How Elon Musk Is Already Revamping Twitter
Since taking over Twitter Elon Musk has already sought to remove bots, change the verification process, and charge verified accounts a monthly fee.
Elon Musk, the owner of mega-company Tesla and Space X, acquired Twitter for $44 billion on October 28, 2022. He has wasted no time in changing up its processes already. Reports state Twitter is in the process of revising its user verification process as the social media site is littered with spam and robot accounts.
Elon Musk confirmed, through a tweet, that in a matter of days after acquiring the social media platform, he was already hitting the ground running and changing one of its major components. He stated that the whole verification procedure is in the process of being re-designed, but gave no more detail about what that actually entails for users of Twitter.
Also, another potential feature that could be added now that Elon Musk has taken over is an explore page re-route. When users log out of Twitter, they are re-directed to the social media platform’s explore page. This page shows the various popular and treading tweets on the day, both worldwide and within your location. One can only think this would be implemented in an effort to keep people logged in and active on Twitter for more extended periods of time.
In a more controversial change, Twitter is considering a third change in its platform. It is reviewing whether to charge members who receive the sought-after blue tick verifying the account holder’s identity. Users with the verification already will be given ninety days to sign up for Twitter’s membership package “Twitter Blue” at a charge of $4.99 a month or risk losing their blue tick badge.
While this change isn’t definite yet, it is likely that it will come to pass as Elon Musk confirmed that they are changing Twitter’s verification process.
There are also rumors, seen from internal correspondence at Twitter that the monthly subscription price of “Twitter Blue” could increase from $4.99 to $19.99. This price increase would not be something that would go down well with subscribers, especially since we are living through a cost-of-living crisis and hyperinflation at the moment.
The exclusive “Twitter Blue” offers access to special features and an option to edit tweets but it wasn’t widely received by users when it launched. To users, the membership only seemed to be worth the money for a number of niche members, who use the platform as a source of income. The edit feature for tweets was recently added to regular members features by Elon Musk this week making the “Twitter Blue” membership even less exclusive.
Elon Musk acquiring Twitter is a significant business move for the billionaire. He has shown with Tesla and Space X that he is not afraid to think outside the box and push boundaries and innovation. If he uses the same energy and intelligence in his previous businesses in upgrading Twitter, he could potentially make it the most successful social media platform in the world.
But on the other hand, he is known worldwide for his controversial remarks and wacky ways; since Twitter is a social media brand and not a technical business like Tesla, will his ego get in the way of his brilliance?
