>>Don't you see that's the way to eliminate the power of the bots
That's the sales line.
The reality is that "verification" now means nothing more than you have an email and a credit/debit with a limit more than $8, and you can claim to be anyone you want.
Within hours, scores of fake "official" govt accounts are up [0]. If you don't think that is somehow beneficial to scammers and disruptive bots, I'd like to talk to you about some great oceanfront property in Kansas!
There is also the Auschwitz Memorial @AuschwitzMuseum account being unverified while the account of a prominent Nazi propagandist is [1].
The result is that anyone running a bot/troll account can put up any face they want and purchase amplified reach (not merely speech) for $8/month - an astonishing deal
Beyond effectively destroying the value of the Blue Check verification status to convey validation, it has now turned into a badge of shame that no serious person wants. Musk already knows this, and is trying to counteract it by leaving legacy valuable badges on certain celebrities, such as Stephen King, who explicitly denies paying [2]
The Blue Check has become a toxic symbol, and this is reflected in new terms o service [3], where you cannot turn it off, even by cancelling the subscription.
The economic reality is that Twitter's core value proposition was the presence of verified and active govt accounts, news accounts, and celebrity accounts. It was their content that people came to see and interact.
By allowing anyone to pay a small fee to impersonate anyone, Musk has made verification worthless and even toxic.
It literally renders nearly worthless the very thing Musk wants people to pay for.
And, beyond doing nothing to suppress bots, this enables them as never before.
That's the sales line.
The reality is that "verification" now means nothing more than you have an email and a credit/debit with a limit more than $8, and you can claim to be anyone you want.
Within hours, scores of fake "official" govt accounts are up [0]. If you don't think that is somehow beneficial to scammers and disruptive bots, I'd like to talk to you about some great oceanfront property in Kansas!
There is also the Auschwitz Memorial @AuschwitzMuseum account being unverified while the account of a prominent Nazi propagandist is [1].
The result is that anyone running a bot/troll account can put up any face they want and purchase amplified reach (not merely speech) for $8/month - an astonishing deal
Beyond effectively destroying the value of the Blue Check verification status to convey validation, it has now turned into a badge of shame that no serious person wants. Musk already knows this, and is trying to counteract it by leaving legacy valuable badges on certain celebrities, such as Stephen King, who explicitly denies paying [2]
The Blue Check has become a toxic symbol, and this is reflected in new terms o service [3], where you cannot turn it off, even by cancelling the subscription.
The economic reality is that Twitter's core value proposition was the presence of verified and active govt accounts, news accounts, and celebrity accounts. It was their content that people came to see and interact.
By allowing anyone to pay a small fee to impersonate anyone, Musk has made verification worthless and even toxic.
It literally renders nearly worthless the very thing Musk wants people to pay for.
And, beyond doing nothing to suppress bots, this enables them as never before.
Masterful strategy there... (/s)
[0] https://twitter.com/jsrailton/status/1649146273121857554
[1] https://twitter.com/EladNehorai/status/1649262025296744450
[2] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649181726395052039
[3] https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy/status/1649449653098668032