Sure, and if they'd kept it to that, maybe it could have been a reasonable niche feature, though it would always be niche. As it is, I think it likely has negative value to most people.

Those are not benefits. Giving the blue checks the opportunity for a longer, even colder take that readers must click through to read is doing them no favors.

Far, far more than that, now. The ability to organize your own feed via Tweetdeck is also being limited to blue checks, as well as security options like MFA.