Discussion

• @somebadideas Aaron Stewart-Ahn on x

  If you don't pay the $8 your tweets will be suppressed by an algorithm. Not making this shit up he said it to a room of investors yesterday & claimed this would solve hate speech. “You'll have to scroll really far to see unverified users” https://twitter.com/...

• @sawyermerritt Sawyer Merritt on x

  BREAKING: Twitter has officially launched the revamped Twitter Blue for $7.99/month in select countries. Not all features are live yet. Some are coming later. Looks like the blue verified checkmark is now part of Twitter Blue, but as a Blue user I'm not seeing a checkmark yet. ht…

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  Trash me all day, but it'll cost $8

• @rothschildmd Mike Rothschild on x

  Among the first “peasants” to attempt to sign up for the new paid verified checkmark: conspiracy influencer QAnon John. https://twitter.com/...

• @caseynewton Casey Newton on x

  Wheeeeee https://twitter.com/...

• @jamesliamcook James Cook on x

  I remain blue-ticked for now and haven't paid for Twitter Blue. Immediate change after the update is the notifications tab defaults to Verified rather than All (previously Verified was an option, not the default view) https://twitter.com/...

• @nycsouthpaw @nycsouthpaw on x

  It looks like twitter took this QAnon promoter's money and then banned him. Some moments of brilliance are still possible as the night gathers. https://twitter.com/...

• @karaswisher Kara Swisher on x

  Like I said, with more of a Network Solutions vibe: https://twitter.com/...

• @eddie1perez Edward Perez on x

  With Musk's new Twitter Blue verification scheme, there appears to be a clash between money-making & validating authenticity. And in the midst of an election, voters need to know if what they are reading is real or fake. Rushing this out days before Election Day is a bad idea. ht…

• @tclarkmedia @tclarkmedia on x

  Here we go... 👀 The new Twitter Blue is live in the App Store: https://twitter.com/...

• @erinkwoo Erin Woo on x

  as @alexeheath @tomaxwell have noted, Twitter seems to have shipped Twitter Blue changes early. That said, they may be slowly rolling out access to all users — benefits offered to me include tweet editing and Top Articles (both slated to be phased out of Blue, per internal docs).…

• @hiattb Brian Hiatt on x

  So are you still planning to allow anyone to “verify” under any name, allowing for unlimited chaos and impersonators? https://twitter.com/...

• @jbenton Joshua Benton on x

  Clearly laid off in the purge was the entire copy-edit-App-Store-updates team https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @alkapdc Alex Kaplan on x

  Another QAnon influencer wrote that it “signed up for Twitter blue and it went through” (though its account is still banned). https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x

  So. Twitter revenue total 2021 ~$5bn. Approx 250m DAUs. That's $20 in ad revenue per average DAU per year. Twitter Blue = $96 per year, ie ~5x. And Blue users still get $10 in ads = $106 per year. Almost all zero cost after credit card check. ~50m Twitter Blue users -> profit? ht…

• @mollyjongfast Molly Jong-Fast on x

  I wonder if Elon wrote the copy https://twitter.com/...

• @svengrundberg Sven on x

  Twitter verification is a hygiene factor for the platform. Not a user feature. Here, on the other hand, are features I'm sure brands and some individuals would pay for: - higher res + longer videos - high res images - attribution features (click this video) - analytics

• @mattgertz Matthew Gertz on x

  Does “Twitter Blue with verification” at the bottom there mean there's actually a process for verifying the identities of Twitter Blue purchasers who want the check mark? https://twitter.com/...

• @mmasnick Mike Masnick on x

  They still haven't even remotely explained why those features are valuable. Because they're not. https://twitter.com/...

• @ow Owen Williams on x

  what kind of company does a major platform change on a SATURDAY ☠️ https://twitter.com/...

• @tylerkingkade Tyler Kingkade on x

  This is straight up the premise to “The Sneetches” by Dr. Seuss https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @matthewkadish Matt Kadish on x

  So... @elonmusk - will there be any actual KYC involved in Twitter Blue? I had to manually apply for my checkmark and put up numerous forms of proof I was who I said I was. Does the new subscription require any proof of identity or is subscribing just enough for a verification? h…

• @edbott Ed Bott on x

  “It's just a blue checkmark, Elon. How much could it cost, 8 dollars?” https://twitter.com/...

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  There is obviously value in identity verification on Twitter. Both for users and advertisers (plus helps limit bot reach). There's even a good argument for a nominal charge for such verification, albeit not a recurring charge. This could be separate from other service options.

• @manan @manan on x

  Musk calls it “payment authentication” and even roped in Apple's “payment authentication” as a reason why he wants people to pay $8 so bots and scams are reduced... https://www.techmeme.com/...

• @teroterotero Tero Kuittinen on x

  They're trying to keep perky and tweet through this unholy mess. Respect. https://twitter.com/...

• @tomaxwell @tomaxwell on x

  “These businesses just don't require that many people” Meanwhile, the update release notes https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @emmakennedy Emma Kennedy on x

  The wreckage of Twitter continues: unless you and your pals you enjoy interacting all cough up, you're being shadow banned. It's astonishing how bad at this he is. Destroying the point of twitter in one swoop. https://twitter.com/...

• @drmistercody Cody Johnston on x

  He keeps saying that $8 is just the price of a latte so people will obviously pay for it, in the same breath that he says trolls, bots, and racists won't pay $8. https://twitter.com/...

• @courtneymilan Courtney Milan on x

  If $8 gets your tweets scooted up the algorithm, why would you pay to advertise? Wouldn't all the people trying to manipulate public opinion pay $8, and regular people who would rather have one more latte not? https://twitter.com/...

• @edzitron Ed Zitron on x

  Hey it's not actually live, but we are however charging you for it. Cheers https://twitter.com/...

• @qhardy @qhardy on x

  For the record, “Power to the People” was coined by Rap Brown and Huey Newton for the Black Panthers, so it's more than a little weird that the world's richest man is using it to get you to give him 96 bucks a year. https://www.youtube.com/...

• @oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x

  It begins: “For $7.99/month... Your account will get a blue checkmark, just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow.” https://twitter.com/...

• @tomcoates Tom Coates on x

  This is what you get now when you sign up to Twitter Blue. Obviously no one can actually see your checkmark yet. Zero verification whatsoever of your identity. None. It's just a “pro” badge designed to look like Twitter has checked who you are. It's basically a dangerous lie. htt…

• @gergelyorosz Gergely Orosz on x

  Oh, the app update is a lie. This is not done. The team failed to ship by that original one week deadline (and a good part of them got fired, as promised). So now they decided to confuse users as they keep on working long hours and eventually ship. Welcome to the new Twitter. htt…

• @willguyatt Will Guyatt on x

  Wrecking twitter in one step https://twitter.com/...

• @_alastair Alastair Coote on x

  “we'll make your ads twice as relevant” is a weird statement. They have the ability to serve more relevant ads but don't? Surely that's worse for absolutely everyone involved? https://twitter.com/...

• @oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x

  Twitter says they “are testing and pushing changes in real-time” and “some folks may see us making updates,” but it's not live for everyone. https://twitter.com/...

• @ariehkovler Arieh Kovler on x

  This is pretty funny. The Twitter update straight-up advertises that you pay, you get the badge. At least one top QAnon influencer has already forked over his 8 dollars to get his Verified badge so he can tell us all about how Trump is still President. No badges yet though. https…

• @rakeshlobster Rakesh Agrawal on x

  The longstanding twitter “verified” has conflated: - this is who the person and we've made an effort to validate that w/ - this person is someone of note (by some arbitrary definition that is applied with no consistency) Those are two very different things. https://twitter.com/..…

• @panzer @panzer on x

  Burning a weekend App Store update favor on a feature that doesn't work yet has gotta sting.

• @teisam Tor Einar Samdahl on x

  @charlesarthur It is. «We've launched Twitter Blue in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In these regions, Twitter Blue is available for in-app purchase on Twitter for iOS and Android, or on https://twitter.com/ through our payment partner Stripe. » https://help.twitter.…

• @happygeek Davey Winder on x

  Looks like the ‘you can buy your checkmark’ update has arrived. https://twitter.com/...

• @charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x

  This is just incoherent. If Twitter is the most trusted news source “voters” have, then everyone is in deep, deep trouble anyway. Nor will everything change by Tuesday. Voters need to know where to find reliable information, and that's far more likely to be *not* on Twitter. http…

• @sarahfrier Sarah Frier on x

  Check marks for sale, two days before the midterms: https://twitter.com/...

• @mikeelgan Mike Elgan on x

  The new $8 per month Twitter Blue subscription comes with a verified badge. One coming benefit: “Your content will get priority ranking in replies, mentions and search. This helps lower the visibility of scams, spam, and bots.” Uh... unless scammers pay for Twitter Blue.

• @jbeda Joe Beda on x

  Will the blue check be the new MAGA hat?

• @aroondeep Aroon Deep on x

  Good luck to the Twitter Blue team, which will soon discover how auto-recurring payments work in India. https://twitter.com/...

• @martinsfp @martinsfp on x

  Looks like Twitter Blue is officially available in the UK now... https://twitter.com/...

• @aravosis @aravosis on x

  Musk just said unpaid accounts will have their tweets buried. https://twitter.com/...

• @carnage4life @carnage4life on x

  I'd be impressed by the speed of execution except the feature clearly doesn't work yet and I know the product lead slept in the office & ran 9:30PM stand ups to ship this incomplete release.

• @ukhack Andy on x

  And so it begins... https://twitter.com/...

• @jamesliamcook James Cook on x

  “Power to the people,” reads Twitter's new app update https://twitter.com/...

• @tomaxwell @tomaxwell on x

  Verified is now default in notifications https://twitter.com/...

• @tomaxwell @tomaxwell on x

  Seems like it https://twitter.com/...

• @dcherring @dcherring on x

  The relationship between advertising & social media (or ‘news’, for that matter) are well worth probing. Very good piece here frm @zeynep https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @lynnekodonnell Lynne O'Donnell on x

  Twitter: “It's not so much an echo chamber where groups don't hear from one another as a football stadium where we bond by yelling at the fans from the other side.” https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  Followed by creator monetization for all forms of content

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  @Erdayastronaut We can do 42 min chunks at 1080 resolution now for new Blue, so you could break up a longer video. The 42 min limit should be fixed next month. How does YouTube monetization work & what could Twitter do better?

• @sillyrobin @sillyrobin on x

  Just to be clear, he *also* fired the team who *built* and *shipped* this. https://twitter.com/...

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  Search within Twitter reminds me of Infoseek in '98! That will also get a lot better pronto.

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  @AdamFostermusic Absolutely

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  @mahdi Something like that

• @oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x

  This was already in testing at the company awaiting a rollout. He's taking credit here for a bunch of work that some employees did before he laid them off. https://twitter.com/...

• @hannahgais Hannah Gais on x

  that's blogging. elon threw a hissy fit and then spent $44 billion to reinvent the blog. https://twitter.com/...

• @rmayemsinger Randi Mayem Singer on x

  Yeah, I'd rather it didn't let anybody be anybody they say they are. https://twitter.com/...

• @taylorlorenz @taylorlorenz on x

  Allowing ppl to monetize “all forms of content” w/o instituting safety measures only means more spam & ppl monetizing bad stuff like child porn. Meanwhile the number one thing big creators have said they want is robust controls over their experience and less abuse/harassment http…

• @mahdi @mahdi on x

  @elonmusk Twitter Notes?

• @joecarlsonshow Joseph Carlson on x

  So far the best tweet Elon has made about new Twitter. Make it so creators can build a sustainable business on your platform and they will make your platform a lot of money. https://twitter.com/...

• @adamfostermusic Adam Foster on x

  @elonmusk Twitter VS Substack Will people be able to subscribe / donate to pieces of writing like this? Thanks 🙏

• @jamesrbuk James Ball on x

  ...this was a feature Twitter was already developing and had publicly tested. Pretty sure the team building it got laid off yesterday, too. https://twitter.com/...

• @jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x

  dude, this is literally a feature that Twitter rolled out in June: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @jyjault @jyjault on x

  Ok who made this? https://twitter.com/...

• @smtuffy Sean Tuffy on x

  This seems like a great way to get all the celebs off this website https://twitter.com/...

• @catovitch @catovitch on x

  So, even for those willing to pay, he is going to boost some parts of the English-speaking world over other parts? Brilliant idea, Elon. Yeah, just bury everyone else's tweets. I mean, Twitter was already but you said you were going to improve things not make them worse. Twat. ht…

• @oalexanderdk Oliver Alexander on x

  So the most important part of being Verified is getting removed, the actual VERIFICATION part. No ID needed, so it won't fix any of the problems Elon claimed it would. https://twitter.com/...

• @quatoria Anna Phylaxis on x

  It's hard to see this as anything but an intentional assault on trust. Elon Musk is aiming to destroy the ability to verify or trust any information you get on twitter, and leave it a paradise for grifters and the right. https://twitter.com/...

• @molly_knight Molly Knight on x

  tell me you've never had a conversation with a woman without telling me you've never had a conversation with a woman. https://twitter.com/...

• @goldman Jason Goldman on x

  If you were the head of product for a small startup and announced that your product strategy was “Make Money” you should be fired. It's not a product strategy and without one to inform the revenue plan, you are lost. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @esthercrawford Esther Crawford on x

  The new Blue isn't live yet — the sprint to our launch continues but some folks may see us making updates because we are testing and pushing changes in real-time. The Twitter team is legendary. 🫡 New Blue... coming soon! https://twitter.com/...

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  @SirineAti @BillyM2k As soon as we confirm it's working well in the initial set of countries and we have the translation work done, it will roll out worldwide

• @rayminehane Ray Minehane on x

  Days away now from twitter switching from AWS to rack space and collapsing in real time https://twitter.com/...