The “Twitter community” has spoken out to express its position on Elon Musk's new rule, noting that giving more power to only verified users could be dangerous.
Twitter users have reacted to Elon Musk's decision to only allow tweets from verified users to appear in the “For You” tab. The billionaire announced his decision to allow only verified users' tweets to appear in the “For You” recommendation feed. The billionaire announced his decision to allow only messages from Twitter users with the blue check mark to appear in the “For You” recommendation feed, starting April 15. Elon Musk began charging for verification after buying the social networking services company. The blue check mark, used to indicate genuine accounts from politicians, organizations, celebrities and select personalities, is now available for purchase to interested users. This change has been met with both applause and condemnation, but mostly condemnation. Users were concerned that scammers would take advantage of the opportunity to continue their illicit activities.
Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations.
The is 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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2023
In addition to stating access to the For You tab to only verified users as the “only realistic way to combat takeover by swarms of advanced AI bots,” Elon Musk also approved verified bot accounts. A typical Twitter bot is designed to perform human-like activities, such as liking tweets and following other users. Over time, social media bots, including those on Twitter, have been involved in trolling and promoting misinformation. They have also been involved in spreading fake news and unverified news. In fact, these bots are used to spread panic, malware and distort elections.
One of the main problems with Elon Musk's new change is that these bot-controlled accounts are not limited. While non-paying users are limited to their subscribers, posts from bot accounts will be live on the “For You” feed. In the meantime, Twitter only works with two algorithms: tweets recommended by For You or tweets from people followed by an account. Elon Musk's latest policy reduces the chances of liking or retweeting tweets from unverified Twitter users.
Twitter community attacks Elon Musk on new policy for verified users
The Twitter community has spoken out to express its position on Elon Musk's new rule, noting that giving more power to only verified users could be dangerous. One Twitter user commented on Musk's message, stating:
“I don't understand this decision. You need to invest money in AI talent and technology to detect bots on the platform. This is not the right solution. It could tarnish the platform.
In response, the CEO said he anticipated that Twitter would be the only trustworthy platform.
Another user attacked Elon Musk, writing that Twitter's favorable decision limited to verified users will not restore its advertisers or result in significant revenue. Notably, the microblogging site has lost many advertisers since becoming a private company under the new administration. In a recent internal memo, the boss also told employees that Twitter's valuation was $20 billion. That's less than 50 percent of what Musk paid when he acquired the company in October 2022. The businessman acquired Twitter for $44 billion.