Elon Musk bought Twitter since the end of October. Upon the official takeover, he dismissed the main leaders of the platform, including CEO Parag Agrawal. Alone at the controls, the boss of Tesla is already beginning his major overhaul with the aim of revolutionizing Twitter and above all of generating more revenue. Overview of the main changes made or planned.
1. Twitter Blue at $8 per month to get a certified account
The boss of Tesla announced in early November a price increase for the Twitter Blue subscription, rising to $7.99 per month (instead of $4.99). By subscribing, users can get the blue verification checkmark that indicates their account is certified. This new subscription service is still being tested, a wider deployment is planned thereafter. As a reminder, Twitter Blue is only available in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but perhaps it will be extended to other countries when we know the financial ambitions of Elon Musk.
2. Laying off 50% of Twitter’s workforce
After many rumors circulating on the web, Elon Musk confirmed that he was in the process of laying off many employees at Twitter by justifying in a tweet massive financial losses: “When it comes to reducing the strength of Twitter, unfortunately, there is no other choice when the company is losing over $4 million a day. » Out of 7,500 employees, around 50% would have been made redundant. Some have already filed a class action lawsuit against the company over missed notice periods.
Many Twitter employees testify to their dismay through tweets: “I woke up to find that my job at Twitter was coming to an end. My heart is broken. I am in denial. It has been the best, craziest and most rewarding adventure of my career. I loved every minute of it. »
Woke up to the news that my time working at Twitter has come to an end. 💙
I am heartbroken. I am in denial.
It’s been the best, craziest, most rewarding ride of my career. I have loved every single minute of it.
A short thread, if you will indulge me:#LoveWhereYouWork
— Michele Austin (@_MicheleAustin) November 4, 2022
3. The ability to attach a long text to a tweet
In a tweetElon Musk announces: “Twitter will soon add the ability to attach long text to tweets, ending the nonsense of notepad screenshots. » The objective is to allow users to publish a simple tweet by attaching a long text to it to prevent them from broadcasting text screenshots, a common practice on the social network.
In addition, Elon Musk could also make the function available free of charge to all users allowing them to modify their tweets after having published them. This is only available to Twitter Blue subscribers at this time. But nothing has yet been officially confirmed on this side.
4. Improved search on Twitter
The billionaire is not happy with the way Twitter can be searched and also makes it known in a tweet in a rather mocking tone: “Searching on Twitter reminds me of Infoseek in 1998! It will also improve much faster.” There should therefore also be actions taken to optimize user searches.
5. Content monetization for creators
In the message announcing the possibility of adding long text to a tweet, Elon Musk also indicated that he wanted to offer additional tools to allow creators to monetize all their content formats. This announced novelty is not without reason. Indeed, creators will undoubtedly publish more native content such as videos, rather than simply re-sharing their content on TikTok or Instagram. It’s time for Twitter to catch up on this…
6. Suspension of impersonating accounts
Other recent news: “Going forward, all Twitter users who engage in impersonation without clearly stating that it is a ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended. » The boss of Tesla is tightening the screw on this point, in particular because people have changed their account name to “Elon Musk” to parody him since his acquisition of Twitter. Another clarification: “any name change will result in temporary loss of the verified tick”.
Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2022
7. Forming a Content Moderation Board
Shortly after his takeover of Twitter, many questions arose regarding the reactivation of Donald Trump’s Twitter account. Why ? Because Elon Musk said in May that he wanted to overturn the permanent ban on Donald Trump’s account. In response to this controversy, Elon Musk tweeted that a content moderation council would be formed to decide on account reactivations: “Twitter will form a content moderation council with widely diverse views. No major content or account reinstatement decisions will be made prior to this board meeting.” Significant changes are therefore to be expected on the moderation side!
To be super clear, we have not yet made any changes to Twitter’s content moderation policies https://t.co/k4guTsXOIu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 29, 2022
8. Twitter as the safest news source in the world
Finally Elon Musk has just published a tweet: “Twitter must become by far the most accurate source of information about the world. This is our mission. » It thus seems to imply a fight against fake news. Its objective is clearly displayed but how will it achieve it? Everything remains to be seen.
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