Twitter has announced a series of changes related to paid subscription on the platform, excluding non-paying accounts from several key features.
Starting April 15, only users subscribed to Twitter Blue will be recommended to others on the For You page. Voting in polls on the platform will also be limited to paid subscribers.
The move, according to owner Elon Musk, will address the increasing number of bot accounts. “The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over,” the billionaire tweeted.
Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations.
The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle.
Voting in polls will require verification for same reason.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2023
Following the changes, only companies, government entities or Twitter Blue subscribers will appear on the For You recommendation page. Last week, the company announced removing the verification status of some “legacy” accounts as well.
On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https://t.co/gzpCcwOpLp
Organizations can sign up for https://t.co/RlN5BbuGA3…
— Verified (@verified) March 23, 2023
The blue checkmark, available for $8 a month, comes with a range of exclusive features. It allows subscribers to write long tweets, edit tweets, bookmark folders, and undo tweets. It also reduces the number of ads subscribers encounter on the platform.
The paid verification, announced after Musk took over Twitter in October 2022, has been widely criticised by consumers, tech experts, and digital rights activists. The checkmark was previously allotted to establish the authenticity of known accounts, After the subscription was rolled out, however, the platform was streamed with a number of verified fake accounts, which also led to significant losses to some businesses.
