TechDigits

Tech news
Thursday, Jun 08, 2023

Twitter boss announces blue tick shake-up

Twitter boss announces blue tick shake-up

Twitter boss Elon Musk has announced a shake-up of the social media platform's paid Twitter Blue feature.
From 15 April only verified subscribers will have posts recommended to other users and be allowed to vote in polls.

Under the policy, posts from non-paying accounts will not be included in the "For you" stream of recommended tweets.

Last week, the firm said it would remove the verified status of some "legacy" accounts, which date from before Musk bought the firm.

Users currently pay $7 (£5.70) a month for blue-tick verification, which also allows access to additional features.

Musk said the changes were "the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle."

"Voting in polls will require verification for same reason," he added.

In an earlier post, Musk said paid verification significantly increases the cost of using bots and makes it easier to identify them.

However, the move has been criticized by some social media users.

A former worker on Twitter's verification team who asked to remain anonymous told the BBC: "Our number one goal for my team was to protect users from real world harm and this screams the complete opposite to me."

"Verified users will use their power and their presence on the platform to influence anything from misinformation to actual harm for users all around the world. It's a silent threat that no one is seeing," they added.

Twitter Blue had a chaotic initial launch in November, as people started impersonating big brands and celebrities and paying for the blue tick badge in order to make them look authentic. Many pretended to be Musk himself.

This forced Twitter to pause the feature after less than a week, before it was relaunched the following month.

Twitter Blue has since been used by controversial groups, including Taliban officials and their prominent supporters in Afghanistan.

Verified users have their tweets amplified above other accounts. Subscribers also have access to additional features including an edit button, among other perks.

Previously, the blue tick was used to indicated that high-profile accounts were authentic. It was given out by Twitter without a subscription fee - but only the firm itself decided who got one.

Last week, Twitter said it would also start phasing out its "legacy verified program" and remove some "legacy verified checkmarks" from 1 April.

The firm added that users needed to pay to "keep your blue checkmark on Twitter".

Bots on social media platforms can hurt their ability to grow advertising revenue or paid-for subscriptions.

Musk has often expressed concerns about how many fake or spam accounts are on Twitter. At one point he put his $44bn plan to buy the social media platform on hold as he queried the number of bots disclosed by the firm's previous management team.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

TechDigits
Close
0:00
0:00
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
Prominent Hacker Forum RaidForums Suffers Substantial Data Breach
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
'Godfather Of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Quits Google To Warn Of The Tech's Dangers
Vermont Man Charged with Stalking After Secretly Tracking Woman with Apple AirTag
Elon Musk Statements About Tesla Autopilot Could Be 'Deepfakes,' Lawyers Claim. Judge Evette Pennypacker Does Not Understand How Far and Advanced This Technology Became
AT&T's Successful Test of Satellite-Based Phone Call Raises Possibility of Widespread Coverage
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh slams New York Times' pro-government stance and treatment of sources
Fox News Settles their case with Dominion Voting Systems for a staggering $787.5 MILLION
The G-7 aims to make global crypto regulations tougher
China and Brazil have signed a new deal that will allow them to trade in their own currencies, bypassing the US dollar as an intermediary
Elon Musk and Others Call for Pause on A.I., Citing ‘Profound Risks to Society’
U.S. charges FTX's Bankman-Fried with paying $40 million bribe
Fallen 'Crypto King' Who Owes Millions to Investors Was Kidnapped and Tortured
Regulators blame social media for SVB's rapid collapse: 'Complete game changer'
AOC explains why she opposes banning TikTok
Gordon Moore, a co-founder of Intel Corporation, died at 94
Donald Trump arrested – Twitter goes wild with doctored pictures
Credit Suisse's Scandalous History Resulted in an Obvious Collapse - It's time for regulators who fail to do their job to be held accountable and serve as an example by being behind bars.
Russian Hackers Preparing New Cyber Assault Against Ukraine
A brief banking situation report
Elon Musk Is Planning To Build A Town In Texas For His Employees
The Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse effect is spreading around the world, affecting startup companies across the globe
Market Chaos as USDC Loses Peg to USD after $3.3 Billion Reserves Held by Silicon Valley Bank Closed.
Banking regulators close SVB, the largest bank failure since the financial crisis
In a major snub to Downing Street's Silicon Valley dreams, UK chip giant Arm has dealt a serious blow to the government's economic strategy by opting for a US listing
It's the question on everyone's lips: could a four-day workweek be the future of employment?
Corruption and Influence Buying Uncovered in International Mainstream Media: Investigation Reveals Growing Disinformation Mercenaries
Being a Tiktoker might be expensive…
China's top tech firms, including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, and JD.com, are developing their own versions of Open AI's AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT
This shocking picture, showing how terrible is the results of the earthquake in Turkey
The desk of King Carlos Alberto of Sardinia has many secret compartments
Charlie Munger, calls for a ban on cryptocurrencies in the US, following China's lead
First generation unopened iPhone set to fetch more than $50,000 at auction.
Almost 30% of professionals say they've tried ChatGPT at work
Interpol seeks woman who ran elaborate exam cheating scam in Singapore
What is ChatGPT?
Tesla reported record profits and record revenues for 2022
Microsoft is finalising plans to become the latest technology giant to reduce its workforce during a global economic slowdown
Tesla slashes prices globally by as much as 20 percent
After Failing To Pay Office Rent, Twitter May Sell User Names
FTX fraud investigators are digging deeper into Sam Bankman-Fried's inner circle – and reportedly have ex-engineer Nishad Singh in their sights
TikTok CEO Plans to Meet European Union Regulators
U.S. Moves to Seize Robinhood Shares, Silvergate Accounts Tied to FTX
Coinbase to Pay $100 Million in Settlement With New York Regulator
×