Following announcements that Twitter under Musk will generate revenue by blue tick subscriptions, we look at what this means and at the blue tick chaos that followed the announcement.
Twitter’s paid-for Blue service, launched last year, is a subscription service – $7.99 (£6.99) per month in the US, also available in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and now in the UK since 10th November. Primarily, the Blue service is a way for users to verify (by use of a blue tick next to their name) that their account is genuine. The Blue service also gives subscribers other editing and customisation options that free accounts don’t have.
In 2021, the service was introduced following reports that perhaps as much as 19 per cent of Twitter accounts could be fake and untrustworthy. This problem appears to have persisted.
Back in June, for example, When Elon Musk was in the process of trying to buy (i.e. a takeover of) Twitter, he threatened to pull out of the sale over the amount of spam and fake accounts/bot accounts (not run by humans) which Twitter said made up 5 per cent of Twitter accounts.
These fake / bot accounts and parody accounts are a problem, not just from Twitter’s (and Musk’s personal) point of view in that they affect the platform’s quality and could reduce value for money for advertisers but mainly because, from the user’s point of view, they are used to (for example) send adverts or scams to users, influence public debate by tweeting political propaganda, and generally spread disinformation.
Subscribers to Twitter’s Blue service should receive the following:
– The verifying tick next to the name in the user’s profile.
– The ability to edit their tweets, e.g. to correct typos or clarify meanings, up to five times within the first 30 minutes of tweeting. However, the tweet shows that it’s been edited and shows users the previous versions.
– An ‘undo’ function which gives a short “cooling-off” period before a tweet goes live. This could, for example, be used to tag more people.
– The ability to change the app icon’s colour, the general colour theme, and the text size.
– The ability to upload longer (up to 10 minutes) and better-quality videos (1080p HD quality).
– The ability to use NFTs (non-fungible tokens) as profile photos, e.g. a piece of digital art they’ve purchased.
– Top Articles and priority ranking for subscribers. Users can use this section to see which articles are creating a buzz.
Other points of interest about the blue tick system are:
– Whereas the old blue checkmark (before Musk took over) indicated active, notable, and authentic accounts of public interest that had been independently verified by Twitter based on specific requirements, the new post-Musk blue checkmark could mean:
– Either an account was verified under the previous verification criteria, or the account has an active subscription to Twitter Blue.
– Accounts verified under the old system can keep their blue badges.
There is also news that features coming soon to the Blue service will include fewer adverts, priority ranking in search, and mentions and replies for “quality content” posted by subscribers.
However, Elon Musk’s Blue service introduction was born out of significant change and turmoil for the social media platform, which has led to a chaotic week for blue tick. Some of the turbulent backdrops which have fuelled the chaos include:
– Musk’s $44 billion takeover leading to mass job cuts – Twitter cutting roughly 50 per cent of its workforce.
– Twitter top executives reportedly being sacked, i.e. Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadd.
– Fears that Twitter could change for the worse under Musk’s ownership, i.e. reinstating unpopular banned users and controversial figures and allowing the wrong kind of ‘free speech. Also, the dropping of thousands of (outsourced) content moderators has led to fears of a drop in quality and a possible rise of misinformation.
– Elon Musk warned that Twitter could face bankruptcy unless more (non-advertising) revenue could be generated, e.g. by the Blue service.
– Elon Musk announced that all but “exceptional” Twitter employees must return to working in the office for at least 40 hours per week, or their resignation will be accepted.
– Reports that Twitter users are leaving the platform in protest over Musk’s ownership and moving to compete and decentralised social network ‘Mastodon.’
– America’s Federal Trade Commission warns that “no chief executive or company is above the law”, fears over Twitter’s approach to security, and questions about this in relation to possible Saudi involvement in the Twitter takeover.
It is against this backdrop that the introduction of the Blue service, a way to generate revenue at a time of falling ad sales, appeared to be in chaos as the following, and more, happened:
– A wave of blue tick verified (but fake) accounts impersonating influential brands and celebrities tweeting fake news, plus having to be suspended and removed. Fake/parody accounts included those for Apple, Nintendo, BP, Chiquita, Mark Zuckerberg, President Joe Biden, Donald Trump, George W Bush, Tony Blair and, almost inevitably, fake Elon Musk and Tesla accounts.
– Reports that US far-right activists have been able to purchase Twitter blue ticks and of accounts purchasing blue ticks using AI-generated images of fake personalities.
– Confusion over introducing new grey “official” badges instead of blue ticks on some high-profile accounts, which were suddenly scrapped by Elon Musk, only to be reinstated on some Twitter profiles.
– Some US users reported that the Twitter Blue subscription system was no longer available.
– Elon Musk announced that parody accounts would need to include parody in their name going forward.
The takeover, the speed and drastic nature of the job cuts (mass layoffs by email) and other changes and concerns about what Twitter could now become under the ownership of the controversial Elon Musk have created a turbulent environment in which to try and quickly introduce a new and flawed blue tick service.
Falling ad revenues were the main reason for introducing the blue tick service as a much-needed extra source of revenue. However, chaos, parody, and fake accounts may have dented confidence in a blue tick. A general unease about what Twitter will be under Musk may account for many users switching to Mastodon. Given that Tesla’s fate may also be linked to the fate of Twitter, despite Musk optimistically tweeting that “Usage of Twitter continues to rise. One thing is for sure: it isn’t boring!”, chaos, turbulence, uncertainty, and security fears are not attractive to businesses (and advertisers), and news of brutal mass layoffs by email ordering people back to the office and acting too much like a billionaire are not attractive to many social media users.
Also, there is a fear that Twitter could now be much more easily exploited by bad actors to spread disruptive disinformation and other malicious activities. Events are still happening thick and fast at Twitter, but for the time being, confidence in blue tick appears to have been seriously dented.
