Twitter is about to make a historic change. This is a huge risk that could alienate many accounts that create much of Twitter’s content. It also reveals how Twitter is searching for new revenue streams as it fights to regain relevance and create a viable business model.
Elon Musk has revealed that old accounts certified in blue will begin to disappear on April 1. Then, on April 15, only tweets from new paid blue accounts will appear in Twitter users’ “For You” feeds and be eligible to vote in polls. Last fall, at a Twitter Spaces event, Mr. Musk said tweets from Blue verified accounts would appear higher in users’ main feeds, while tweets from unverified accounts would be relegated to the “spam folder”“.
Twitter’s For You tab shows users tweets from people they don’t follow but are recommended by Twitter’s algorithm. Musk tweeted that limiting this tab to tweets from Twitter Blue users “is the only realistic way to deal with takeover by swarms of AI bots.”
For months, the platform maintains a list of about 35 VIP users
However, hours after making the announcement, Musk changed his comments. He tweeted: “I forgot to mention that accounts you follow directly will also be in For Yousince you explicitly requested them.”
According to a Platformer article, Twitter has previously quietly recommended posts from some users over others. “For months, the platform has maintained a list of approximately 35 VIP users whose accounts it monitors and provides increased visibility alongside Elon Musk.”
Earlier, Musk also said, “Voting in the polls will require verification for the same reason.” He added: “Having said that, it is acceptable to have verified bot accounts if they abide by the terms of use & don’t impersonate humans.”
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This created some confusion. One person answered“‘Verified bot’? That’s an oxymoron and the anthesis of what you say you want to accomplish. Weird.”
This latest round of policy changes at Twitter are seen by many as an attempt to move from an advertiser-based model to one that depends on user subscriptions. In a letter to employees, Musk said Twitter is worth around $20 billion today. He had paid $44 billion for Twitter in October 2022.
Currently, Twitter has less than 500,000 paid subscribers. This represents less than 0.12% of Twitter’s total user base. To reach Musk’s goal of 50% of the social network’s revenue, it would take 24 million Twitter Blue members.
Half of new Blue subscribers have less than 1,000 followers
Not everyone is happy with this shift to paid accounts. Actor William Shatner, better known as Captain Kirk of Star Trek, tweeted his disagreement.
Musk replied: “It’s about treating everyone the same. There shouldn’t be a different standard for celebrities, I think.”
But, even if it is a purely financial blow, will it be successful? Analysis of new subscribers to Blue shows that half of them have less than 1,000 followers. They are not really influencers.
Source: “ZDNet.com”