Just 24 hours after suggesting that followers of Elon Musk’s Twitter account might soon only see tweets from paid subscribers in their default feed, the billionaire was forced to explain that posts from accounts followers actually care about would still be visible.
The “For You” tab in the Twitter app is curated by an algorithm to display the most relevant messages to each individual user. In other words, it can recommend tweets from users you don’t track. Musk revealed this change to the For You tab on Monday night, saying it would shortly only recommend Twitter Blue subscribers.
On Monday night, he tweeted that “starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations.” The only practical solution to the threat of hordes of intelligent robots taking over the world is to. A victory is impossible under those circumstances. As a result, voters will need to provide proof of identity at polling places.
But on Tuesday, Musk tweeted a clarification: “Forgot to mention that accounts you follow directly will also be in For You, since you have explicitly asked for them.”
Five months after Musk’s acquisition of Twitter was finalized, he and the company were forced to reconsider, explain, postpone, or roll back several changes to the platform, causing some confusion and whiplash among users.
A user’s follower count can be increased by being featured in the “For You” stream. If users are prevented from casting votes in surveys, it may encourage them to upgrade to a paid subscription.
Musk frequently posts surveys on Twitter asking followers for their opinions on various topics, such as whether he should resign as Twitter CEO or whether he should sell his Tesla (TSLA) stock.
Twitter is making the change to combat bot accounts, as Musk put it, but he subsequently tweeted “That said, it’s ok to have verified bot accounts as long as they follow terms of service & don’t impersonate a human.”
Musk intends for this to be a step in weaning Twitter off of its reliance on ads. Many advertisers have abandoned Twitter since Musk seized control in October.
Users who have had a free blue checkmark in the past, including government officials, celebrities, members of the media, and other high-profile users, will no longer have that verification as of April unless they pay a subscription fee of $84 annually or $8 monthly, as Musk announced last week.
Over the weekend, thespian William Shatner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk got into a Twitter spat after Shatner took issue with Musk’s plan to charge for the seal of approval.
“Hey @elonmusk, I heard that blue checks would be discontinued if we didn’t pay Twitter.Tweeted Shatner. I’ve put in 15 years of my life here, for free, contributing my knowledge and humor. So, now you want me to pay for something that you previously provided without charge?”
On Sunday, in response to a tweet from Shatner, Musk wrote, “It’s more about treating everyone equitably. It’s unfair to hold famous people to a lower standard.
