One Direction may be on an extended hiatus, but Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik have continued to make music — and headlines — over the years. Following five years as a group, however, Malik was the first to leave the band, announcing his departure in March 2015.

The fans have naturally begun their detective work, and many think account inactivity is the reason for the loss of the band’s blue tick, which is, according to Twitter’s Verification FAQ, one of the reasons account verifications can be taken away.

One Direction’s Twitter Account Is No Longer Verified And We’re Not Coping Well. We’re taking a moment to mourn One Direction’s blue tick… One Direction sadly lost their verification on Twitter on 29 August, and fans are having to pretend they’re now “an unknown Indie band.”

Do Zayn and One Direction follow each other on Twitter? As it stands, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson all follow Zayn on Twitter, who has 28 million followers. One Direction’s official Twitter account does not follow Zayn, nor does he follow the account, despite countless reports.

The band posted a retrospective video clip on their official Twitter account just before their hiatus took effect … but on May 5, 2020, they deleted that tweet, according to stan accounts on the social media platform.

In that same 2017 interview, when asked why the band agreed to take a hiatus, Styles told Rolling Stone he “didn’t want to exhaust [the band’s] fan base” and spoke for the other members saying, “We all thought too much of the group to let that happen.” The band changed my life, gave me everything.”