Why are people putting rats next to their names on Twitter?

If you've been scrolling on Twitter, you may have noticed #RatVerified, a hashtag floating around the platform.

You may have also noticed that some people have placed the rat emoji by their names.

But why is that?

It's in opposition to Elon Musk's paid verification subscription proposition that would charge $8 a month to keep and obtain a blue check mark.

The tech billionaire purchased the social media platform for $44bn, and he didn't waste any time making structural changes.

He fired top executives and also proposed a new content moderation council with "diverse viewpoints."

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But one such change gaining a lot of steam is directed at a new paid subscription to get a blue verification check on the platform.

Twitter Blue, which is the platform's current subscription plan, is $4.99 a month.

In a tweet on Tuesday (1 November), Musk revealed the pers to the subscription, which includes things like half the amount of ads, priority in the replies section, the ability to post long videos and audio, and other things.

However, this has still caused division on the platform, leading some people to go against the move.

Instead of the blue check mark to prove their authenticity, they're using rat emojis by their names.

The new trend first began with popular comic creator Alex Cohen.

He urged his fans to join the ranks of the "#RatVerified" crowd following Musk's proposal.

Cohen tweeted, in part: "Why would I pay $8 to get a blue check if I could put a rat next to my name for free."

He even shared a Twitter poll poking fun at the tech billionaire's purchase of the platform, asking who would prevail in between that level of money or a rat emoji in a name.

Cohen's rat propostion hasn't been missed by people.

Thousands of people are displaying the rat emoji by their nameswith the rat emoji.

Not only are people doing this to revolt against the verification changes, they are also sharing photos of rodents.

Check out some of those images below.

Cohen, who said this might be his "stupidest contribution" to the platform, still urged people to be #RatVerified and not to pay for the platform.

Speaking with Newsweek, he shared that the verification system already present does have "issues," but it helps weed out the fake accounts and things of that sort.

"Elon Musk's proposal to charge for verification, and to give those verified users greater visibility, solves none of the current system's problems and will only make Twitter harder to navigate," he told the outlet.

A report from The Verge, said that people who already are verified on Twitter would have only 90 days to subscribe or risk losing the blue check.

They also noted that the employees working on this project were allegedly told they would be fired if they didn't meet the project's 7 November deadline.

Twitter would become the first social media app to require payment for verification.

Indy100 reached out to Cohen via Twitter DM for comment.

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