Update 2025-03-04 , 4:00 p.m. ET : Elon Musk has amend his original announcement . Now , he says the plan was always that the “ For You ” section would continue to include “ accounts you follow directly , ” ina tweet postednearly a full day after the original . “ Forgot to name … ” he begin the hours - previous tweet — embedded below :
Forgot to name that accounts you follow directly will also be in For You , since you have explicitly asked for them
— Elon Musk ( @elonmusk)March 28 , 2023
Don’t worry, Elon Musk pays for his Twitter blue check through constant online humiliation.Photo:rafapress(Shutterstock)
The reversal is a not - uncommon hallmark of Musk ’s messy business sector decision devising physical process , which often includesback - trailing , changes , andcommunicationsthat defy standard logic .
Original office below :
Twitter is continuing its descent intodisorderanddisfunctionwith CEO Elon Musk leading the weapons platform ’s nosedive . Next up : unverified exploiter are set to lose their poll participation privileges andone one-half of the segregated timeline systemwill only admit verified accounts , according to a Monday evening tweet from the billionaire .
“ startle April 15th , only assert accounts will be eligible to be in the For You recommendations , ” Musk posted , blaming advancing “ AI bot horde ” for the determination . “ Voting in polls will require verification for same understanding , ” he added . *
- disavowal : Anything Elon Musk posts online is unresistant to at last not be true .
Starting April 15th , only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations .
The is the only naturalistic manner to address innovative AI bot drove hold over . It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle .
vote in opinion poll will require verification for same reason .
— Elon Musk ( @elonmusk)March 27 , 2023
Though Musk is still clinging to the same bot takeover argument that he once tried to practice towriggle out of his passel to buy Twitter , it ’s obvious he has posterior motives here . The only way to become “ verified ” ( i.e. gain a blue check ) at this point in Twitter ’s historyis to pay for it .
presently , a subset of users maintain legacy check marks from the pre - Elon era . But there ’s no way to put on for those un - paid racy checks anymore . or else , check has become synonymous with signing up forTwitter Blue , the $ 8 per month subscription serve . The cherry on top : Musk may or may not be planning toeliminate all bequest verified chronicle on April 1(it ’s impossible to know if he ’s serious or if it ’s an April Fools ’ Day prank , at this point ) .
Initially , Twitter Blue was just a way to get bonus characteristic like an edit button and more formation tools . But overtime , Musk has shifted to move more of his site ’s feature film out of the “ useable - to - all ” box and under the “ paying client only ” umbrella . Text message - based two - factor authentication was fix toonly for Twitter Blue usersin February .
Now , the already unpopular “ For You ” timeline , which shows algorithmically generated contented recommendations as defend to posts from people you actually follow , will only exhibit tweets from verified drug user commence April 15 , per Musk ’s announcement . poll parrot too , will be only for the few , the paying , the bluish checks . And certainly that has nothing to do with the clock time a Twitter Poll overwhelmingtold Musk to resign .
On top of the stale bot argument , Musk has also claimed his forwarding of Twitter Blue is a means to even the online playing battlefield , and cease renown favoritism . Except the Tesla / SpaceX / etc CEO has already built favoritism into Twitter ’s algorithms . A short list of about 35 “ VIP users”(including Musk himself ) are artificially pumped up on the platform , according to a Monday nightreport from Platformer . Again , the real reason behind the billionaire ’s Twitter choices almost sure enough comes back to money .
Musk has been pushing hard to seek to boost Twitter ’s tax income through unmediated subscriptions . But ingestion has been irksome . Fewer than200,000 people had signed up for Twitter Bluein the U.S. as of mid - January , which amounted to just .2 % of the website ’s U.S. monthly substance abuser . Meanwhile , the site haslost significant ad revenueamid “ free speech ” controversies and unsubtle economic woe .
chirrup needs funds more than ever , particularly if Musk ever hopes to pay offthe monumental debt the company incurredthrough his $ 44 billion accomplishment deal . But the billionaire ’s play to turnTwitter profitable seem unlikelyto pay out in the shortsighted - term . It ’s hard to envisage the recent slew of changes will help .
Gutting the verified organisation that previously helped denigrate imposter of notable citizenry and institutions , forbid a canonic security system feature like two - factor hallmark , and agitate ever - more platform features away from standard Twitter user does n’t seem likely to increase the site ’s popularity ( or tax revenue ) .
Which might excuse why Musk has internally hinted that his social media political program is nowworth less than halfof what he bought it for . Whoops .
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