Twitter is changing since it has been bought by Elon Musk, the most notable change coming to the nature of verified accounts, as a blue check mark can now essentially be purchased for the price of eight dollars a month.
With that update comes the realization that parody accounts will have more potential than ever to misinform or pull one over on Twitter users, which many sports fans fear can lead to disaster in the form of parody accounts posing as prominent journalists or reporters and breaking news that actually doesn't exist.
It's already begun, and it happened on Wednesday in the form of Aroldis Chapman.
A Twitter account, with the handle @AroldisChapman, a profile photo of the Yankee reliever, and a blue check mark sent out a tweet announcing gratitude for having signed a new three-year deal to return to the Bronx, angering many Yankee fans who watched Chapman struggle badly again this season, land on the IL due to an infection stemming from a new tattoo, and eventually be left off the playoff roster for not showing up to a team workout.
Fans and reporters quickly caught on that it wasn't actually Chapman, who is very likely not coming back to the Yankees this winter. But the era of attempted pranks on Twitter has begun.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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