- Elon Musk said only verified accounts will appear in Twitter’s “For You” recommendation feed as the billionaire continues to shake up the social media platform.
- Musk claims the move is “the only realistic way to deal with advanced AI bot swarms taking over.”
Elon Musk Twitter account seen on mobile with Elon Musk in the background on the screen, seen in this photo illustration. On February 19, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium.
Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Elon Musk said only verified accounts will appear in Twitter’s recommendations feed as the billionaire continues to shake up the social media platform.
Twitter’s “For You” tab shows users tweets from people they don’t follow, but who are recommended by the social media company’s algorithm. To date, this has shown accounts of all Twitter users, whether they’re verified or not.
But Musk announced in a tweet late Monday that only verified accounts will appear in the “For You” section of the site in the future.
Musk claims the move is “the only realistic way to deal with advanced AI bot swarms taking over.”
Musk also said that only verified users can vote in polls.
Since acquiring Twitter last year, Musk has sought to revolutionize the way the company conducts authentication. Before Musk’s acquisition, Twitter verified users with a blue check mark to identify whether the account matched the person or company it claims to be. This process was free and applied to celebrities, journalists, government officials and organizations.
Musk introduced a subscription service called Twitter Blue last year that allows a user to pay $8 per month to get verified and get the blue tick.
Twitter said last week it would begin phasing out its “outdated verified program” and removing “outdated verified” checkmarks on April 1. The company is asking people with the outdated checkmarks to sign up for the Twitter Blue subscription service.
Musk has been trying to find ways to generate new revenue streams at Twitter, with paid verification being a flagship policy. But the company reportedly lost a huge amount of value.
Musk told employees last week that Twitter is now valued at $20 billion, according to an email sent to employees and viewed by the New York Times. That’s more than 50% less than the $44 billion Musk paid for the company last year.
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