Topline
Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Monday said only tweets from verified accounts would show up on the platform’s curated timeline as of next month, likely restricting it to mostly paying users as the firm plans to remove verified badges from “legacy” users not subscribed to Twitter Blue for a monthly fee.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced that the platform will only recommend posts made by verified users … [+]
Key Facts
In a tweet, Musk said only verified accounts would be “eligible” to be featured in Twitter’s “For You” recommendations page, starting April 15.
The Twitter chief reasoned that this change was the “only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over.”
Musk added voting in Twitter polls will also require verification going forward, a change he had previously said he will carry out.
Twitter will, however, allow “verified bot accounts” that follow the platform’s terms of service and do not impersonate humans, although he did not clarify if tweets from these accounts will appear on the For You page.
The For You page is the default timeline for users, unless they manually choose the “Following” tab, which only displays tweets from accounts they are following in Twitter’s classic reverse chronological order.
Key Background
Under the change, Twitter would only recommend tweets from accounts that either pay for Twitter Blue, belong to companies and brands that have a gold verification badge or are government officials and entities with a gray verification badge. Last week, Twitter announced it will be getting rid of its “legacy” verification program, and users who were verified under this program—which involved actual verification of a person’s identity—would lose their blue check marks on April 1. Prior to Musk’s takeover, Twitter’s verification program was free, and it gave notable accounts—including politicians, companies, celebrities, influencers, journalists and government entities—a verification badge after authenticating them. Twitter Blue, on the other hand, limits the badge to users who pay for its $8 per month subscription and only requires a phone number. The change, scheduled to begin on April Fool’s Day, could trigger chaos and enable impersonator accounts to run rampant.
Big Number
290,000. That’s roughly how many accounts pay for Twitter Blue as of early February, according to a report by the Information, citing internal company documents. Of these, around 180,000 subscribers were from the U.S. which is less than 0.2% of the platform’s daily active users in the country.
Tangent
On Monday evening, the Platformer reported that Twitter is maintaining a list of around 35 so-called VIP users, which are given “increased visibility” on the platform alongside CEO Elon Musk’s account. Citing internal documents, the report said the list includes an eclectic mix of celebrities, Twitter trolls, politicians, influencers and athletes, suggesting there is no single criteria for inclusion on the list. Reportedly on the list are basketball superstar Lebron James, conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, progressive lawmaker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), President Joe Biden, YouTuber Mr. Beast, Twitter investor and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, right wing troll account @catturd2 and popular absurdist comedy account @dril, among others.
Further Reading
Elon Musk Provides Update On Who Will Keep Blue Tick—Ahead Of Twitter’s Looming Verification Rollback (Forbes)
The secret list of Twitter VIPs getting boosted over everyone else (Platformer)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2023/03/28/twitters-for-you-page-will-be-mostly-restricted-to-tweets-from-paying-subscribers-under-upcoming-changes/