified Banger badge on your profile for the month.”
As if the likes and retweets weren’t enough, as if the payouts for verified users weren’t enough, now there’s a brand new chronically online achievement to win, a little gold badge on your profile for a month to prove you’re Elon’s most X-tra special poster. Certified Bangers are, ostensibly, an egalitarian designation; the rules state that a post has to come from a personal account (“business, political, or government-affiliated accounts don’t count”) and be purely original content (“meaning it’s yours or you’ve transformed something into uniquely yours”). A Certified Banger can’t be against the website’s code of conduct (no “sexually explicit content, ads or sponsored content, misleading or harassing materials, graphic or disturbing messages, or violence”), and to start, these posts can only be in English (“but we plan to expand to other languages”).
Certified Bangers are ranked “by the sum of authentic interactions, which includes verified impressions, likes, bookmarks, reposts and replies.” The official “Bangers” account has already unveiled its top five Bangers for October, which are all from verified accounts (despite the claim that “anyone can be selected”) and includes transparent engagement bait like “can yall pls tell me the lore behind your profile pictures.” What a banger! Do you think Joyce Carol Oates will get one of the gold badges for November?
