\nElon Musk\u2019s Twitter: Everything you need to know, from layoffs to verification<\/br>
\n2023-05-11 22:15:16<\/br><\/p>\n
Welcome to Elon Musk\u2019s Twitter, where the rules are made up<\/a> and the check marks<\/a> don\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n The Tesla and SpaceX CEO first announced his bid to buy Twitter in April 2022, zealously driven to rid the platform of spam bots and protect free speech.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just my strong, intuitive sense that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization,\u201d Musk said<\/a> at a TED conference on the day he made his offer. \u201cI don\u2019t care about the economics at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Even for one of the richest men in the world, $44 billion is a lot of money to cough up to buy a middling social platform. Despite his fervent declarations about expanding \u201cthe scope and scale of consciousness\u201d through public discourse, the billionaire got cold feet. A month later in May, he tried to kill the deal<\/a>, claiming that Twitter had more bots than its public filings let on. After a truly chaotic legal discovery process, which even included some embarrassing texts<\/a>, Musk was forced to seal the deal<\/a>. By October, the platform was his.<\/p>\n Since Musk bought Twitter and took the company private, the news around the microblogging platform has been a whirlwind, rife with verification chaos, API access shakeups, ban reversals and staggering layoffs. Most recently, Musk tweeted<\/a> that he will transition from his role as Twitter CEO to serving as its executive chair and CTO.<\/p>\n \u201cExcited to announce that I\u2019ve a new CEO for X\/Twitter,\u201d Musk wrote in a tweet on May 11. \u201cShe will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.\u201d<\/p>\n Currently, this feature is only available to verified Blue users or accounts associated with verified organizations. Additionally, the encryption feature isn\u2019t compatible with group messages and Twitter doesn\u2019t offer protection against man-in-the-middle attacks.<\/p>\n Twitter has introduced a new feature that lets users choose almost any emoji to react to a DM in a conversation. Previously, the company allowed you to react to only the most recent DM with only a select set of emojis. CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the new feature is rolling out with the latest app update.<\/p>\n According to recent tweets by Twitter owner Elon Musk, Twitter is purging inactive accounts that have had \u201cno activity at all for several years.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019re purging accounts that have had no activity at all for several years, so you will probably see follower count drop<\/p>\n \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 8, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Twitter is thinking about an organizational verification plan that doesn\u2019t cost $1,000 a month. Over the Cinco de Mayo weekend, Elon Musk said on Twitter that the company is working on a cheaper plan for small businesses, but didn\u2019t give any details about the cost.<\/p>\n We will have a lower cost tier for small businesses, but need to manage the onboarding of organizations carefully to prevent fraud.<\/p>\n The $1000\/month is meant for larger organizations.<\/p>\n \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 6, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Twitter confirmed a security error that made Circle tweets<\/a>\u00a0surface publicly. TechCrunch reported the glitch<\/a> in early April, but the platform confirmed the issue May 5 in an email sent to Twitter Circle users.<\/p>\n \u201cIn April 2023, a security incident may have allowed users outside of your Twitter Circle to see tweets that should have otherwise been limited to the Circle to which you were posting,\u201d the email said. Twitter claims that the bug has now been fixed, and that the team knows what caused it.<\/p>\n Twitter announced on May 2 that it is making its API free for verified government or public-owned services posting about public utility alerts such as weather alerts, transportation information and emergency warnings. This comes a month after the company announced its new API pricing tiers<\/a>.<\/p>\n After reporting earlier that Twitter was experiencing a bug<\/a>\u00a0that was allowing people to edit their bios to briefly regain their Verified checkmarks, the Twitter website this afternoon has begun to forcefully log out users at random. There are a number of complaints about the problem on Twitter itself, indicating that at least some are able to get back in after being booted from the site.<\/p>\n The issue appears to be impacting desktop users at this time who are using Twitter via the web. Some claim they\u2019re being logged out repeatedly.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t seem to matter what text you\u2019re adding to your bio \u2014 TechCrunch reporter Amanda Silberling added a few spaces, then got her check back for a moment. It even showed up with the old text that designates that she is \u201cnotable in government, news, entertainment, or another designated category,\u201d and she did not, in fact, pay for this. But once you refresh the page it disappears. In fact, it\u2019s unclear whether anyone else can even see your check briefly reappear.<\/p>\n Twitter was confirmed April 25\u00a0as one of 19 major tech platforms subject to centralized oversight<\/a> by the European Union\u2019s executive starting this fall, when so-called very large online platforms (VLOPs) are expected to be compliant with the Digital Services Act (DSA). But the Commission has not wasted any time warning the\u00a0Elon Musk-owned social network\u00a0that things aren\u2019t looking good for staying on the right side of the incoming law.<\/p>\n In a pair of tweets<\/a>, Vera Jourova, the EU\u2019s values and transparency VP, warned of \u201cyet another negative sign\u201d by Twitter \u2014 accusing the platform under Musk of \u201cnot making digital information space any safer and free from the Kremlin #disinformation & malicious influence\u201d.<\/p>\n Twitter said that labels will be shown to both authors and viewers. Usually, these tweets will show text such as \u201cVisibility limited: this Tweet may violate Twitter\u2019s rules against Hateful Conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n Twitter\u2019s\u00a0enforcement policy<\/a>\u00a0says that tweets with such labels will not show up in search results, recommendations or timelines \u2014 those tweets will be hidden in both the \u201cFor You\u201d and \u201cFollowing timelines. Additionally, there will be no ads placed adjacent to posts with reduced visibility.<\/p>\n Over the April 21st weekend, multiple top accounts (with more than 1 million followers) got their verification marks back. However, many of them, including writer Neil Gaiman, footballer Riyad Mahrez, musician Lil Nas X, actress Janel Parrish Long and British TV presenter Richard Osman said that they didn\u2019t pay for the blue badge.<\/p>\n In March,\u00a0The New York Times<\/a>\u00a0reported that Twitter was considering handing out a free verification mark<\/a> to the top 10,000 brands and companies. It\u2019s not clear if Twitter is applying the same policy to personal accounts.<\/p>\n Twitter has removed \u201cgovernment-funded media\u201d labels on all accounts, from NPR to the Chinese state-affiliated Xinhua News. Twitter even appears to have\u00a0deleted<\/a>\u00a0its\u00a0web page<\/a>\u00a0explaining the \u201cgovernment-funded media\u201d labels.<\/p>\n Several Twitter users<\/a>\u00a0have posted screenshots of an email reportedly sent by Twitter, which states that starting from April 21, verified checkmarks are required to continue running ads on the platform.<\/p>\n WOW\u2026 Twitter is now telling advertisers it MUST subscribe to Twitter Blue or Verified Organisations to continue running ads! pic.twitter.com\/4DrDu82Zi0<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) April 21, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n With the legacy checks gone<\/a>, Twitter will have\u00a0verification marks<\/a>\u00a0only for paid users and businesses, as well as government entities and officials. Now if a user sees a blue check mark and clicks on it, the label reads: \u201cThis account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.\u201d<\/p>\n Microsoft is dropping Twitter from its advertising platform starting on April 25, nearly two months after Twitter announced that it will begin charging a minimum of $42,000 per month to users of its API, including enterprises and research institutions. The moves mean users will no longer be able to access their Twitter account, or create, schedule or otherwise manage tweets through Microsoft\u2019s free social media management service.<\/p>\n Twitter owner Elon Musk threatened to take legal action:<\/p>\n They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time.<\/p>\n \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Twitter updated its content moderation guidelines regarding hateful content, removing a policy that prohibited the targeted deadnaming or misgendering of transgender people. Enacted in 2018, the policy explicitly stated that it violated Twitter\u2019s rules to repeatedly and purposefully call a transgender person by the wrong name or pronouns.<\/p>\n Twitter plans<\/a> to \u201csoon\u201d begin adding visible labels on tweets that have been identified as potentially violating its policies, which has impacted their visibility. It did not say when exactly the system would be fully rolled out across its network.<\/p>\n Typically, when tweets violate Twitter\u2019s policies, one of the actions the company can take is to limit the reach of those tweets \u2014 or something it calls \u201cvisibility filtering.\u201d In these scenarios, the tweets remain online but become less discoverable, as they\u2019re\u00a0excluded from areas<\/a>\u00a0like search results, trends, recommended notifications, For You and Following timelines, and more.<\/p>\n Historically, the wider public would not necessarily know if a tweet had been moderated in this way. Now Twitter says that will change.<\/p>\n Twitter\u2019s new feature will let Blue subscribers post 10,000-character-long posts \u2014 as if the social network is trying to compete with a rival newsletter platform<\/a>. Twitter has also added support for bold and italic text formatting.<\/p>\n Long-form writing is also not entirely new. Last June, the company introduced a program called\u00a0Twitter Notes for select writers<\/a>. However, that program was shut down under Musk. After taking over the company\u00a0he also killed newsletter tool Revue<\/a>, a startup Twitter had acquired in 2021.<\/p>\n A PBS spokesperson\u00a0confirmed<\/a>\u00a0to Axios that PBS had \u201cno plans to resume tweeting\u201d after Twitter gave it a murky \u201cgovernment-funded media\u201d label over the weekend. A few\u00a0other news entities<\/a>\u00a0appeared to have followed suit, including the prominent Boston NPR affiliate\u00a0WBUR<\/a>, Hawaii Public Radio and LA-based local news source\u00a0LAist<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC Australia), Australia\u2019s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), New Zealand\u2019s public broadcaster RNZ, Sweden\u2019s SR Ekot and SVT, and Catalonia\u2019s TV3.cat a were labeled \u201cgovernment-funded media\u201d<\/a> weeks later.<\/p>\n This expands upon the social network\u2019s Cashtag feature, which provided info about\u00a0a limited number of stocks and crypto coins through TradingView data<\/a>.<\/p>\n The new partnership with eToro goes beyond just displaying information. It also redirects users to the eToro site where they can engage in trading. If you search for a stock on Twitter, you will see a button saying \u201cView on eToro,\u201d which redirects to the site.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udf89Very excited to be launching a new $Cashtags partnership with @Twitter<\/a> which will enable Twitter users to see real-time prices for a much wider range of stocks, crypto & other assets as well as having the option to invest through eToro. @elonmusk<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/Iv2q9iNxbf<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 eToro (@eToro) April 13, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Elon Musk gave a rare interview to an actual reporter late on Tuesday, speaking to BBC reporter James Clayton on Twitter Spaces. During the\u00a0interview<\/a>, Clayton pressed Musk on whether his purchase of Twitter was, in the end, something he went through with willingly, or whether it was something he did because the active court case at the time in which Twitter was trying to force him to go through with the sale was going badly.<\/p>\n The answer was that Musk did indeed only do the deal because he believed legally, he was going to be forced to do so anyway.<\/p>\n This is the \u201cfinal date,\u201d he said in a tweet. If the move goes through, Twitter will have\u00a0verification marks<\/a>\u00a0only for paid users and businesses, and government entities and officials.<\/p>\n Final date for removing legacy Blue checks is 4\/20<\/p>\n \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 11, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Twitter, Inc. is now called X Corp., according to a\u00a0court filing<\/a>\u00a0in California.<\/p>\n Since Twitter is no longer a public company, it does not have to report updates like name changes to the SEC. But in any case, the new name was spotted in an April 4 document related to far-right activist Laura Loomer\u2019s\u00a0lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0against Twitter and Facebook.<\/p>\n \u201cTwitter, Inc. has been merged into X Corp. and no longer exists,\u201d the document states.<\/p>\n The\u00a0lawsuit<\/a>, filed in Delaware Chancery Court, alleged that Twitter has to pay more than $1 million to the former executives for legal bills they incurred while at the company to respond to requests by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission.<\/p>\n Numerous Twitter users reported a bug on April 10 in which Circle tweets are surfacing on the algorithmically generated For You<\/a>\u00a0timeline. That means that your supposedly private posts might breach containment to reach an unintended audience, which could quickly spark some uncomfortable situations.<\/p>\n TechCrunch has spoken to multiple users who have also experienced this glitch firsthand;\u00a0many<\/a>\u00a0more<\/a>\u00a0have<\/a>\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0the glitch in their tweets. Most often, it seems that Circle tweets are being surfaced in the For You timeline to users who follow the poster, but are not in their Circle. Others have reported that their Circle tweets are reaching even further than those who follow them.<\/p>\n The Elon Musk-owned platform has resumed surfacing accounts of Vladimir Putin and the Russian Embassy in search results. A former Twitter employee told the publication that this move is likely because of a policy change.<\/p>\n Twitter is censoring Substack links by making the posts impossible to reply to, like or retweet. While quote-tweeting works, simply pressing the retweet button surfaces an error message: \u201cSome actions on this Tweet have been disabled by Twitter.\u201d<\/p>\n You didn\u2019t hear this from us, but if you link to a Substack via a redirected URL, it seems to post without restrictions.<\/p>\n Twitter is rolling out additional features for Blue subscribers including showing 50% of ads in their timeline compared to non-paid users and a visibility boost in search.<\/p>\n \u201cAs you scroll, you will see approximately twice as many organic or non-promoted Tweets placed in between promoted Tweets or ads. There may be times when there are more or fewer non-promoted Tweets between promoted Tweets,\u201d Twitter\u2019s description of the feature says.<\/p>\n While Twitter is claiming to reduce ads on paid subscribers\u2019 feeds, it is hard to prove if they are actually seeing fewer ads apart from anecdotal experiences.<\/p>\n NPR\u2019s Twitter account on the platform now comes with a tag denoting it as \u201cUS state-affiliated media.\u201d But NPR doesn\u2019t meet Twitter\u2019s own definition for a state-affiliated account:<\/p>\n State-affiliated media is defined as outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and\/or control over production and distribution\u2026<\/p>\n State-financed media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK for example, are not defined as state-affiliated media for the purposes of this policy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n GET REKT @NPR<\/a><\/p>\n Nicely done, @elonmusk<\/a> \ud83e\udd23 pic.twitter.com\/jvX15QWSf5<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 5, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n NPR later announced<\/a> that it will no longer be posting content to its 52 official Twitter feeds, becoming the first major news organization to go silent on the social media platform.<\/p>\n Musk had claimed that starting on April 1, blue checkmarks that previously indicated that an account was legitimate, verified and notable would be maintained only for those who have a subscription to Twitter Blue. The change would be part of a wider push for Twitter to gate previously free features, and bundle new ones, under the $8 per month Twitter Blue subscription, which costs $11 on iOS and Android devices.<\/p>\n As numerous celebrities<\/a> and businesses spoke out to say they wouldn\u2019t pay the $8 fee, it appeared that removing so many blue checks would be easier said than done. Instead, Twitter merely updated the text<\/a> accompanying a blue check to make it unclear whether someone was verified for being notable, or for paying for Twitter Blue. In an ultimate act of pettiness, Twitter removed The New York Times\u2019 verification check when the news giant said it wouldn\u2019t pay for verification.<\/p>\n Based on early returns, the revamped Twitter Blue has yet to contribute significantly to Twitter\u2019s bottom line<\/a>, with just $11 million generated from mobile signups in its first three months.<\/p>\n The three API tiers include a free level meant for content posting bots, a $100\/month basic level and a costly enterprise level. Subscribing to any level gets access to the Ads API at no additional cost.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Twitter mentioned that over the next 30 days, the company will discontinue old access levels, including Standard (for v1.1), Essential and Elevated (for v2), and Premium.<\/span><\/p>\n Developers remain unhappy<\/span><\/a> with Twitter\u2019s new API structure.<\/span><\/p>\n Introducing a new form of Free (v2) access for write-only use cases and those testing the Twitter API with 1,500 Tweets\/month at the app level, media upload endpoints, and Login with Twitter.<\/p>\n Get started: https:\/\/t.co\/CqCRD3vbE5<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) March 29, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Musk justified the move by saying this was the \u201conly realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over.\u201d<\/p>\n Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations.<\/p>\n The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle.<\/p>\n Voting in polls will require verification for same reason.<\/p>\n \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Twitter decreases the wait to purchase Twitter Blue for newly created Twitter accounts from 90 days to 30 days.<\/p>\n \u201cNew subscriptions to Twitter Blue are available globally on web, iOS, or Android. Not all features are available on all platforms. Newly created Twitter accounts will not be able to subscribe to Twitter Blue for 30 days. We may also impose waiting periods for new accounts in the future at our discretion, and without notice,\u201d the Twitter Blue page reads.<\/p>\n Twitter announced that the removal of legacy blue checkmarks will begin April 1 for users that are not subscribed to Twitter Blue.<\/p>\n Elon tweeted back in December<\/a> that the company will remove legacy checkmarks \u201cin a few months.\u201d After that, users with legacy blue checks had been seeing a pop-up when they clicked on their checkmark, which read, \u201cThis is a legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable<\/a>.\u201d But once Twitter botched this removal of checkmarks, they changed the copy again \u2014 as of now, users cannot distinguish whether someone has a checkmark<\/a> because they paid, or because they were deemed notable.<\/p>\n On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https:\/\/t.co\/gzpCcwOpLp<\/a><\/p>\n Organizations can sign up for https:\/\/t.co\/RlN5BbuGA3<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Twitter Verified (@verified) March 23, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Twitter\u2019s Tor service<\/a>, a version of the site that could be accessed even in countries where the social network is banned, has gone dark after the company failed to renew its certificate, which expired on March 6.<\/p>\n Pavel Zoneff, director of strategic communications at the Tor Project, told TechCrunch that the site \u201cis no longer available seemingly with no plans to renew.\u201d<\/p>\n This expansion makes the social network\u2019s subscription service available in more than 35 countries across the world.<\/p>\n These countries include Netherlands, Poland, Ireland, Belgium, Sweden, Romania, Czech Republic, Finland, Denmark, Greece, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Slovakia, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Croatia, Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus.<\/p>\n Twitter laid off more than 200 employees in its fourth round of cuts, including loyalist Esther Crawford \u2014 the chief executive of Twitter payments who oversaw the company\u2019s Twitter Blue verification subscription.<\/p>\n Twitter\u2019s staff is down from about 7,500 employees to less than 2,000 since Musk.<\/p>\n Lots of speculation among ex employees that Musk must be about to install a whole new regime and that\u2019s why he is cleaning house. Otherwise the cuts don\u2019t make sense. \u201cHard to keep the lights on with the people who are still left,\u201d one ex manager told me.<\/p>\n \u2014 Alex Heath (@alexeheath) February 26, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n One of the numerous rounds of cuts eliminated the platform\u2019s entire accessibility team. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) called on Elon Musk to bring the accessibility team back in an open letter<\/a>. Markey requested a response by March 17.<\/p>\n After updating its ad policy<\/a> on February 15, Twitter became the first social media app in the U.S. to allow cannabis advertising. Cannabis ads will run on Twitter in U.S. states where cannabis is legal and in Canada.<\/p>\n The initial date set to cut free access to Twitter\u2019s API was February 9, which was then extended to February 13. Now, the social network has delayed the shutdown again, this time with no date set.<\/p>\n There has been an immense amount of enthusiasm for the upcoming changes with Twitter API. As part of our efforts to create an optimal experience for the developer community, we will be delaying the launch of our new API platform by a few more days.<\/p>\n More information to follow\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) February 13, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The delay jeopardizes the plans of developers and startups building tools around the Twitter API as they wouldn\u2019t have any clarity on future spending and budget allocation on the developer platform.<\/p>\n The company originally planned to shut down free access to its API on February 9. Now it has extended this deadline to February 13. Twitter said that it will charge $100 per month for the basic tier of API. This will get developers access to a \u201clow level of API usage,\u201d as well as the Ads API.<\/p>\n We have been busy with some updates to the Twitter API so you can continue to build and innovate with us.<\/p>\n We\u2019re excited to announce an extension of the current free Twitter API access through February 13. Here\u2019s what we\u2019re shipping then \ud83e\uddf5<\/p>\n \u2014 Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) February 8, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n When developers trying to seek clarity around the new API rules went to the developer forum website<\/a>, they found that the site had been put behind a login<\/a>. The forum was finally accessible four days later on February 13.<\/p>\n Twitter announced the ability to post longer tweets for paid users on February 8. Instead of being limited to 280 characters, paying Blue subscribers can post tweets that are up to 4,000 characters.<\/p>\n While only Twitter Blue subscribers can post long tweets, all users will be able to read them. You will see only the first 280 characters on the timeline, and if you want to read more, you can click on \u201cShow more.\u201d<\/p>\n need more than 280 characters to express yourself?<\/p>\n we know that lots of you do\u2026 and while we love a good thread, sometimes you just want to Tweet everything all at once. we get that.<\/p>\n so we\u2019re introducing longer Tweets! you\u2019re gonna want to check this out. tap this \ud83d\udc49\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Twitter Blue (@TwitterBlue) February 8, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Elon Musk announced in a tweet<\/a> on February 3 that the company would soon begin sharing advertising revenue with creators on the platform for the first time. He follows up the announcement with a catch: Eligible users must be signed up for Twitter Blue.<\/p>\n Payouts have yet to reach creators\u2019 wallets<\/a>.<\/p>\n Twitter Blue subscriptions are now available in Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain, making it 12 regions in total to which users can subscribe to it as of February 2. On February 8, Twitter Blue extended services further to India, Indonesia and Brazil<\/a>.<\/p>\n Twitter also announced launching a new Spaces tab with curated stations for live and recorded spaces, along with podcasts. The social network is making podcasts available only to Blue subscribers and \u201csome people on Twitter for iOS and Twitter for Android apps.\u201d<\/p>\n Twitter will discontinue offering free access to the Twitter API starting February 9 and will launch a paid version, Twitter said as it looks for more avenues to monetize the platform.<\/p>\n Starting February 9, we will no longer support free access to the Twitter API, both v2 and v1.1. A paid basic tier will be available instead \ud83e\uddf5<\/p>\n \u2014 Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) February 2, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n A week later and days before the February 9 deadline, Elon Musk said that after getting feedback from developers, Twitter will provide a write-only API for \u201cbots providing good content that is free.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\nIf you\u2019re just catching up, here\u2019s a complete timeline of what\u2019s going down at the bird app, starting with the most recent news:<\/h2>\n
May 2023<\/h3>\n
Elon Musk tweets that he has found a new Twitter CEO\u00a0<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter released its first version of encrypted DMs<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter now allows you to react to DMs with emojis<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter is purging old accounts and freeing up desired usernames, according to Elon Musk\u00a0<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
Twitter is contemplating a cheaper verification plan for organizations<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
Twitter confirmed Circle tweets were temporarily not private\u00a0<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter makes its API free for public announcement accounts\u00a0<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter is randomly logging out users<\/a><\/h3>\n
A bug on Twitter causes legacy blue checks to reappear by updating your Twitter bio<\/a><\/h3>\n
April 2023<\/h3>\n
EU warns Twitter over disinformation<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter now shows labels on tweets with reduced visibility<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter restored Blue verification mark for top accounts, even if they didn\u2019t pay for Twitter Blue<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter removes \u2018government-funded\u2019 news labels<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter sends an email seemingly requiring advertisers to have a verified checkmark<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
Twitter officially kills legacy blue checkmarks on 4\/20<\/a><\/h3>\n
Microsoft drops Twitter from its advertising platform<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
Twitter quietly removes policy against misgendering trans people<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter to label tweets that get downranked for violating its hate speech policy<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter introduces 10,000-character-long tweets for Blue subscribers<\/a><\/h3>\n
NPR, PBS and a handful of other news organizations bail on Twitter as Musk meddles with account labels<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter partners with eToro to show real-time stock and crypto information<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
Elon Musk says he only bought Twitter because he thought he\u2019d be forced to\u00a0<\/a><\/h3>\n
Elon Musk says Twitter will officially remove legacy checkmarks on 4\/20<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
Twitter, Inc. is now X Corp.<\/a><\/h3>\n
Ex-Twitter CEO and other execs sue firm over unpaid legal bills<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter Circle tweets aren\u2019t that private<\/a><\/h3>\n
A year later, Twitter is now resurfacing official Russian accounts in search results<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter won\u2019t let you retweet, like or reply to Substack links<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter Blue subscribers will now be shown \u2018half ads\u2019 on the platform<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter singles NPR out with misleading state-backed media label<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
\n
Twitter\u2019s verification changes feel like an accidental April Fools\u2019 joke<\/a><\/h3>\n
March 2023<\/h3>\n
Twitter announces new API tiers; free, basic and enterprise levels<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
Elon Musk says Twitter will only show verified accounts on its \u201cFor You\u201d timeline starting April 15<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
New Twitter accounts now have to wait only 30 days to purchase Twitter Blue<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter to kill \u2018legacy\u2019 blue checks on April 1<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
Twitter\u2019s privacy-preserving Tor service goes dark<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter Blue is now available in more than 20 countries<\/a><\/h3>\n
February 2023<\/h3>\n
Layoffs continue<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
Twitter allows cannabis ads in states where it\u2019s legal<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter delays launch of its new API platform\u2026again<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
Twitter\u2019s basic tier of its API will cost $100 per month<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
Twitter Blue introduces 4,000-character tweets<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
Elon Musk claims Twitter will start sharing ad revenue with creators<\/a><\/h3>\n
More monetization pushes: Twitter Blue expands new countries, brings back Spaces curation<\/a><\/h3>\n
Twitter to end free access to its API<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Twitter discontinues CoTweets<\/a><\/h3>\n
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