Main topic: Social media company X (formerly Twitter) now allows paid users to hide their verification checkmarks.
Key points:
1. Twitter introduced paid verification last year with the Twitter Blue relaunch.
2. The service was renamed to XBlue during the ongoing rebranding exercise.
3. The company has updated the help page for paid subscriptions, stating that even if the checkmark is hidden, it might still be visible in some places.
4. The option to hide the checkmark will be available in the "Profile customization" section of account settings.
5. This feature will allow users to benefit from subscription features without displaying that they are a verified account.
6. In March, Twitter was reported to be working on a feature to hide checkmarks with ID verification.
7. There was controversy surrounding paid verification, as it was difficult to differentiate between legacy verified accounts and those who paid for the checkmark.
8. Twitter initially removed legacy checkmarks but later reinstated them for top accounts, regardless of payment.
9. Since the relaunch, Twitter has introduced various features to incentivize users, such as a 10,000-character limit for posts, a 3-hour video upload limit, fewer ads on the timeline, and ad revenue sharing for subscribed users.
10. In May, the platform enabled encrypted DMs for verified users.
Main topic: Tumblr's new web browser look and its attempt to attract new users.
Key points:
1. Tumblr has rolled out a new navigation interface that resembles Twitter (formerly known as X) to make it easier for users to understand and explore the platform.
2. The changes were made based on user feedback during the testing phase and include tweaks to settings, messaging windows, and the Account section.
3. Tumblr saw an increase in new users after Elon Musk took over Twitter, and it may be trying to attract more users by making its platform look more like Twitter.
Hint on Elon Musk: Elon Musk took over Twitter (formerly known as X), which led to an increase in new users on Tumblr.
A botnet powered by ChatGPT, called Fox8, was discovered on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), using auto-generated content to trick users into clicking links to cryptocurrency websites, indicating the potential for more sophisticated botnets utilizing advanced chatbots like ChatGPT for scams and disinformation.
Main Topic: X (formerly known as Twitter) is planning to make major changes to the way shared articles appear on the platform, removing text elements and leaving only lead images with an overlay of the URL.
Key Points:
1. The removal of text elements aims to improve aesthetics, make posts less compact, and fit more posts in the timeline that appears on screen.
2. Elon Musk, CEO of X, supports the new format and believes it could help reduce clickbait.
3. X may be implementing this change to encourage individuals and news publications to write longer posts directly on the platform, potentially providing more context to the shared URLs.
A recent study conducted by the Observatory on Social Media at Indiana University revealed that X (formerly known as Twitter) has a bot problem, with approximately 1,140 AI-powered accounts that generate fake content and steal selfies to create fake personas, promoting suspicious websites, spreading harmful content, and even attempting to steal from existing crypto wallets. These accounts interact with human-run accounts and distort online conversations, making it increasingly difficult to detect their activity and emphasizing the need for countermeasures and regulation.
Twitter's rebranding to X resulted in a decrease in downloads and weekly active users, but surprisingly led to a 25% increase in revenue; however, consumer confusion and the popularity of Twitter Lite impacted the success of the rebranding.
X, the Elon Musk-owned social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has obtained payments licenses from several U.S. states, indicating plans to support payment processing and cryptocurrency services.
Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is updating its privacy policy to collect users' biometric and personal data, raising concerns about privacy and the potential for misuse of information.
Elon Musk became repulsed by the Twitter logo and its presence in the company's offices, ultimately leading him to acquire Twitter and rebrand it as X.com with plans to transform it into an all-encompassing app for financial and social matters.
Twitter is plagued by scam bots that impersonate users and offer fraudulent support for cryptocurrency and NFT services, highlighting the platform's lack of effective moderation and the growing problem of crypto scams.
Elon Musk's Subscriptions feature on X (formerly Twitter) is not gaining significant traction, with Musk having only 40,000 subscribers out of his 155 million followers, suggesting that it is not a successful tool in the creator economy.
Elon Musk is considering turning the social network, formerly known as Twitter, into a subscription-based platform in order to eliminate bots and address financial issues.
Elon Musk suggests that Twitter may no longer be free and is considering implementing a small monthly payment to combat bots on the platform.
Elon Musk announced during a livestream that X, formerly Twitter, may soon become a subscription-only service in order to combat the presence of bots on the platform.
Tech leaders, including Elon Musk, joined senators to discuss AI regulation, with Musk suggesting that Twitter users may have to pay a monthly fee to combat bots on the platform.
Elon Musk considers introducing a fee for X (formerly known as Twitter) users to address the increasing presence of bots on the platform, OpenAI launches DALL-E 3, Cisco acquires Splunk for $28 billion, and other major tech news happened this week.
Under Elon Musk's leadership, Twitter, now referred to as X, has experienced a decline in daily active users, losing tens of millions or 11.6% of users since his acquisition of the company, with the revised count of 245 million daily active users still representing a loss of approximately 3.7%.
Meta Platforms is considering implementing a monthly fee for ad-free access to Instagram and Facebook as a way to navigate European Union regulations.
Elon Musk-owned social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is facing financial challenges as advertising revenue decreases and its value is estimated to be worth less than its debt.
Elon Musk's platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is now serving users clickbait advertisements that cannot be blocked, reported, or easily identified as ads.
X, formerly known as Twitter, has removed the ability for users to block and report certain advertisements, which has raised concerns about transparency and user control on the platform.
Users on Elon Musk's platform X (formerly Twitter) can now block unverified accounts from replying to their posts, potentially making it more difficult to refute misinformation, but also raising concerns about the presence of bots and the unequal playing field created by paid verification.
Twitter, now known as X, has been fined $386,000 by eSafety, the Australian regulator for online safety, for failing to provide satisfactory answers regarding their actions against child abuse content, posing reputation management challenges for the struggling platform.
X (formerly known as Twitter) has become the first platform fined under Australia's Online Safety Act after failing to respond to questions regarding how effectively the platform detects and mitigates child exploitation and grooming, with potential fines of up to $493,402 per day for non-compliance.
X, formerly known as Twitter, plans to charge new users $1 per year to access key features, including tweeting, replying, liking, and bookmarking, as owner Elon Musk aims to combat the proliferation of bots on the platform.
Elon Musk has initiated a new subscription tier on X (formerly Twitter) called "Not A Bot," which charges users $1 annually to post content as a measure to combat spam and bot activity on the platform.
Elon Musk-owned social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has launched a program in limited territories that charges $1 for new signups in an attempt to combat spam and bot activity, although there is skepticism about its effectiveness.
Elon Musk's social network X, formerly known as Twitter, is testing a $1 annual subscription for new users in New Zealand and the Philippines in an effort to reduce spam and bot activity on the platform.
Twitter is testing a new signup model where new users in New Zealand and the Philippines must pay a fee or subscription to become verified, in an attempt to combat bot activity and spam on the platform.
Elon Musk's social network, formerly known as Twitter, is planning to charge users in the Philippines and New Zealand $1 to access main features such as posting and retweeting, in an effort to combat spam and bot activity.
