Twitter (1 Viewer)

[Joe Bryant]

I think the point is just that an ordinary user can now get a blue check when they couldn’t before.

It's also been wildly inconsistent.

I'm certainly nothing special, but I've been unable to get verified on Twitter for years. Where lots of fantasy football contributors with much smaller footprints are verified.

It doesn't mean anything really so I've never worried much about it. But it's a consistent complaint across lots of people I know that their approval process is wildly inconsistent. My guess is that it was intentional to get people talking about it.

What Musk is doing making it more standard seems logical and like a good idea.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Joe, they probably think you are trying to impersonate Kobe Bryant's dad.

 

[Ilov80s]

It's also been wildly inconsistent.

I'm certainly nothing special, but I've been unable to get verified on Twitter for years. Where lots of fantasy football contributors with much smaller footprints are verified.

It doesn't mean anything really so I've never worried much about it. But it's a consistent complaint across lots of people I know that their approval process is wildly inconsistent. My guess is that it was intentional to get people talking about it.

What Musk is doing making it more standard seems logical and like a good idea.

I don't think anybody understands their process for verification.

 

[Runkle]

No sane person runs a business like this

 

[dkp993]

No sane person runs a business like this

No sane person tries to start a mass produced electric car company. No sane person tries to be the first to privatize rockets and space travel. It’s pretty well established he’s not sane. And we’re likely all better off for it.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I think the point is just that an ordinary user can now get a blue check when they couldn’t before.

It's also been wildly inconsistent.

I'm certainly nothing special, but I've been unable to get verified on Twitter for years. Where lots of fantasy football contributors with much smaller footprints are verified.

It doesn't mean anything really so I've never worried much about it. But it's a consistent complaint across lots of people I know that their approval process is wildly inconsistent. My guess is that it was intentional to get people talking about it.

What Musk is doing making it more standard seems logical and like a good idea.

I've seen this same complaint from a bunch of people from different walks of life. This doesn't affect me directly at all, but the randomness of verification makes it seem like a "stamp of approval" as opposed to just "this person is who they say they are." The latter is great, and the former is really not great.

 

[rockaction]

That Elon Musk is bringing on the lamentations of people who loved Twitter is funny. The place was not a very fun place. It's more borne of new social media/informational necessity than anything. Doesn't seem like very many interactions on there are positive ones. I guess businesses/news became dependent on its model or something.

But will anybody really miss Twitter? Do I need to know what Matt Yglesias thinks about Paul Pelosi in real time? No, I don't. Do I need Josh Larky giving me fantasy football advice all the time? No, I don't. I'd probably do just as well without it.

 

[Dickies]

$8 it is!

If we hold out a few more days he might make it free.

 

[Joe Bryant]

I thought this was an interesting thread on how Musk may use Twitter https://twitter.com/TurnerNovak/status/1587489920242909188?s=20&t=dyNAsRemp6cccHvvEPSXJw

 

[Joe Bryant]

Joe, they probably think you are trying to impersonate Kobe Bryant's dad.

Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant was my favorite 76'er as a kid!

 

[Ilov80s]

That Elon Musk is bringing on the lamentations of people who loved Twitter is funny. The place was not a very fun place. It's more borne of new social media/informational necessity than anything. Doesn't seem like very many interactions on there are positive ones. I guess businesses/news became dependent on its model or something.

But will anybody really miss Twitter? Do I need to know what Matt Yglesias thinks about Paul Pelosi in real time? No, I don't. Do I need Josh Larky giving me fantasy football advice all the time? No, I don't. I'd probably do just as well without it.

Yeah there is no way I pay for Twitter. Anything valuable there will just pop up somewhere else anyway. I would miss it because there's funny jokes,immediate conversations around anything, great movie and music recommendations and I have spent years curating it get the content I want around my interests and with not too much of the BS I dislike. Still, I wouldn't pay for it. I will just find another way to waste time here and there.

 

[The General]

I'll pay $20 to verify my "Gisele's New Boyfriend" account

There's one. Elon only needs to sell another 2 billion 500 million more and he breaks even!

 

[The General]

I thought this was an interesting thread on how Musk may use Twitter https://twitter.com/TurnerNovak/status/1587489920242909188?s=20&t=dyNAsRemp6cccHvvEPSXJw

I mean Elon is in the all time GOAT business guy, inventor, project manager what have you level so everyone is really just guessing as to why he did this.

Spending 50+ bil here screams terrible deal and for it to pay off all the stuff listed in there would have to hit and big. Don’t see that happening (also don’t see how this won’t take away from the cool stuff that he actually has going like the cars and rockets) but this is what he does I guess as well as anyone alive.

Like many I would never pay for Twitter and certainly not a check mark but I’m also not the audience.

For me to use any downstream services that might spin off Twitter seems equally unlikely. There’s already so much competition here.

Watching it all play out will be good theater.

 

[shuke]

$8 it is!

This is classic Steve Jobs price decoying, yet way less subtle.

 

[Ilov80s]

This is classic Steve Jobs price decoying, yet way less subtle.

So $8 for everyone? Only a matter of time before more charges are built in. A higher level of monthly fee to get replies and posts even more visibility, pay to have access to video posts or pay to be able to reply. Again, I won’t spend anything on Twitter. It will be interesting to see how many people do.

Super interesting since Twitter has become such a major part of the information pathway for the world. This disruption to it will be worth watching for sure. I have enjoyed Twitter but I think I am rooting for it to fail? I’m a little torn.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

Yes This is classic Steve Jobs price decoying, yet way less subtle.

So $8 for everyone? Only a matter of time before more charges are built in. A higher level of monthly fee to get replies and posts even more visibility, pay to have access to video posts or pay to be able to reply. Again, I won’t spend anything on Twitter. It will be interesting to see how many people do.

Super interesting since Twitter has become such a major part of the information pathway for the world. This disruption to it will be worth watching for sure. I have enjoyed Twitter but I think I am rooting for it to fail? I’m a little torn.

Musk’s tweet indicated the $8 fee will also reduce ads for those who subscribe. That takes it out of the realm of being a tool for power tweeters only. It’s an element of a general user fee structure. That was my main concern posted in the old PSF thread. He’s got to find ways to increase revenue and selling more ads is the most simple and obvious way to do that. Im expecting more and more promoted tweets popping up.

 

[massraider]

From WaPo:

Elon Musk’s Twitter is pushing ahead with plans to charge for content, including videos, on the social media site.
Twitter is working on a feature that would let people post videos and charge users to view them, with the company taking a cut of the proceeds, according to an internal email obtained by The Washington Post. The company appears to be aiming to rush out the feature, referred to as Paywalled Video, with a target of one to two weeks before launch

 

[massraider]

My guess is that doesn't go well.

 

[TheMagus]

From WaPo:

Elon Musk’s Twitter is pushing ahead with plans to charge for content, including videos, on the social media site.
Twitter is working on a feature that would let people post videos and charge users to view them, with the company taking a cut of the proceeds, according to an internal email obtained by The Washington Post. The company appears to be aiming to rush out the feature, referred to as Paywalled Video, with a target of one to two weeks before launch

I think I am missing something here. I can't wrap my head around how charging for subscriptions and access to content is going to close the divide between the "lords and peasants." And it is not like his other business ventures really cater to the everyday man. Maybe it's about social standing when he says that - making celebs pay for their ability to promote themselves?

This whole thing seems illogical and my gut is feeling that this model may lead to a decrease in revenue because ad revenue may decrease more than subscription revenue brings in if the advertisers' reach shrinks by not showing ads to those who subscribe. Elon is a smart guy, but this is sort of fascinating to watch right now.

 

[Joe Bryant]

I think I am missing something here. I can't wrap my head around how charging for subscriptions and access to content is going to close the divide between the "lords and peasants." And it is not like his other business ventures really cater to the everyday man. Maybe it's about social standing when he says that - making celebs pay for their ability to promote themselves?

This whole thing seems illogical and my gut is feeling that this model may lead to a decrease in revenue because ad revenue may decrease more than subscription revenue brings in if the advertisers' reach shrinks by not showing ads to those who subscribe. Elon is a smart guy, but this is sort of fascinating to watch right now.

I don't think you're missing anything. But I think what he meant by "lords and peasants" is the verified account carried very much a "cool kids" type cache with it. You were something special if you were deemed verified by Twitter. And because it did not seem to make any difference on audience size or how long you were established in the space, there are a lot of people who felt left out or excluded because they weren't on the "inside".

With this, if I'm understanding him, he's looking to make it a lot more accessible to more people. I would easily pay $8 per month to have my Footballguys account verified for instance. I'm guessing there will be quite a few folks like me. But that's just a guess.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

My guess is that doesn't go well.

I'd say the same thing but things like Tik Tok and Facebook short videos seem so popular now. I wouldn't be interested but I'm old, so who knows?

 

[Dr. Octopus]

You were something special if you were deemed verified by Twitter.

what a wacky world we live in.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I would easily pay $8 per month to have my Footballguys account verified for instance.

Why - anyone following you on Twitter, is likely playing Fantasy Football, knows this site and therefor you. Why would you care about this?

 

[GroveDiesel]

My guess is that doesn't go well.

I'd say the same thing but things like Tik Tok and Facebook short videos seem so popular now. I wouldn't be interested but I'm old, so who knows?

Which seems like all the more reason it would fail. Why would I pay to watch videos on Twitter when I can go see them for free on more popular platforms?

 

[massraider]

Why would I pay to watch videos on Twitter when I can go see them for free on more popular platforms

Exactly.

Twitter has less young users than those other platforms, but their users are going to start paying to watch videos? On top of paying for a blue check mark for some of them?

 

[Ilov80s]

TikTok is free and 80% of the videos circulating on Twitter are just being reposted from TikTok. Asking people to pay for that doesn’t make any sense. He obviously wants people to start making videos exclusively for Twitter and wants to pay them. So he’s going to charge people which will then reduce his ad revenue and he’s going to then share that money with creators? Obviously I know like 1% of what Musk and team do about this but on the surface it doesn’t make much sense. And if the check mark is only an indicator of whether someone pays $8 a month, then it’s not really a status symbol anymore or providing any real hint of validity. It just says they are a paid subscriber.

 

[Ilov80s]

It’s like right now we have National Honor Society in HS. It’s very difficult to get into and there a lot of kids who apply and have seemingly all the right qualifications but just don’t get accepted. If kids could just pay to be in NHS, does that really mean anything anymore? Would the kids who “earned” their way in still want to be a part of it? Would they pay to be in it? The is quite the social experiment.

 

[Juxtatarot]

TikTok is free and 80% of the videos circulating on Twitter are just being reposted from TikTok. Asking people to pay for that doesn’t make any sense. He obviously wants people to start making videos exclusively for Twitter and wants to pay them. So he’s going to charge people which will then reduce his ad revenue and he’s going to then share that money with creators? Obviously I know like 1% of what Musk and team do about this but on the surface it doesn’t make much sense. And if the check mark is only an indicator of whether someone pays $8 a month, then it’s not really a status symbol anymore or providing any real hint of validity. It just says they are a paid subscriber.

Maybe he’s foreseeing movies and “TV” shows on Twitter in the future? Similar maybe to Amazon Prime content?

 

[TheMagus]

I don't think you're missing anything. But I think what he meant by "lords and peasants" is the verified account carried very much a "cool kids" type cache with it. You were something special if you were deemed verified by Twitter. And because it did not seem to make any difference on audience size or how long you were established in the space, there are a lot of people who felt left out or excluded because they weren't on the "inside".

With this, if I'm understanding him, he's looking to make it a lot more accessible to more people. I would easily pay $8 per month to have my Footballguys account verified for instance. I'm guessing there will be quite a few folks like me. But that's just a guess.

Where my head is right now is not so much with US- or EU-based business owners who may find a benefit and would be willing to pay for a blue check like yourself. That makes perfect sense to me. I was thinking more along the lines of international figures outside the Western world and the impact this may have.

Note: I am not a regular Twitter user and typically only go there to read something linked elsewhere or to see a very specific topic I am curious about.

I think the most current example is news about what is happening in Ukraine. I would often see linked tweets to reporting on events and I always looked for a blue check to make sure the tweet was coming from a legitimate journalist, especially with so much misinformation out there on Twitter specifically. So even though this $8/month fee for the blue check is supposed to be adjusted by purchasing power, Ukrainian journalists right now could be making very little money and struggling with just basic life needs. So if those journalists cannot afford (or prioritize other necessities over) the fee, they will lose their check and they just sort of meld into the masses of regular users, bots, and misinformation spreaders. This doesn't seem like a great idea to me.

This is also why I am having trouble wrapping my head around how the subscription fees will actually combat the bots, as per Elon. It seems the opposite would be true and also potentially increase the number of people impersonating public figures who choose not to pay for their blue check.

 

[Ilov80s]

Maybe he’s foreseeing movies and “TV” shows on Twitter in the future? Similar maybe to Amazon Prime content?

Possible. That’s a massive change and is going to be really expensive to get going. The software and marketing for Twitter is obviously not geared towards that.

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

there a lot of kids who apply and have seemingly all the right qualifications but just don’t get accepted

That seems problematic as well, no? Shouldn't there be a standard, and if met, then acceptance? What's the explanation to a kid who doesn't get in if they have the same exact qualifications as someone who does?

The analogy to Twitter is why should someone not be verified if they're qualified to be? There shouldn't be a "cool kids" or cache factor to being verified. The purpose of verification, IIRC, was to eliminate imposter accounts. If it turned into a "status" thing, that was probably a mis-step, IMO.

 

[TheMagus]

I just found an article sort of supporting my thought process, so I may not be crazy.

Elon Musk says $8 monthly fee for Twitter blue tick

Critics say the change could make it harder for people to find reliable sources on the social media site.

www.bbc.com

But Nu Wexler, former Twitter Head of Global Policy Communications, warned that introducing a fee for blue ticks could make it harder to spot disinformation.
"With disinformation as an issue that a lot of platforms are struggling with, verification is one of the ways that journalists, academic researchers and some users use to filter out disinformation or low quality information," Mr Wexler told the BBC's Today programme.

"If you're offering up blue checks for rent, it makes it harder to sift through disinformation and find high quality information."

 

[massraider]

Note: I am not a regular Twitter user and typically only go there to read something linked elsewhere or to see a very specific topic I am curious about

I believe this is a huge amount of people.
These media types that get vilified by Musk are driving traffic to his site.

"So and so did this, and the internet went nuts" or this celeb threw some shade at this other celeb on Twitter.

To actually go on Twitter, and scroll through your feed is rarely fun. That's why I don't think a lot of people do it, and people whose every tweet gets amplified, like Musk, overestimated the number of regular people using it daily.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

My guess is that doesn't go well.

I'd say the same thing but things like Tik Tok and Facebook short videos seem so popular now. I wouldn't be interested but I'm old, so who knows?

Which seems like all the more reason it would fail. Why would I pay to watch videos on Twitter when I can go see them for free on more popular platforms?

Twitter is a lot easier to follow people than Facebook. Facebook is where I tolerate my crazy uncle's insane rants about anything. Twitter I can control the content I see much easier without offending family.

Do adults use TikTok? I'm out of the loop but I thought that was nothing more than teens making silly dance videos?

 

[Juxtatarot]

Maybe he’s foreseeing movies and “TV” shows on Twitter in the future? Similar maybe to Amazon Prime content?

Possible. That’s a massive change and is going to be really expensive to get going. The software and marketing for Twitter is obviously not geared towards that.

Musk has talked about Twitter becoming an “everything” app like WeChat in China but I don’t understand what that entails exactly. No doubt though that big changes will be made to Twitter eventually.

 

[Desert_Power]

Maybe he’s foreseeing movies and “TV” shows on Twitter in the future? Similar maybe to Amazon Prime content?

Possible. That’s a massive change and is going to be really expensive to get going. The software and marketing for Twitter is obviously not geared towards that.

This would be quite the way to light more of his money on fire. I support it.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

No sane person runs a business like this

No sane person tries to start a mass produced electric car company. No sane person tries to be the first to privatize rockets and space travel. It’s pretty well established he’s not sane. And we’re likely all better off for it.

He's definitely not sane (though might well be a genius). One of my co-workers used to be a senior guy at Tesla and worked directly for Elon for 3+ years. The stories he tells are amazing.

 

[Ilov80s]

Musk has talked about Twitter becoming an “everything” app like WeChat in China but I don’t understand what that entails exactly. No doubt though that big changes will be made to Twitter eventually.

That’s right I forgot about his X App he wants to create that I think he plans to use Twitter to jumpstart. I think the idea if you just log into that and it logs you into all of your other apps, banking, etc so that every app you use and all your financials are linked into 1 place. Sounds convenient but also very dangerous.

 

[GroveDiesel]

I don't think you're missing anything. But I think what he meant by "lords and peasants" is the verified account carried very much a "cool kids" type cache with it. You were something special if you were deemed verified by Twitter. And because it did not seem to make any difference on audience size or how long you were established in the space, there are a lot of people who felt left out or excluded because they weren't on the "inside".

With this, if I'm understanding him, he's looking to make it a lot more accessible to more people. I would easily pay $8 per month to have my Footballguys account verified for instance. I'm guessing there will be quite a few folks like me. But that's just a guess.

Where my head is right now is not so much with US- or EU-based business owners who may find a benefit and would be willing to pay for a blue check like yourself. That makes perfect sense to me. I was thinking more along the lines of international figures outside the Western world and the impact this may have.

Note: I am not a regular Twitter user and typically only go there to read something linked elsewhere or to see a very specific topic I am curious about.

I think the most current example is news about what is happening in Ukraine. I would often see linked tweets to reporting on events and I always looked for a blue check to make sure the tweet was coming from a legitimate journalist, especially with so much misinformation out there on Twitter specifically. So even though this $8/month fee for the blue check is supposed to be adjusted by purchasing power, Ukrainian journalists right now could be making very little money and struggling with just basic life needs. So if those journalists cannot afford (or prioritize other necessities over) the fee, they will lose their check and they just sort of meld into the masses of regular users, bots, and misinformation spreaders. This doesn't seem like a great idea to me.

This is also why I am having trouble wrapping my head around how the subscription fees will actually combat the bots, as per Elon. It seems the opposite would be true and also potentially increase the number of people impersonating public figures who choose not to pay for their blue check.

Great post that makes total sense to me.

 

[Ilov80s]

Twitter is a lot easier to follow people than Facebook. Facebook is where I tolerate my crazy uncle's insane rants about anything. Twitter I can control the content I see much easier without offending family.

Do adults use TikTok? I'm out of the loop but I thought that was nothing more than teens making silly dance videos?

Adults use it though in smaller numbers.

 

[GroveDiesel]

My guess is that doesn't go well.

I'd say the same thing but things like Tik Tok and Facebook short videos seem so popular now. I wouldn't be interested but I'm old, so who knows?

Which seems like all the more reason it would fail. Why would I pay to watch videos on Twitter when I can go see them for free on more popular platforms?

Twitter is a lot easier to follow people than Facebook. Facebook is where I tolerate my crazy uncle's insane rants about anything. Twitter I can control the content I see much easier without offending family.

Do adults use TikTok? I'm out of the loop but I thought that was nothing more than teens making silly dance videos?

Twitter is my primary social media app I use. I prefer it because I really only want to use social media to get sports info or other specific interests. So Reddit and Twitter best allow me to do that as I can easily customize exactly what I see and I can get instant up to date info easily on the things I care about.

But the facts are that Twitter is actually very small as far as average monthly users goes. They’re only like the 15th largest social media network. Because it’s become the primary SM network for politicians and journalists, it has managed to gain an outsized influence that creates a perception that it is bigger and more representative than it is.

 

[tymarsas]

My guess is that doesn't go well.

I'd say the same thing but things like Tik Tok and Facebook short videos seem so popular now. I wouldn't be interested but I'm old, so who knows?

Which seems like all the more reason it would fail. Why would I pay to watch videos on Twitter when I can go see them for free on more popular platforms?

I don't think he is planning on charging people for watching videos. He is going to allow people that pay the subscription fee to post longer videos (longer than the current limit).

A big part of Musk's plan to increase revenues at Twitter is increasing the number of people that pay for a Twitter Blue subscription. All of these things (need to pay to get blue checks, allowing longer videos for subscribers, less ads for subscribers) is just trying to find ways to increase subscriptions. He is trying to use both the carrot (extra features) and the stick (to keep your blue check).

 

[Joe Bryant]

I don't think he is planning on charging people for watching videos. He is going to allow people that pay the subscription fee to post longer videos (longer than the current limit).

A big part of Musk's plan to increase revenues at Twitter is increasing the number of people that pay for a Twitter Blue subscription. All of these things (need to pay to get blue checks, allowing longer videos for subscribers, less ads for subscribers) is just trying to find ways to increase subscriptions. He is trying to use both the carrot (extra features) and the stick (to keep your blue check).

Agreed. I think this is a lot of it.

I'm fascinated to see how it plays out. He's GOAT level business guy thus far. He's earned as much benefit of the doubt on business stuff from me as anyone I can think of.

 

[The Commish]

Musk has talked about Twitter becoming an “everything” app like WeChat in China but I don’t understand what that entails exactly. No doubt though that big changes will be made to Twitter eventually.

That’s right I forgot about his X App he wants to create that I think he plans to use Twitter to jumpstart. I think the idea if you just log into that and it logs you into all of your other apps, banking, etc so that every app you use and all your financials are linked into 1 place. Sounds convenient but also very dangerous.

Yeah, not a chance I go that route. Is that really the proposal?

 

[Ilov80s]

That seems problematic as well, no? Shouldn't there be a standard, and if met, then acceptance? What's the explanation to a kid who doesn't get in if they have the same exact qualifications as someone who does?

You need a certain GPA, clubs, classes, etc to have a quality resume. However, NHS represents the elite of the elite. So sometimes tough calls have to be made. The NHS committee dig past those incredible
resumes to find small details. Maybe a teacher felt the student didn’t always go the extra mile in class or they had spotty attendance in a club or has used social media to stir drama.

The analogy to Twitter is why should someone not be verified if they're qualified to be? There shouldn't be a "cool kids" or cache factor to being verified. The purpose of verification, IIRC, was to eliminate imposter accounts. If it turned into a "status" thing, that was probably a mis-step, IMO.

Yeah I don’t know what their guidelines were I generally agree. Though just saying pay $8 and we will give it to you doesn’t really work as I noted above.

 

[Ilov80s]

Yeah, not a chance I go that route. Is that really the proposal?

Lots of speculation but here’s a general idea

goal of being involved in "every moment of the user's daily life, from morning till night, anytime, anywhere.”

What Is Elon Musk's X App?

Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter paves the way to make his planned X app. But what is this super app?

www.makeuseof.com

 

[The Commish]

Yeah, not a chance I go that route. Is that really the proposal?

Lots of speculation but here’s a general idea

goal of being involved in "every moment of the user's daily life, from morning till night, anytime, anywhere.”

What Is Elon Musk's X App?

Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter paves the way to make his planned X app. But what is this super app?

www.makeuseof.com

Yikes...good luck with all that. By the way...people live on WeChat in China because that's basically the only option allowed by the government. Everything else is either squashed out/bought or limited so much that it's a useless app when all said and done. From a financial perspective alone getting buy-in from all the different banks etc is going to cost billions nevermind the investment in all the infrastructure it would take to get them up to snuff on gov't banking regulations.

 

[Sammy3469]

Maybe he’s foreseeing movies and “TV” shows on Twitter in the future? Similar maybe to Amazon Prime content?

Possible. That’s a massive change and is going to be really expensive to get going. The software and marketing for Twitter is obviously not geared towards that.

Musk has talked about Twitter becoming an “everything” app like WeChat in China but I don’t understand what that entails exactly. No doubt though that big changes will be made to Twitter eventually.

WeChat makes a lot of their money through being Paypal/CashApp like service. Ostensively you need individuals to be verified to do something like that successfully, so from that perspective it makes sense to open verification up. However, all those services are also free to use and make their money from the vig on a money movement not in actually hosting the account.

Musk has made statements that that is where he ultimately sees Twitter going (ie money movement), but the problem is that there are already companies doing it better.

 

[SWC]

i heard the guy who used to run twitter is going to make another social media thing maybe after elon ruins twitter the old guy can just remake the original cool twitter and we can all enjoy it again take that to the bank bromigos

 

[SWC]

i just dont get buying a social media company it seems like such a fickle industry where you can be all that and a bag of chips one day and then in a couple of years you are myspace and everyone makes fun of you look even facebook seems to be collapsing while the wierdo that runs it spends his time trying to convince us to enter his own little dork matrix take that to the bank brohans