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Every part you’ll want to know, from layoffs to verification


Welcome to Elon Musk’s Twitter, the place the foundations are made up and the check marks don’t matter.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO first introduced his bid to purchase Twitter in April 2022, zealously pushed to rid the platform of spam bots and defend free speech.

“That is simply my robust, intuitive sense that having a public platform that’s maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extraordinarily necessary to the way forward for civilization,” Musk said at a TED convention on the day he made his provide. “I don’t care in regards to the economics in any respect.”

Even for one of many richest males on the planet, $44 billion is some huge cash to cough as much as purchase a middling social platform. Regardless of his fervent declarations about increasing “the scope and scale of consciousness” by means of public discourse, the billionaire acquired chilly ft. A month later in Could, he tried to kill the deal, claiming that Twitter had extra bots than its public filings let on. After a very chaotic authorized discovery course of, which even included some embarrassing texts, Musk was compelled to seal the deal. By October, the platform was his.

Since Musk purchased Twitter and took the corporate personal, the information across the microblogging platform has been a whirlwind, rife with verification chaos, API entry shakeups, ban reversals and staggering layoffs. If you happen to’re simply catching up, right here’s an entire timeline of what’s happening on the fowl app.

Right here’s an ongoing timeline of the notable Twitter updates and adjustments since Musk’s takeover, beginning with the newest information:

April 2023

Ex-Twitter CEO and other execs sue firm over unpaid legal bills

The lawsuit, filed in Delaware Chancery Courtroom, alleged that Twitter has to pay greater than $1 million to the previous executives for authorized payments they incurred whereas on the firm to answer requests by the Division of Justice and Securities and Trade Fee.

Twitter Circle tweets aren’t that private

Quite a few Twitter customers are reporting a bug on April 10 through which Circle tweets are surfacing on the algorithmically generated For You timeline. That signifies that your supposedly personal posts may breach containment to achieve an unintended viewers, which might shortly spark some uncomfortable conditions.

TechCrunch has spoken to a number of customers who’ve additionally skilled this glitch firsthand; many more have reported the glitch of their tweets. Most frequently, evidently Circle tweets are being surfaced within the For You timeline to customers who comply with the poster, however should not of their Circle. Others have reported that their Circle tweets are reaching even additional than those that comply with them.

A year later, Twitter is now resurfacing official Russian accounts in search results

The Elon Musk-owned platform has resumed surfacing accounts of Vladimir Putin and the Russian Embassy in search outcomes. A former Twitter worker informed the publication that this transfer is probably going due to a coverage change.

Twitter won’t let you retweet, like or reply to Substack links

Twitter is censoring Substack hyperlinks by making the posts unattainable to answer to, like or retweet. Whereas quote-tweeting works, merely urgent the retweet button surfaces an error message: “Some actions on this Tweet have been disabled by Twitter.”

You didn’t hear this from us, however in the event you hyperlink to a Substack through a redirected URL, it appears to submit with out restrictions.

Twitter Blue subscribers will now be shown ‘half ads’ on the platform

Twitter is rolling out further options for Blue subscribers together with displaying 50% of adverts of their timeline in comparison with non-paid customers and a visibility increase in search.

“As you scroll, you will note roughly twice as many natural or non-promoted Tweets positioned in between promoted Tweets or adverts. There could also be occasions when there are extra or fewer non-promoted Tweets between promoted Tweets,” Twitter’s description of the function says.

Whereas Twitter is claiming to scale back adverts on paid subscribers’ feeds, it’s arduous to show if they’re really seeing fewer adverts aside from anecdotal experiences.

Twitter singles NPR out with misleading state-backed media label

NPR’s Twitter account on the platform now comes with a tag denoting it as “US state-affiliated media.” However NPR doesn’t meet Twitter’s personal definition for a state-affiliated account:

State-affiliated media is outlined as retailers the place the state workouts management over editorial content material by means of monetary sources, direct or oblique political pressures, and/or management over manufacturing and distribution…

State-financed media organizations with editorial independence, just like the BBC within the UK for instance, should not outlined as state-affiliated media for the needs of this coverage.

Twitter’s verification changes feel like an accidental April Fools’ joke

Musk had claimed that beginning on April 1, blue checkmarks that beforehand indicated that an account was respectable, verified and notable could be maintained solely for many who have a subscription to Twitter Blue. The change could be a part of a wider push for Twitter to gate beforehand free options, and bundle new ones, underneath the $8 per 30 days Twitter Blue subscription, which prices $11 on iOS and Android gadgets.

As quite a few celebrities and companies spoke out to say they wouldn’t pay the $8 charge, it appeared that eradicating so many blue checks could be simpler stated than carried out. As an alternative, Twitter merely updated the text accompanying a blue test to make it unclear whether or not somebody was verified for being notable, or for paying for Twitter Blue. In an final act of pettiness, Twitter eliminated The New York Instances’ verification test when the information big stated it wouldn’t pay for verification.

Based mostly on early returns, the revamped Twitter Blue has yet to contribute significantly to Twitter’s bottom line, with simply $11 million generated from cellular signups in its first three months.

March 2023

Twitter announces new API tiers; free, basic and enterprise levels

The three API tiers embody a free degree meant for content material posting bots, a $100/month primary degree and a pricey enterprise degree. Subscribing to any degree will get entry to the Advertisements API at no further value. 

Twitter talked about that over the following 30 days, the corporate will discontinue previous entry ranges, together with Normal (for v1.1), Important and Elevated (for v2), and Premium.

Developers remain unhappy with Twitter’s new API construction.

Elon Musk says Twitter will only show verified accounts on its “For You” timeline starting April 15

Musk justified the transfer by saying this was the “solely reasonable approach to tackle superior AI bot swarms taking on.”

New Twitter accounts now have to wait only 30 days to purchase Twitter Blue

Twitter decreases the wait to buy Twitter Blue for newly created Twitter accounts from 90 days to 30 days.

“New subscriptions to Twitter Blue can be found globally on net, iOS, or Android. Not all options can be found on all platforms. Newly created Twitter accounts won’t be able to subscribe to Twitter Blue for 30 days. We may impose ready durations for brand spanking new accounts sooner or later at our discretion, and with out discover,” the Twitter Blue web page reads.

Twitter to kill ‘legacy’ blue checks on April 1

Twitter introduced that the removing of legacy blue checkmarks will start April 1 for customers that aren’t subscribed to Twitter Blue.

Elon tweeted back in December that the corporate will take away legacy checkmarks “in just a few months.” After that, customers with legacy blue checks had been seeing a pop-up once they clicked on their checkmark, which learn, “This can be a legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable.” However as soon as Twitter botched this removing of checkmarks, they modified the copy once more — as of now, users cannot distinguish whether someone has a checkmark as a result of they paid, or as a result of they have been deemed notable.

Twitter’s privacy-preserving Tor service goes dark

Twitter’s Tor service, a model of the location that may very well be accessed even in international locations the place the social community is banned, has gone darkish after the corporate didn’t renew its certificates, which expired on March 6.

Pavel Zoneff, director of strategic communications on the Tor Mission, informed TechCrunch that the location “is now not obtainable seemingly with no plans to resume.”

Twitter Blue is now available in more than 20 countries

This enlargement makes the social community’s subscription service obtainable in additional than 35 international locations the world over.

These international locations embody Netherlands, Poland, Eire, Belgium, Sweden, Romania, Czech Republic, Finland, Denmark, Greece, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Slovakia, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Croatia, Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus.

February 2023

Layoffs continue

Twitter laid off greater than 200 workers in its fourth spherical of cuts, together with loyalist Esther Crawford — the chief government of Twitter funds who oversaw the corporate’s Twitter Blue verification subscription.

Twitter’s workers is down from about 7,500 workers to lower than 2,000 since Musk.

One of many quite a few rounds of cuts eradicated the platform’s whole accessibility workforce. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) referred to as on Elon Musk to deliver the accessibility workforce again in an open letter. Markey requested a response by March 17.

Twitter allows cannabis ads in states where it’s legal

After updating its ad policy on February 15, Twitter grew to become the primary social media app within the U.S. to permit hashish promoting. Hashish adverts will run on Twitter in U.S. states the place hashish is authorized and in Canada.

Twitter delays launch of its new API platform…again

The preliminary date set to chop free entry to Twitter’s API was February 9, which was then prolonged to February 13. Now, the social community has delayed the shutdown once more, this time with no date set.

The delay jeopardizes the plans of builders and startups constructing instruments across the Twitter API as they wouldn’t have any readability on future spending and funds allocation on the developer platform.

Twitter’s basic tier of its API will cost $100 per month

The corporate initially deliberate to close down free entry to its API on February 9. Now it has prolonged this deadline to February 13. Twitter stated that it’ll cost $100 per 30 days for the essential tier of API. It will get builders entry to a “low degree of API utilization,” in addition to the Advertisements API.

When builders making an attempt to hunt readability across the new API guidelines went to the developer forum website, they discovered that the location had been put behind a login. The discussion board was lastly accessible 4 days in a while February 13.

Twitter Blue introduces 4,000-character tweets

Twitter introduced the flexibility to submit longer tweets for paid customers on February 8. As an alternative of being restricted to 280 characters, paying Blue subscribers can submit tweets which might be as much as 4,000 characters.

Whereas solely Twitter Blue subscribers can submit lengthy tweets, all customers will be capable to learn them. You will note solely the primary 280 characters on the timeline, and if you wish to learn extra, you possibly can click on on “Present extra.”

Elon Musk claims Twitter will start sharing ad revenue with creators

Elon Musk introduced in a tweet on February 3 that the corporate would quickly start sharing promoting income with creators on the platform for the primary time. He follows up the announcement with a catch: Eligible customers have to be signed up for Twitter Blue.

Payouts have but to reach creators’ wallets.

More monetization pushes: Twitter Blue expands new countries, brings back Spaces curation

Twitter Blue subscriptions are actually obtainable in Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain, making it 12 areas in complete to which customers can subscribe to it as of February 2. On February 8, Twitter Blue extended services further to India, Indonesia and Brazil.

Twitter additionally introduced launching a brand new Areas tab with curated stations for stay and recorded areas, together with podcasts. The social community is making podcasts obtainable solely to Blue subscribers and “some folks on Twitter for iOS and Twitter for Android apps.”

Twitter to end free access to its API

Twitter will discontinue providing free entry to the Twitter API beginning February 9 and can launch a paid model, Twitter stated because it seems to be for extra avenues to monetize the platform.

Per week later and days earlier than the February 9 deadline, Elon Musk stated that after getting suggestions from builders, Twitter will provide a write-only API for “bots providing good content that is free.”

Twitter discontinues CoTweets

Twitter announced February 1 that it’s discontinuing CoTweeting, a function that allowed two customers to co-author a tweet. Customers will be capable to view the set of co-tweets for a month. After that, they are going to be routinely transformed to retweets on the co-author’s profile.

Screenshot of Twitter's new policy in sunsetting CoTweets

January 2023

Twitter partners with DoubleVerify and IAS on brand safety initiative

As a result of declining advert income and advertiser exits, Twitter introduced on January 25 that it has teamed up with adtech corporations DoubleVerify and Integral Advert Science (IAS) to inform advertisers if their advert is positioned round inappropriate content material. This system, obtainable first for U.S.-based promoting campaigns, permits manufacturers to investigate the content material adjoining to — primarily tweets above and beneath the advert — all varieties of adverts, together with promoted tweets.

Twitter rolls out its bookmark feature on iOS

The brand new design shows the bookmark button underneath the expanded tweet view, making it simpler so as to add a submit to your bookmarks.

Earlier than the change, you needed to faucet on the share button to open the sharing card after which faucet on the bookmark choice to avoid wasting a tweet. Along with the brand new button, as quickly as you faucet on the button, you will note a banner on the prime of the display screen that claims “Present all bookmarks.”

The choice is at present seen solely on the iOS app, however we will anticipate that Twitter will roll this out to Android and the net quickly.

Picture Credit: Twitter

Twitter quietly bans third-party clients

After cutting off prominent app makers like Tweetbot and Twitterific, Twitter quietly up to date its developer phrases to ban third-party clients altogether on January 19.

The “restrictions” part of Twitter’s developer agreement was up to date with a clause prohibiting “use or entry the Licensed Supplies to create or try and create a substitute or related service or product to the Twitter Purposes.” Earlier within the week, Twitter stated that it was “imposing long-standing API guidelines” in disallowing shoppers entry to its platform however didn’t cite which particular guidelines builders have been violating.

In consequence, third-party Twitter shoppers started offloading their apps from App Stores.

Twitter now offers an annual Blue subscription

Customers now have an opportunity to get a reduction for $84/yr in the event that they buy an annual Blue subscription on the internet.

Twitter Blue, together with the brand new annual plan, is at present obtainable within the U.S., the U.Ok., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

monthly and annual pricing for Twitter Blue for iOS and Web depending on country

Picture Credit: Twitter

Twitter HQ furniture auctions

In a wierd try and earn money, Twitter is auctioning off surplus office furniture (public sale is now closed) that it doesn’t want anymore, now that hundreds of workers have both left the company or been laid off. Once you’re quickly shedding advertisers and apparently not paying your rent, why not go for the hail mary?

Twitter makes algorithmic “For You” timeline the default

The corporate has tried to drag this stunt previously, solely to offer the choice to modify again to a chronological timeline after a lot of backlashes.

What’s completely different this time? The Elon Musk-led firm is now displaying each algorithmic and chronological feeds side-by-side. Customers can swap between them by swiping on their telephone screens. Till now, customers needed to faucet on the flicker icon within the top-right nook to modify between the “Dwelling” and “Newest” timelines. Twitter is justifying its newest change by saying that customers can now simply swipe between the renamed “For You” and “Following” timelines.

  • January 13: Twitter rolled out the dual-timeline replace to the net however at the moment the social community used to recollect your alternative.
  • January 20: The corporate made the “For You” feed default on the internet when customers first opened Twitter in a tab or refreshed the web page.
  • January 24: Now, Twitter remembers your selections once more.
  • February 7: Twitter remembers your selections once more on iOS and Android, too.

Twitter’s advanced search filters for mobile are said to be coming soon

In accordance with social media analyst Matt Navarra, Twitter’s superior search filters for cellular are coming quickly.

Right here’s what it seems to be like:

Twitter lifts the political ad ban to bolster revenue

The corporate initially enforced the ban back in 2019. At the moment, it stated that “political message attain must be earned, not purchased.” Twitter charted a unique path from different social networks like Fb and Instagram, which allowed political adverts.

Twitter’s announcement to elevate the political advert ban comes at a time when advertisers have been pulling back spending on the platform, and the corporate has been reducing down its internal revenue projections.

December 2022

Twitter Blue users can now upload 60-minute videos

On December 23, Twitter up to date the Twitter Blue page declaring that subscribers can now add 60-minute movies from the net at 1080p decision and 2GB in file measurement.

Twitter layoffs continue, impacting employees in public policy, engineering

In accordance with posts on Twitter and LinkedIn from a former public coverage worker on December 22, Twitter reduce half of its public coverage workforce.

Twitter additionally laid off some engineers in infrastructure through electronic mail on December 16. Throughout all of Twitter, it’s estimated that about 75% of workers have both chosen to go away or have been laid off since Elon Musk took possession of the corporate in October.

Twitter now displays stock and cryptocurrency prices directly in search results

To entry the brand new function, customers have to only kind the greenback image adopted by the related ticker image, e.g. “$GOOG” or “$ETH” (minus the quote marks), within the search bar and Twitter will show the present worth. This additionally works with out utilizing the $ image in some cases, however it’s much less constant and doesn’t at all times return the inventory or crypto costs as requested.

If somebody desires to know extra particulars a couple of inventory or cryptocurrency, they will hit the “View on Robinhood” button.

Twitter now shows how many people view your tweets

A tweet’s View Rely will probably be seen to everybody, not simply the proprietor of the account.

“Twitter is rolling out View Rely, so you possibly can see what number of occasions a tweet has been seen! That is regular for video,” Elon Musk wrote in a tweet. “Exhibits how far more alive Twitter is than it might appear, as over 90% of Twitter customers learn, however don’t tweet, reply or like, as these are public actions.”

Twitter Blue for Business now allows companies to identify their employees

Twitter’s product supervisor Esther Crawford said the social media platform is launching a pilot program for Blue for Enterprise with choose companies. The corporate plans to increase this to extra organizations subsequent yr.

Twitter goes on an account suspension spree, including prominent journalists

A day after Twitter crafted a brand new coverage to elucidate its choice to ban an account that tracks Elon Musk’s private jet, Twitter also suspended its open source competitor Mastodon from the service.

Throughout the similar day, Twitter suspended plenty of distinguished journalists on the platform with out warning. “Identical doxxing guidelines apply to ‘journalists’ as to everybody else,” Elon Musk tweeted in a reply in regards to the journalists’ suspensions.

Twitter seemingly had a glitch that allowed banned customers to nonetheless take part in Twitter Areas. A gaggle of the banned journalists began a gaggle dialog on Areas the place Musk himself joined in. Shortly after, Twitter pulled its Spaces group audio feature quickly.

Twitter shuts down Revue, its newsletter platform

Revue, the e-newsletter platform acquired by Twitter in January 2021, sent a message to newsletter writers on December 14 declaring, “We’ve made the troublesome choice to close down Revue.” Writers had till January 18, 2023 to retrieve their information at the beginning was deleted.

Twitter disperses the Trust & Safety Council

Twitter dispersed the advisory group consisting of roughly 100 unbiased researchers and human rights activists from around the globe. The council members obtained an electronic mail on Monday, December 12 from Twitter saying that the Belief & Security Council is “not the very best construction” to get exterior insights into the corporate product and coverage technique.

Elon Musk says Twitter will remove all legacy verifications ‘in a few months’

Twitter will take away all legacy blue checkmarks “in just a few months,” Elon Musk tweeted on December 12. Earlier than Musk purchased Twitter, checkmarks have been used to confirm people and entities as energetic, genuine and notable accounts of curiosity.

This previous week, many blue checkmark holders have been seeing a pop-up once they click on on their blue checkmark that reads, “This can be a legacy verified account. It might or will not be notable.”

Twitter Blue relaunches with new verification process, plus Blue for Business

Twitter is formally bringing again the Twitter Blue subscription on December 12, beginning in 5 international locations earlier than rapidly expanding to others. Twitter updated its terms to specify that users will need to verify their phone numbers earlier than buying the Twitter Blue subscription.

Net sign-ups will value $8 per 30 days and iOS signal ups will value $11 per 30 days for “entry to subscriber-only options, together with the blue checkmark,” per a tweet from the corporate account. Twitter Blue became available on Android on the similar worth as iOS in January 2023.

Along with the relaunch of Twitter Blue, the corporate additionally started rolling out a new offering called Blue for Business that provides a gold checkmark to firm accounts.

Twitter rolls out its Community Notes feature globally

Twitter introduced Group Notes, beforehand often known as Birdwatch, are actually seen around the globe. Group Notes is the social media big’s crowdsourced fact-checking system.

Moderators who’re a part of this system can add notes to tweets so as to add context and customers can then vote in the event that they decide the context to be useful. Previous to this international enlargement, Group Notes have been solely seen to customers within the U.S. Twitter added moderators from the U.Ok., Eire, Australia and New Zealand in January 2023.

Twitter announces charging $11 on iOS for Blue subscription to offset App Store fees

When Twitter launched its new subscription plan with a verification mark on November 9, it charged customers $7.99 per 30 days. In an try and offset App Retailer charges, Twitter is charging iOS customers $11 for the brand new subscription plan — although the Twitter Blue plan is on halt.

November 2022

Twitter’s Community Notes updated to better address ‘low quality’ contributions

The platform’s crowdsourced fact-checking system, Group Notes, are notes written by Twitter customers which might be appended to tweets to supply additional clarification and context.

The Group Notes algorithm change entails scoring notes the place contributors clarify why a tweet shouldn’t be deemed deceptive.

Twitter announces a new multicolored verification system

Elon Musk declares that Twitter will tentatively roll out a brand new multicolored verification system the place corporations will get a gold checkmark, authorities officers will get a gray checkmark and the blue checkmark will probably be devoted to people even when they don’t seem to be celebrities. Meaning the blue checkmark will probably be used with legacy verified accounts and folk who purchase Twitter’s proposed $8 per month paid plan.

If you happen to’re confused about all of the checkmarks, you’re not alone. Right here’s a quick guide on what every checkmark and badge means on Twitter.

Twitter Blue verification chaos ensues

On November 9, Twitter CEO Elon Musk floated adjustments to Twitter’s system for verifying person accounts, together with charging $8 per month for it. The social media firm seemingly started rolling out a brand new tier of Twitter Blue, its premium subscription service. In accordance with a tweet by Esther Crawford, a former product lead at Twitter, the brand new Twitter Blue plan wasn’t but stay, however some customers noticed notifications as a part of a stay check.

Twitter additionally launched grey-colored official checkmarks for notable accounts akin to corporations and politicians. However inside hours of the launch, Elon Musk killed it. Crawford clarified that the gray “Official” labels are nonetheless going out as a part of the brand new Twitter Blue product.

The brand new $8 Twitter Blue plan started rolling out to iOS customers within the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.Ok with the one function obtainable on the time being the blue “verified” checkmark. This brought about a number of fake accounts pretending to be celebrities, manufacturers and in any other case influential folks to create accounts and unfold misinformation.

The Twitter exodus begins with mass layoffs and exits

Elon Musk laid off 3,700 folks from Twitter on November 3, nearly half its workers, shortly after finishing the acquisition. Twitter was sued in a category motion lawsuit in response to not giving workers advance discover of a mass layoff, alleging Twitter violated employee safety legal guidelines.

Per week later, Twitter reached out to some former workers to return as they have been laid off “by mistake.”

Along with layoffs, a round of executive departures additionally swept by means of the corporate. In Musk’s first email to his new staff, he talked about ending distant work and making the battle in opposition to spam a precedence.

October 2022

Elon Musk is revamping Twitter’s verification system

Twitter begins overhauling a brand new and dearer model of Twitter Blue, the platform’s paid plan, that can reportedly value $19.99 per 30 days and provides customers a verified badge. On the time, Twitter Blue value $4.99 per 30 days within the U.S.

In accordance with a report from The Verge, Twitter plans to take away verification badges from present holders in the event that they don’t pay for Twitter Blue inside 90 days of launching the brand new verification system.

Elon Musk officially owns Twitter

Elon Musk closed on his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on October 27, 2022. The deal got here after months of legal drama, bad memes and will-they-or-won’t-they-chaos. After sealing the deal, Musk took Twitter private and started clearing house. On day one, he fired former CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, Basic Counsel Sean Edgett and Head of Authorized, Belief and Security Vijaya Gadde.





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