“Any version of Twitter we’ve known before is dead.” James Glynn, a former head of content moderation teams from London, does not hide his bitterness after the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk for 44 billion euros on October 28. The richest man in the world, preceded by his reputation – from the infernal cadences in his factories to his rejection of telework – immediately dissolved the board of directors, fired the leaders, before laying off around half of the 7,500 employees of the company. ‘company.
He launched several projects manu militari, including the overhaul of the paid subscription. The radical change in corporate culture was confirmed on November 4, when teams of engineers were mobilized to overhaul certain features in a very short time, with their position at stake. Among the main changes launched by Elon Musk, who says he wants to “give more power to the people” and abolish “the current system of lords and peasants, between those who have the blue tick and those who do not”: the launch on Wednesday of an “Official” badge for government accounts, or the new Twitter Blue, the paid subscription to have your account authenticated.
Until now, eligible accounts (government, media, political, cultural, etc.) could get a blue tick added to their profile for free, as a token of authenticity. Twitter Blue now allows users who want it, for $8 a month, to get that famous blue tick. Enough to fight against fake profiles and automated accounts, because malicious actors will therefore have to spend eight dollars each time, and have as many credit cards as accounts they want to create.
“Messages from verified accounts will be displayed by default”, detailed Elon Musk on Wednesday, while tweets from people who have not paid for Twitter Blue will be treated a bit like “spam” on an email inbox. On the accounts of subscribers to the new formula, the badge is identical but it now indicates a “verified” account, because it is “subscribed to Twitter Blue”. The extensively revised subscription is currently only available in the mobile application, on iPhones and in the United States. Elon Musk also ensures that Twitter Blue will help fight against fake accounts and diversify the platform’s sources of income.
At the same time, Twitter has just as discreetly launched the “Official” badge. This badge is meant to distinguish official organization accounts from those of Twitter Blue subscribers. But just hours after this “Official” badge was launched, Elon Musk tweeted Wednesday morning that he had “removed” it. “The blue tick will put everyone on the same level,” added the multi-billionaire, as communication about the evolution of the influential platform takes place mainly via his tweets and those of some officials.
Shortly after this new setback, which the entrepreneur is used to, the director of development products Esther Crawford nevertheless assured that the “Official” badge would be “activated”. “We’re just starting with governments and commercial organizations. What (Elon Musk) mentioned was the fact that we don’t give the ‘Official’ badge to individuals at this time,” she said. . Accounts like that of American elected official Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pope Francis in English or even controversial rapper Kanye West had received the “Official” badge before it disappeared. Political leaders have also received an “Official of the Government” badge, including Emmanuel Macron, Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. This badge has not disappeared for these personalities.
In addition, several accounts posing as celebrities hatched on the network on Wednesday, including a fake LeBron James, superstar basketball player for the Lakers NBA team. The impostor with his blue tick had time to request a transfer to another team before the account was deleted.
The cacophony is disconcerting. But Elon Musk has warned that this confusing time is not over. “Please note that Twitter is going to do a lot of silly things in the coming months. We’ll keep what works and change what doesn’t,” said the whimsical Tesla and SpaceX boss, who advocates an absolutist vision of freedom. of expression.
“There are no more sacred cows in the products of Twitter,” added Esther Crawford, sharing the message of the general manager. “Elon wants to try a lot of things – some will fail, some will succeed. The goal is to find the right combination of changes to ensure the long-term health and growth of the business,” she said. keep on going.
The Californian company needs to diversify its revenues, which come 90% from advertising, and while several advertisers have suspended their spending on the platform since its takeover, while waiting to see how content moderation evolves, crucial for their brands. Many associations and authorities are indeed worried about the idea that the platform will be, even more than currently, flooded with disinformation and hate speech if Elon Musk radically relaxes the moderation of content. But the libertarian entrepreneur assured that content moderation was a priority, that the rules had not changed, and that he was going to create a council dedicated to this task.
Elon Musk detailed his vision for the “digital public square” Wednesday during a public online conference for advertisers. The richest man in the world would like to have “80% of humanity” on Twitter, which would interact “in a more positive way”. He spoke of “a vigorous quest for truth”, specifying that “anything that is neither true, nor interesting nor entertaining” will be “stopped or in any case relegated to the background”.
