With a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm, Musk scraps Pope's blue tick
- Reference: 1682096530
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/04/21/blue_tick_removal_from_twitter/
- Source link:
Far be it from The Reg to suggest the two things were linked but Musk – seen by some a deity sent down to save humanity and others as a genius asshole – might be playing with forces that, for once, are well out of his control.
The social media biz last night finally started to remove the symbol that was once seen as a platform verification of a user's identity. Now users or organizations are expected to pay [1]$8 a month for this if they sign up via the web or $11 via Apple’s iOS.
[2]
Yet like much of the confusion that Musk has brought to Twitter, some retained their tick because Musk likes them or he simply didn’t want to see them leave the platform. One case in point is writer Stephen King, who last year [3]threatened to quit Twitter if he was going to be charged to keep that lovely blue sign.
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“My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t,” [6]said the novellist yesterday . “My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.” The [7]response from Musk was: “You’re welcome namaste.”
The man behind bestsellers including IT , The Shining , Misery and many more then retweeted rapper and Law and Order actor Ice T, who [8]said : “The fact that we’re even discussing Blue Check marks is a Sad moment in society. Smh lol.”
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Musk then [10]confirmed he was covering the $8 cost for: “Just Shatner, LeBron and King.” That’s Captain Kirk, the LA Lakers basketball player who said last month he [11]wasn’t going to pay , and the aforementioned horror book scribe.
So now all those high profile people that Musk decided not to subsidize in addition to Pope Francis: there was Microsoft founder Bill Gates, reality TV’s Kim Kardashian, actor Mark Hamill, singer Lady Gaga, former US Prez Donald Trump and more.
Ben Stiller [12]joked : “No blue check, still feel like me” and Musk replied with launching emoji but not everyone found developments funny. Some journalists then [13]noted that a fake account with blue tick had wrongly claimed that Hemedti, the leader of a paramilitary group fighting for control of Sudan, had died while the "actual Rapid Support Forces account is no longer verified."
[14]Twitter will lose 32 million users by end of 2024, Insider Intelligence predicts
[15]Musk: Twitter will have 1 billion monthly users inside 18 months
[16]I'm happy paying Twitter eight bucks a month because price isn't the same as value
[17]Musk tells Twitter advertisers: You're welcome back, but don't make demands
The Reg ’s Twitter tick remains but it is no longer blue but [18]gold to verify us as a legit business account. A grey tick is for government accounts.
The reason for the change is to generate revenue to help Musk pay down the massive debts accumulated from [19]buying Twitter for more than $40 billion in October . He previously claimed Twitter was losing millions, a point not helped by some advertisers abandoning the site when hate speech began increasing.
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The man saw $12.6 billion wiped off his fortune yesterday, after a share price slump in Tesla following disappointing results. Yet, he's still worth $164 billion on paper, according to [21]Bloomberg's billionaire's index .
At this point, some might say it looks like he bought Twitter on a wing and a prayer – remember he tried to back out but ultimately [22]couldn't – which makes the snubbing of the Pope all the more confounding.
Or not maybe. ®
Get our [23]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/10/twitter_verified_opinion/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZEMHgOLhQRE@ij5i3R95PgAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/07/parody_twitter_accounts/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZEMHgOLhQRE@ij5i3R95PgAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZEMHgOLhQRE@ij5i3R95PgAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1649147510525423626?s=20
[7] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649181726395052039?s=20
[8] https://twitter.com/FINALLEVEL/status/1649155026349170695?s=20
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZEMHgOLhQRE@ij5i3R95PgAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649211324344201218?s=20
[11] https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1641836984195743749?s=20
[12] https://twitter.com/BenStiller/status/1649122472770273302?s=20
[13] https://twitter.com/UsingCigarettes/status/1649142768365629462?s=20
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/14/twitter_to_lose_32m_users/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/28/musk_twitter_slides/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/10/twitter_verified_opinion/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/19/musk_says_twitter_advertisers_can/
[18] https://twitter.com/TheRegister
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/28/musk_twitter_takeover/
[20] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZEMHgOLhQRE@ij5i3R95PgAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[21] https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/elon-r-musk/
[22] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/05/musktwitter_twitter_trial/
[23] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: If the vatican is a country
Elon eliminated all state media designations as well.
Good
It's better to level the playing field, instead of the old aristocracy system.
If people are stupid enough to pay $8/ month to get a blue tick then at least we can all see they are stupid.
CUE: Lot's of comments from people "I've never used Twitter, but I've got strong opinions on all the hate speech that I would see if I was ever to go on there". Yes, there's some hate on there if you seek it out and follow nasty people. No, there doesn't seem to be any more than there was a year ago. But if I see people post racist stuff or harp on about Brexit constantly (either pro or anti) they get a hard BLOCK from me.
Yes, it's a bit of a cesspit and that's part of the reason it's so compelling. It's interesting, and you often get a spin on things that you just don't see in other places. Also, you often see breaking news on there first.
Re: Good
Also, I think the main criticism of this move is that you are going to get lots of people paying the $8 to set up fake accounts pretending to be real people.
Firstly, that's against the T&C and they should get taken down.
Secondly, how many people are really going to do that? Will they get many followers? Will they get bored and stop paying / go away?
I just don't see this turning into a huge problem, and if it does surely they will deal with it.
I think Elon is a deeply flawed human being, but he's doing some interesting stuff. They whole blocking SubStack thing is a real dick move. The guy is an asshole just like every other billionaire is, but he's just a lot more open about it than Peter Thiel, Bill Gates or even Steve Jobs (yes, he was also an asshole to a lot of people).
Twitter WAS a heavily biased place 1 year ago and before. Lab leak theory was suppressed. Big Pharma nastiness was suppressed. Hunter Biden laptop scandal was censored. At least it's a bit more open now, and you can criticise people on the left AND on the right. Any Oh Boy, do they all need some criticism. (sorry, I'm not a fan of politicians in general whatever colour they are)
Re: Good
Impersonation problems were the reason for the original blue check system. What makes you think the incentives to impersonate government agencies and major news sources have changed?
"Against the T&C" won't matter. We've already seen that the actual Twitter T&C now are "whatever Elon feels like today." And there are certain groups he has a hate boner for that will never see any protection on his site.
If I was Steven King
I'd ask how I can get my "free" checkmark removed so I don't have special privileges over everyone else who lost theirs.
Joe Biden's account (both his personal one and the official government one) lost their checkmarks. I'm sure there are already right wing trolls who are opening accounts under those names and paying for the checkmark, hoping to fool people into believing whatever nutjob conspiracy theories they want to push. And if that happens, I hope the government lets it happen rather than pay for a blue checkmark for the official accounts - the chaos would be a good way to show everyone how far Twitter has fallen since Musk took over.
tw*ter
Quote
"Musk – seen by some a deity sent down to save humanity and others as a genius asshole "
You do realise that he could be both
Idiot move : buying twitter
Genius move : using a space rocket to dig its own flame trench.....
But then the line between genius and insanity is very narrow...........
I clicked on the link to The Reg's gold icon and got an error from Twitter.
So did I, but it came back to life with a page refresh
Seems to me
That the chaos is a subvertive attempt by musk to earn money.
Step 1: Reduce content monitoring and account checking
Step 2: remove free entitlement and start charging
Step 3: watch as the trolls cause chaos by either a) mimicing accounts or b) (ideal) starting paying for blue tick for a mimic account
Step 4: official people will be sick of misinformation and pay for ticks or trolls will continue to pay for ticks...
Step 5: bask in glorious profits
Re: Seems to me
I see you're making the same mistake as Musk - you think the users are the customers. They're not. His customers are advertisers. They more than most are likely to be aware of a golden rule of sales: never give a customer reason to review the market.
He's not really worth $164 Billion.
Even he admits his supposed 'fortune' is illusory. He's worth half of what he was two years ago. He's leveraged to the gills. It really wouldn't take much to impoverish him.
If the vatican is a country
Does the man in the fancy hat get flagged as state media ?