January 17, 2023
Elon Musk has made numerous changes to Twitter since taking over the company.
Blocking alternative ways to view Twitter is one of them. This means Twitter has disabled access to its API, which other platforms use to communicate with it. For example, a Twitter user who views their account using social media manager rather than the Twitter app or website may discover that Twitter is currently not working with it.
Curation is another, and it is the most visible change. This curation feature determines the order in which tweets appear on people’s timelines. A new tab now allows users to select between the most recent tweets from people they follow and those recommended by Twitter.
The third step is the reinstatement of controversial accounts that were previously banned for violating Twitter’s rules. They included Ye (rapper Kanye West), who was barred from sharing anti-Semitic posts, influencer Andrew Tate (who is currently being held in Romania on charges of people trafficking), and former US President Donald Trump, whose tweets were accused of inciting the Capitol Hill riots in January 2021.
The fourth option is Twitter Blue, which is the company’s subscription service. Twitter Blue was launched at the end of November. The $8/$11 (£6.50/£9) monthly fee guarantees access to extra features such as an edit button, increased visibility, and fewer ads. Anecdotally, it appears to have attracted a reasonable number of subscribers, but not a large number – though, as usual, no official news about its success has been released thus far.
There are also silver and gold ticks awarded by Twitter to accounts of hand-picked celebrities, journalists, and brands to indicate that they are not fakes. The previous blue tick was replaced by a gold or silver tick for brands and government figures.
The sources for this piece include an article in BBC.
