Here, we look at more of the rapid changes at Twitter, what the reaction has been, how this has affected the platform, plus the wider implications.

All Change 

The beginning of Twitter’s (current) saga was when the world’s richest man, Tesla and SpaceX founder, Elon Musk bought shares in the social media giant back in January, followed by on/off April to October negotiations which resulted in Musk buying and taking over the social media giant. What followed has been some major, high-profile changes with Twitter’s workforce and practices, and the rules for users, how the platform plans to generate revenue, and how users have reacted to the changes.

Summary 

As expected with Musk, ideas, changes, and polls among users have come thick and fast and have not always been popular. Here is a brief summary of some of the standout events to date:

– Musk’s $44 billion takeover leading to ultimatum’s given to staff over committing to new working conditions. This led to resignations and mass job cuts – Twitter slashed roughly 50 per cent of its workforce (reports showed Musk’s leadership sacking an estimated 80 per cent of contract employees without formal notice).

– Twitter top executives sacked, including Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadd.

– Fears that Twitter could change for the worse under Musk’s ownership, i.e. reinstating unpopular banned users and controversial figures and allowing the wrong kind of ‘free speech.’

– Thousands of (outsourced) content moderators dropped, leading to fears of a drop in quality and possible rise of misinformation.

– Elon Musk warning that Twitter could face bankruptcy unless more (non-advertising) revenue could be generated.

– The Blue service/Blue Tick service is announced by Musk as new revenue generator and as a way to reduce the platform’s reliance on advertising and tackle the problem of fake / bot accounts, and parody accounts. The key elements of the Blue subscription service are a verifying tick next to the name in the user’s profile and the ability to edit tweets up to five times within the first 30 minutes of tweeting.

– A chaotic period after the announcement of the Blue services when (for example) a wave of blue tick verified (yet fake) accounts impersonating influential brands and celebrities tweeting fake news plus having to be suspended and removed. Also, there was confusion over the introduction of new grey “official” badges instead of blue ticks on some high-profile accounts, which were then suddenly scrapped, also reports that US far-right activists have been able to purchase Twitter blue ticks.

– Elon Musk announcing that all but “exceptional” Twitter employees need to come back to working in the office for at least 40 hours per week or their resignation will be accepted.

– Reports that Twitter users are leaving the platform in protest over Musk’s ownership and moving to competing, and decentralised social network ‘Mastodon.’

– America’s Federal Trade Commission warning that “no chief executive or company is above the law,” fears over Twitter’s approach to security, and questions about this in relation to possible Saudi involvement in the Twitter takeover.

More Controversial Changes 

Some of the more controversial announcements from Twitter have included:

– Musk announcing an amnesty to suspended Twitter accounts (after taking an opinion poll).

– Former US President Donald Trump being allowed back on Twitter (an invitation which he has declined).

– An announcement that Twitter is no longer enforcing its COVID-19 misinformation policy.

Reactions 

There have, of course, been many reactions from companies and users to the happenings at Twitter since Musk’s takeover. Some of the main ones include:

– Apple and Google reportedly threatening to drop Twitter from their app stores (something Musk denied).

– Apple and Amazon (major sources of advertising revenue for Twitter) stopping (which some deny bout Amazon) and then resuming advertising on Twitter. It was reported that Musk met Apple CEO Tim Cook at Apple HQ over the “misunderstanding.”

– Twitter losing more than 50 per cent of its advertising partners and a number of large companies pausing advertising on Twitter since Musk’s takeover, e.g. General Mills Inc, Audi, Volkswagen, General Motors, and more.

– Reports (Mikmak) of Twitter suffering a massive 68 per cent drop in media traffic (the number of times people click on an ad). This is so serious because Twitter currently derives 90 per cent of its revenue from advertising.

– As well as many normal users leaving, a large number of high-profile celebrities have very publicly announced that they’re leaving/have left Twitter since Musk’s takeover. These include Elton John, Jim Carrey, Whoopi Goldberg, and Toni Braxton among others.

Where? 

Reported alternatives to Twitter that appear to have picked up Twitter leavers include:

– Discord.

– Mastodon. An estimated 18,000 people signed up for Mastodon accounts at the end of October.

– Hive Social, reportedly experiencing rapid growth since Musk’s Twitter takeover.

– Post.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Huge changes have taken place at Twitter since Musk’s takeover. Perhaps of most significance is the uneasiness that brands and Twitter’s big advertisers (Twitter’s main source of revenue) felt about possible negative associations with (for example) the ‘wrong kind’ of free speech, banned and unpopular figures returning, an apparent lack of moderators (many of whom have been sacked) and the chaos around the backlash and bogus accounts.

Notably, although Musk has remained publicly as outspoken, the considerable threat of Apple dropping its advertising prompted Musk to go to Apple HQ to meet with its CEO. Other large brand advertisers threatening to stop or suspending advertising has shown how reliant Twitter is on them, how brands (including celebrities) run a mile from negative associations, and how much Twitter can be hurt in this way due to its current reliance on advertising for revenue (90 per cent of its revenue) and the need for a credible revenue-generating alternative (the blue tick system was publicly abused by users) .

Twitter’s loss of users over Musk’s ownership, decisions, and style has meant, however, a big boost for alternative platforms, e.g. Mastodon and Discord. The Twitter saga is by no means over and for now it looks as though offering incentives to advertising partners to balance the recent loss of revenue is going to a focus for the platform, which now appears to be struggling more than it was when Musk took over. We shall see.

Following announcements that Twitter under Musk will generate revenue by blue tick subscriptions, we look at what this means and at the blue tick chaos that followed the announcement.

What Is this ‘Blue Tick’ ? 

Twitter’s paid-for Blue service, launched last year, is a subscription service – $7.99 (£6.99) per month in the US, also available in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and now in the UK since 10th November. Primarily, the Blue service is a way for users to verify (by use of a blue tick next to their name) that their account is genuine. The Blue service also gives subscribers other editing and customisation options that free accounts don’t have.

Why Blue Tik? Why The Need To Signal That An Account Is Genuine? 

Back in 2021, the service was introduced following reports that perhaps as much as 19 per cent of Twitter accounts could be fake and untrustworthy. This problem appears to have persisted.

Back in June, for example, When Elon Musk was in the process of trying to buy (i.e. a takeover of) Twitter, he threatened to pull out of the sale over the amount of spam and fake accounts / bot accounts (not run by humans) which Twitter said made up 5 per cent of Twitter accounts.

These fake / bot accounts, and parody accounts are a problem, not just from Twitter’s (and Musk’s personal) point of view in that they affect the platform’s quality and could reduce value for money for advertisers but mainly because, from the user’s point of view, they are used to (for example) send adverts or scams to users, influence public debate by tweeting political propaganda, and generally spread disinformation.

What Should The Blue Service (Blue Tick) Provide? 

Subscribers to Twitter’s Blue service should receive:

– The verifying tick next to the name in the user’s profile.

– The ability to edit their tweets, e.g. to correct typos or clarify meanings, up to five times within the first 30 minutes of tweeting. However, the tweet shows that it’s been edited and shows users the previous versions.

– An ‘undo’ function which gives a short “cooling-off” period before a tweet goes live. This could, for example, be used to tag more people.

– The ability to change the colour of the app icon, change the general colour theme, and change the text size.

– The ability to upload longer (up to 10 minutes) and better-quality videos (1080p HD quality).

– The ability to use NFTs (non-fungible tokens) as profile photos, e.g. a piece of digital art they’ve purchased.

– Top Articles and priority ranking for subscribers. Users can use this section to see what which articles are creating a buzz.

Other points of interest about the blue tick system are:

– Whereas the old blue checkmark (prior to Musk taking over) indicated active, notable, and authentic accounts of public interest that had been independently verified by Twitter based on certain requirements, the new post-Musk blue checkmark could mean:

– Either that an account was verified under the previous verification criteria, or that the account has an active subscription to Twitter Blue.

– Accounts verified under the old system can keep their own blue badges.

There is also news that features coming soon to the Blue service will include fewer adverts, priority ranking in search, and mentions and replies for “quality content” posted by subscribers.

Backdrop Leading To Blue Service Chaos  

Elon Musk’s Blue service introduction, however, has been born out of great change and turmoil for the social media platform which has led to a chaotic week for blue tick. Some of the turbulent backdrop which has fuelled the chaos includes:

– Musk’s $44 billion takeover leading to mass job cuts – Twitter cutting roughly 50 per cent of its workforce.

– Twitter top executives reportedly being sacked, i.e. Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadd.

– Fears that Twitter could change for the worse under Musk’s ownership, i.e. reinstating unpopular banned users and controversial figures and allowing the wrong kind of ‘free speech’. Also, the dropping of thousands of (outsourced) content moderators have led to fears of a drop in quality and possible rise of misinformation.

– Elon Musk warning that Twitter could face bankruptcy unless more (non-advertising) revenue could be generated, e.g. by the Blue service.

– Elon Musk announcing that all but “exceptional” Twitter employees need to come back to working in the office for at least 40 hours per week or their resignation will be accepted.

– Reports that Twitter users are leaving the platform in protest over Musk’s ownership and moving to competing, and decentralised social network ‘Mastodon.’

– America’s Federal Trade Commission warning that “no chief executive or company is above the law”, fears over Twitter’s approach to security, and questions about this in relation to possible Saudi involvement in the Twitter takeover.

Blue Chaos 

It is against this backdrop that the introduction of the Blue service, a way to generate revenue at a time of falling ad sales, appeared to be in chaos as the following, and more, happened:

– A wave of blue tick verified (but fake) accounts impersonating influential brands and celebrities tweeting fake news plus having to be suspended and removed. Fake/parody accounts included those for Apple, Nintendo, BP, Chiquita, Mark Zuckerberg, President Joe Biden, Donald Trump, George W Bush, Tony Blair and, almost inevitably, fake Elon Musk and Tesla accounts.

– Reports that US far-right activists have been able to purchase Twitter blue ticks, and of accounts purchasing blue ticks using AI generated images of fake personalities.

– Confusion over the introduction of new grey “official” badges instead of blue ticks on some high-profile accounts, which were then suddenly scrapped by Elon Musk, only to be re-instated on some Twitter profiles.

– Some US users reporting that the Twitter Blue subscription system was no longer available to them.

– Elon Musk announcing that parody accounts would need to include parody in their name going forward.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

The takeover, the speed and apparently drastic nature of the job cuts (mass layoffs by email) and other changes and concerns about what Twitter could now become under the ownership of the controversial Elon Musk have created a turbulent environment in which to try and quickly introduce a new and apparently flawed blue tick service.

Falling ad revenues were the main reason for the introduction of the blue tick service as a much-needed extra source of revenue. However, an air of chaos and parody and fake accounts may have seriously dented confidence in blue tick, and it appears that a general unease about what Twitter will be under Musk may account for many users apparently switching to Mastodon. Given that Tesla’s fate may also be linked to the fate of Twitter, despite Musk optimistically tweeting that “Usage of Twitter continues to rise. One thing is for sure: it isn’t boring!”, chaos, turbulence, uncertainty, and security fears are not attractive to businesses (and advertisers), and news of brutal mass layoffs by email ordering people back to the office and acting too much like a billionaire are not attractive to many social media users.

Also, there is a fear that Twitter could now be much more easily exploited by bad actors to spread disruptive disinformation and other malicious activities. Events are still happening thick and fast at Twitter but for the time being, confidence in blue tick appears to have been seriously dented.

In a change to its Private Information Policy, Twitter has banned the sharing of personal media, such as images or videos without the subject’s consent.

Why?

Twitter says that as part of its ongoing work to align its safety policies with human rights standards, it needs to take action to tackle the possible misuse of media and information that is not available elsewhere online as a tool to harass, intimidate, and reveal the identities of individuals.  Twitter says that it is particularly concerned about how sharing images or videos, without consent, could have a disproportionate effect on women, activists, dissidents, and members of minority communities in terms of violating their privacy or even leading to emotional or physical harm.

Existing Policies and Rules Not Enough

Twitter’s existing policies and rules only cover explicit instances of abusive behaviour. The update to the Private Information Policy, however, means that Twitter can now take action on media that is shared without any explicit abusive content, but is posted without the consent of the person depicted.

What Can’t You Share Anyway?

The existing aspects of Twitter’s policies mean that users can’t share the following media or information without the consent of the subject / the person it belongs to:

– Home address or physical location information, including street addresses and GPS coordinates.

– Any identity documents e.g., government-issued IDs and social security or other national identity numbers.

– Contact information, including non-public personal phone numbers or email addresses.

– Any financial account information e.g., bank account details or credit card details; other private details such as biometric data or medical records.

How Will The Change Work?

The change to the Private Information Policy means that if Twitter is notified by the individuals depicted (or by an authorised representative) that they did not consent to having their private image or video shared, Twitter will remove it.

Exceptions

Twitter has said, however, that the policy is not applicable to:

– Media featuring public figures or individuals when media and accompanying Tweet text are shared in the public interest or add value to public discourse.

– Situations where images or videos of private individuals are shared in an effort to help someone involved in a crisis situation e.g., the aftermath of a violent event.

– Situations where the ‘context’ dictates that the image/video should stay e.g., where the image/video has been made publicly available and/or is being covered by mainstream/traditional media.

Criticism

The policy change received criticism online for lacking clarity e.g., about who is considered to be a public figure and what can be defined as “private” images. Some critics also questioned how the policy would be enforced and suggested that the policy may end up disproportionately affecting those marginalised individuals that Twitter claims it will protect.  Twitter sought to clarify its position by posting on its own platform to say that images/videos showing people participating in public events such as large-scale protests, sporting events, etc. would not generally violate the policy and that they would require a first-person report of the photo/video in order to review the media before any enforcement action could be taken.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

With the strengthening of data protection laws (e.g. GDPR in Europe) and social media companies now under serious scrutiny over how they protect their users (e.g. the recent Facebook Whistleblower allegations), it is not surprising to see social media platforms announcing new safety measures.  For Twitter, this strengthening of an existing policy to deal more effectively with image and video privacy and security issues sounds helpful and responsible but, as critics have said, needs further clarification and still relies upon Twitter’s own judgements about context, public interest, and other (often grey) areas. This illustrates how complex the matter of sharing, consent, and social platform self-policing and policies have become. This expansion of an existing policy is one in what is likely to become a long line of incremental changes for Twitter to try and show that it can keep its own house in order, dodge being cast as a ‘publisher’ rather than a ‘platform’, and thereby avoid the need for more regulation.