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Tag: Accounts

  • Twitter Suspends $8 Subscription Based Verification After Fake Accounts Created Mess

    Twitter Suspends $8 Subscription Based Verification After Fake Accounts Created Mess

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    Elon Musk’s Twitter suspended the subscription-based blue tick verification badges on Friday, only days after introducing them as part of a slew of changes. The social media site planned to charge $8 to users who wanted the premium blue tick verification badge, but as soon as the service went live, several fake “verified” accounts appeared on Twitter, causing the platform to reconsider its decision.

    Previously, blue tick verification was provided to notable figures in various fields such as entertainment, politics, journalism, and so on to avoid impersonation, but after Tesla co-founder Elon Musk took over the social media giant in a $44 billion takeover deal, the company decided to change the verification policy and decided to provide blue tick to anyone willing to pay $8 for the service.

    Following the launch of the service, numerous fake accounts, including Elon Musk’s own Tesla and SpaceX, appeared with a blue tick. An impersonator account even claimed that ‘insulin is free,’ prompting pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly & Co. to issue an apology via Twitter.

    There are currently two types of verified accounts on Twitter: one that was verified before to Musk’s takeover and states, “This account is verified because it is notable in government, news, entertainment, or another specified category.” The other verified account belongs to a person who paid $8 for Twitter Blue service.

    The payment for the blue tick badge was necessary because analysts believe Musk overpaid for the $44 billion contract, which he is now realising. He has sold billions of dollars in shares from his other firm, Tesla, and has also raised funds from the markets. Several sponsors have paused their Twitter commercials as they learn about the new leadership’s policies, and the current mess of fake accounts has made them even more sceptical.

    Elon Musk has recently cautioned Twitter employees to brace long hours as the firm approaches bankruptcy. The warning came as the US regulator announced the departure of the company’s trust and safety chief, as well as other top officials.

    Musk cautioned in his first company-wide email that Twitter will not “survive the upcoming economic slump” if it does not increase subscription revenue to balance dwindling advertising revenue, according to three people who saw the message, reports Reuters.

    (With inputs from Agencies)


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  • Twitter Adds ‘official’ Label For Selected Verified Accounts Including PM Modi, The Wire, More

    Twitter Adds ‘official’ Label For Selected Verified Accounts Including PM Modi, The Wire, More

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    As Twitter debuts its new $8 Twitter Blue service, it will designate some verified accounts as “official”, Esther Crawford, the company’s early stage products executive, said on Tuesday.

    “Accounts that will receive [the label] include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures,” Crawford tweeted.

    “Not all previously verified accounts will get the ‘Official’ label and the label is not available for purchase.”

    Crawford said that users’ identities will not be verified using identification cards or other materials through the updated Twitter Blue subscription programme, which will let paid customers have their accounts verified with a blue checkmark.

    The disclosure is the most recent development as Twitter, now owned by Elon Musk, explains its ambitions for verification on the network.

    On November 1, Musk said Twitter would start giving blue checkmarks, which were intended to identify genuine and influential users, to Blue subscribers. Blue is the platform’s premium service.

    “Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month,” Musk wrote.

    The redesigned premium service appeared to have opened momentarily over the weekend, as the social media company stated in an update for Apple iOS devices on Saturday that anyone who “signs up now” to its premium “Twitter Blue” service will receive a blue tick. In addition, longer movies will be able to be posted and priority ranking for platform-posted material are among the additional features that were promised as part of the premium service makeover.

    Fake accounts for government officials are a recurring issue for Twitter globally. According to a source with knowledge of the situation who spoke to Reuters, the company’s policy executives pushed for the new “official” label because they were deeply concerned that international governments would not likely and would not be ready to pay for verified check marks.

    Musk is moving to take control of the platform’s operations, and the adjustments to the Blue programme are only one of many moving components. There were rumours that Twitter had urged “dozens” of individuals to return to work after cutting off half of its global workforce the previous week.

    In India, various individuals and organisations got official label which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, The Wire and more.


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