17 votes

Bye bye blue checkmarks: Twitter removes legacy verifications

12 comments

  1. moocow1452
    Link
    Twitter has also blocked search if you aren't logged in, kneecapping Nitter and Fritter, and that has gone somewhat under reported.

    Twitter has also blocked search if you aren't logged in, kneecapping Nitter and Fritter, and that has gone somewhat under reported.

    9 votes
  2. [6]
    aphoenix
    Link
    It seems like it is rolling out exceptions for some people: https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1649147510525423626?s=20 Stephen King says that he hasn't paid or verified, and Musk seems to...

    It seems like it is rolling out exceptions for some people: https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1649147510525423626?s=20

    Stephen King says that he hasn't paid or verified, and Musk seems to acknowledge that.

    6 votes
    1. [3]
      babypuncher
      Link Parent
      If you're rich and famous enough, Musk doesn't need your $8? That just makes this whole thing feel even slimier.

      If you're rich and famous enough, Musk doesn't need your $8?

      That just makes this whole thing feel even slimier.

      12 votes
      1. feigneddork
        Link Parent
        Elon Musk decried the old verification system as a "lord and peasants system". In the process of making this new "verification" system, he's created an actual "lord and peasants" system where the...

        Elon Musk decried the old verification system as a "lord and peasants system". In the process of making this new "verification" system, he's created an actual "lord and peasants" system where the peasants have to pay for verification while the rich folk get it handed to them on a plate.

        Elon says he paid for their account, but I'm sure he got his engineers to flick a switch somewhere in the database to allow them to have it.

        13 votes
      2. FirstTiger
        Link Parent
        Right? I don't even really see there being a pretense about being fair or transparent towards user privileges here. Musk giving away blue checkmarks on seemingly his own personal whims just makes...

        Right? I don't even really see there being a pretense about being fair or transparent towards user privileges here.

        Musk giving away blue checkmarks on seemingly his own personal whims just makes me think of toxic, overpowered Reddit moderators. The kind that break a community over their own ego.

        3 votes
    2. [3]
      Comment removed by site admin
      Link Parent
      1. aphoenix
        Link Parent
        I've rarely seen someone who worked so hard to miss the fucking point as Elon Musk.

        I've rarely seen someone who worked so hard to miss the fucking point as Elon Musk.

        18 votes
      2. FishFingus
        Link Parent
        He did it out of spite for people who didn't want it...some of whom told their followers they specifically wouldn't get it. Which is interesting in that it may have potentially opened the most...

        He did it out of spite for people who didn't want it...some of whom told their followers they specifically wouldn't get it. Which is interesting in that it may have potentially opened the most disowned man on Earth up to yet more legal action.

        4 votes
  3. [6]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. [5]
      guts
      Link Parent
      I have been sometime a Twitter user and I have not seen any sign of Twitter going downhill and quite the oposite, I can say Reddit has been going downhill harder. Is Tildes also an Elon hater?.

      I have been sometime a Twitter user and I have not seen any sign of Twitter going downhill and quite the oposite, I can say Reddit has been going downhill harder. Is Tildes also an Elon hater?.

      1. [3]
        aphoenix
        Link Parent
        Reddit going downhill harder doesn't mean twitter isn't also going downhill. Twitter has certainly gotten worse: increased in hate speech paywalled 2fa All external links stopped working for a...

        Reddit going downhill harder doesn't mean twitter isn't also going downhill. Twitter has certainly gotten worse:

        I mean, there's more, but twitter is objectively getting shitter as Musk stays in charge.

        13 votes
        1. [2]
          guts
          Link Parent
          "increased in hate speech" Same in Reddit, Reddit is worse as you can get your account banned by any mod. "paywalled 2fa" App 2fa is still free. "All external links stopped working for a while"...

          "increased in hate speech"
          Same in Reddit, Reddit is worse as you can get your account banned by any mod.

          "paywalled 2fa"
          App 2fa is still free.

          "All external links stopped working for a while"
          That was fixed.

          "Elon just puts his tweets near the top of your page, because he feels he is relevant"
          Not having this problem.

          "Twitter blue is a trainwreck"
          Why?

          "The same paid API bullshit reddit is doing"
          I agree on this one.

          "Rampant hypocrisy from twitter's censorship team - allowing hate speech, but getting rid of things like the elon jet tracker or kathy griffin"
          Reddit also allows hate speech, bans and censor you.

          1. aphoenix
            Link Parent
            Just to restate again: whether reddit (or any other site) is getting worse or not is not related to or an excuse for Twitter getting worse. You seem to have a misunderstanding about Reddit and how...

            Just to restate again: whether reddit (or any other site) is getting worse or not is not related to or an excuse for Twitter getting worse.

            You seem to have a misunderstanding about Reddit and how it works. You cannot get your account banned by a mod on Reddit. You can have your account banned from a specific subreddit but moderators can't make account-wide actions on reddit. Also, yes, Reddit has problems, but again, it having problems, and the relative intensity of those problems, isn't related to Twitter having problems. Twitter has more hate speech now - that's the point I was making about how twitter is worse and going downhill. Also, while Reddit does "allow hate speech" and "bans and censor[s] you", those are generally on a per-subreddit basis, and not from the platform as a whole. Different subreddits have different rules, and the moderators are not paid employees of Reddit, but people who are trying to create small communities within a bigger website. There is no analog for it on Twitter - you can't have a community on twitter that is managed by people who are not with the company. And while Reddit has a ton of problems, they do tend to be at least somewhat consistent with what they say and what they do, and make no claim, from the administration, to be free speech absolutists. Musk was a free speech absolutist, except for things he didn't like, like talk of Tesla unions. In that way, he has made Twitter into something like a caricature of a bad subreddit moderation team.

            While another type of 2fa is still free, they still reduced the security feature set for free accounts, and thus made it worse. And while the external link problem was fixed, the fact that they managed to push a wildly breaking change of basic functionality into production is a problem that came about because so many engineers were let go.

            While you might not have Musk tweets artifically boosted, it is a problem that has happened. He's also removing the blocks of people who blocked him, me included. That seems like a misuse of power.

            Finally, twitter blue is an incredible trainwreck. It is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the blue checkmark was for, and why it was implemented - people who were famous could actually say things and be verified. Now you can just claim to be someone, buy a $8 checkmark, and have your message blasted to the top of any tweet chain. Or you can just be yourself, but have your signal boosted. On top of that, it has had almost no sign-ups, because it is such a fundamental misunderstanding of what would be useful to users of twitter.

            Feel free to just not mention reddit if you reply to this. It's unrelated to the central point, which is that twitter is a dumpster fire. Really, the only valid thing to compare current twitter to is twitter before Musk starting fucking it up.

            7 votes