Elon Musk- ‘There Will Be Blood’

Elon Musk says Twitter blue tick to be revamped
Published 4 hours ago
By Peter Hoskins & Noor Nanji
Business reporters, BBC News

New Twitter owner Elon Musk has said the process of gaining a prestigious "blue tick" will be revised, amid reports the firm could start charging $20 (£17) per month to be verified.

Mr Musk tweeted the verification process was being revamped, days after taking over the social media giant.

A blue tick is currently free and a way of signalling an account is authentic.

Mr Musk completed his $44bn (£37.9bn) takeover on Friday, and has renamed himself as Chief Twit on Twitter.

During months of legal wrangling leading up to the acquisition, the billionaire repeatedly expressed concerns about the verification process, and the number of spam and bot accounts he believes litter the site.

Mr Musk's tweet, on Sunday, did not give any more details about what exactly might change.

But according to tech website The Verge, which cited internal correspondence, Twitter now wants to charge people $19.99 per month to keep their blue tick verification status.

It says the plan involves quadrupling the price for Twitter Blue - the company's subscription service - and making verification one of its features.

Verified users would be given 90 days to subscribe or face losing their blue tick, it reports.

Employees were told of the project on Sunday and have been told they need to launch the scheme by 7 November or risk losing their jobs, it added.

Twitter Blue was launched last summer, and gives subscribers access to various premium features including the option to undo a tweet.

It is currently optional and costs $4.99 per month.

While there has been no official confirmation of the plan, on Monday Mr Musk appeared to acknowledge the speculation in a new tweet which said: "On no, all our diabolical plans have been revealed!!"

Job cut fears
In a separate development, Mr Musk has denied a New York Times report that he plans to lay off Twitter workers before the start of next month to avoid having to make payouts.

It follows his buyout last week which saw the exit of the firm's top bosses - including its chief executive, chairman and finance chief.

At the weekend, The New York Times reported that Mr Musk had ordered major job cuts across Twitter's workforce.

The newspaper said the layoffs would take place before 1 November, when workers were due to receive grants of shares in the company as a major part of their pay deals.

But replying to a Twitter user asking about the report, he said: "This is false."

The takeover has prompted discussion among Twitter users over what the platform will look like under Mr Musk's ownership.

Some have voiced concerns that more lenient free speech policies would mean people banned for hate speech or disinformation may be allowed back to the platform.

Last week Mr Musk said that he doesn't want the platform to become an echo chamber for hate and division. "Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hell-scape, where anything can be said with no consequences!" he tweeted.

However after denying the New York Times job cuts report, Mr Musk tweeted a screen shot of a New York Times headline about him posting a link to a "site known to publish false news".



The New York Times headline referred to a reply Mr Musk had posted, and then deleted, at the weekend to a tweet by former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

His reply contained a link to a conspiracy theory about an assault on Paul Pelosi, husband of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Republican candidate who was suspended from Twitter almost immediately reinstated after Elon Musk gets word
Musk intends to remove permanent bans from the platform after he assembles a panel of people with diverse political viewpoints to rework the site’s content policies.

By Ian Miles Cheong | November 01, 2022 | News

Story and tweets at https://www.rebelnews.com/republican_candidate_who_was_suspended_from_twitter_almost_immediately_reinstated_after_elon_musk_gets_word

Temple wrote:

11-1-2022

Democratic U.S. senator wants probe into Saudi firm's stake in Twitter.

Instead, how about a probe into Hunter Biden's deals with Ukraine, China, and Fuckustan?

A Twitter employee shared a picture of his boss in a sleeping bag and mask on the office floor, illustrating Elon Musk's new hardcore work culture
Grace Dean | Business Insider
Wed, November 2, 2022 at 6:58 AM

A Twitter employee shared a photo appearing to show his boss asleep on the office floor just days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk took over the company.

The photo shows Esther Crawford, director of product management at the social media giant, wearing an eye mask and wrapped up in a sleeping bag on top of a sleeping mat.

"When you need something from your boss at elon twitter," Evan Jones, a product manager at Twitter Spaces, tweeted at around 2:00 a.m. New York time Wednesday.

Crawford replied, tweeting: "When your team is pushing round the clock to make deadlines sometimes you #SleepWhereYouWork."



It is unclear where the photo was taken. Jones' Twitter page says he is based in New York, while Crawford's says she is based in Los Angeles. Twitter has offices in all four US timezones.

Insider reached out to both Jones and Crawford early Wednesday morning, but they did not immediately respond.

Crawford tweeted Tuesday that she was "very proud" of efforts at Twitter "to quickly shift gears and bring this new vision to life."

Staff at Twitter have been clocking up much longer hours than usual since Musk took over, with his team assigning them big tasks on tight deadlines. Some staff at the company see the assignments as a test by Musk's team to see who works hard and worry their jobs could be on the line amid the looming threat of layoffs.

An internal message told Twitter staff working on changes to the company's verification process that "the expectation is literally to work 24/7 to get this out," Insider previously reported.

CNBC reported that Twitter managers have told some staff to work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, while The New York Times reported that some managers slept at the office on Friday and Saturday nights.

Musk's $44-billion purchase of Twitter went through last Thursday night. The tech mogul had first offered to buy the platform in April after becoming the company's biggest shareholder, though he tried to back out of the deal a few months later, citing concerns about the number of bots on the platform.

Elon Musk clarifies that Donald Trump and other banned accounts won't be allowed back on Twitter before the midterm elections, if at all
Britney Nguyen, Nicole Gaudiano | Business Insider
Wed, November 2, 2022 at 10:40 AM·4 min read

Elon Musk said banned Twitter accounts will not be allowed back for "at least a few more weeks."

This means that former president Donald Trump will not be on Twitter before the midterm elections.

Trump was suspended from Twitter in January 2021 after the Capitol riot for inciting violence.

Elon Musk's tweet about banned Twitter accounts not being allowed back on the platform for "at least a few more weeks," means Donald Trump won't be back before the midterm elections.

Musk tweeted that users who were "de-platformed for violating Twitter rules" won't be allowed back "until we have a clear process for doing so," and also said he "talked to civil society leaders" like the presidents of the NAACP and Color of Change, about how the platform will "combat hate & harassment & enforce its election integrity policies."





Former president Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter after the violent attack by his supporters on the US Capitol in January 2021, "due to the risk of further incitement of violence," Twitter said in its blog.

Twitter's new owner, Musk, previously said Trump's suspension from Twitter was a "morally bad decision" and "foolish to the extreme," and said he would reverse the ban. Trump has said that he won't return to Twitter, but many suspect that could change.

When podcast host Chris Stigall asked Trump about Twitter on Tuesday, Trump promoted Truth Social, saying he likes the way it works better.

"I don't lose anything," he said. "In other words, you know, they want to put me on very badly, they've called and they want me to go back on. But if I go on there, what would happen to Truth? I don't know...But the answer is, I'm not doing it. I won't go back on."

Trump also criticized Musk for  spending "a lot of money on buying something that has tremendous, you know, numbers of fake accounts and bots and all of this stuff."

On the day Musk officially bought the social media platform, the Tesla founder tweeted that the company "will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints," adding that "no major decisions" or reinstatements of banned accounts will happen before the council is made.

In this Twitter thread about not allowing banned accounts back on Twitter for weeks, he wrote that the content moderation council "will include representatives with widely divergent views, which will certainly include the civil rights community and groups who face hate-fueled violence."

On Tuesday, 40 justice organizations and media watchdog groups sent a letter to Twitter's top advertisers asking them to "publicly commit" that they would stop advertising on Twitter if Musk does "undermine brand safety and community standards including gutting content moderation."

During Trump's podcast interview, he claimed that he gets a "better response" from Truth Social than when he was on Twitter, even though he was "one of the top couple of people" with "100 million" followers. Trump's Twitter handle had more than 88 million followers at the time of the ban. Socialtracker lists @BarackObama as the top Twitter account, with more than 133 million followers.

Trump also claimed he had 270 million total followers, "including Facebook and everything else." Trump had 35 million followers on Facebook, which suspended him but could lift the suspension as soon as January.

Trump made an unspecific reference to a recent story that said banning him was "one of the worst decisions" made by the technology industry "because when they got me off, they say it became boring."

Trump said Truth Social is smarter, and friendlier but also can be "very nasty, you know — especially if they get against you a little bit. Even your own people, if they disagree with something you did, they get nasty. We've got some smart ones."

But he said the app's success comes despite the press and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "They do anything they can to stop Trump," he said. "They do anything they can to stop Truth. It's crazy what these people do. These are maniacs."

Elon Musk put his foot down on Twitter's $8 blue tick fee, telling users they can keep complaining but the price won't change
Kate Duffy | Business Insider
Wed, November 2, 2022 at 4:27 AM

Elon Musk said Twitter will introduce an $8 verification fee, no matter how much users complain.

Musk has drawn criticism for plans to charge users to be verified on the site.

He also dismissed fears that charging for verification could lead to a rise of misinformation.

Elon Musk has doubled down on Twitter's proposed new $8-per-month fee for users who want to keep their blue verified checkmark.

The billionaire, who closed the $44 billion deal for the social media platform last week, announced on Tuesday that Twitter's new verification system would cost $8 per month. This sparked controversy among some verified Twitter users who were unhappy at the news that they'd have to start paying for the blue tick.

Despite the criticism, Musk reiterated his plans later in the day.

"To all complainers, please continue complaining, but it will cost $8," he tweeted.

Included in the price would not only be the blue checkmark, but also priority in search, fewer ads, and the ability to post long-form video, Musk has said in various tweets. Musk is planning to overhaul Twitter Blue, the site's premium subscription service, with these features.

The $8 subscription fee is lower than previously expected. The Verge reported on Sunday that Musk was aiming to charge $20 monthly for Blue, which is currently $4.99 per month.

Author Stephen King spoke out about the news on Twitter, saying he'd quit the site if he was forced to pay $20 to keep his blue checkmark. In response to King's tweet, Musk said: "We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?"

Paying to remain verified on the platform could present the opportunity for fake accounts and bots to impersonate government officials, journalists, celebrities, and other public figures, leading to the possibility of more widespread misinformation.

In response to a Twitter user who said another user could pay $8 in an attempt to impersonate Musk with the same name, profile picture, and tweets, the billionaire said: "That already happens very frequently."

The charge for being verified on Twitter is one of a number of controversies facing Musk in the days after he took over the platform. Others include the firing of several top executives, reports that he plans to lay-off 25% of the workforce, and a rise in hateful content on the site.

"yute"???

yute (plural yutes)

(Jamaican Patois, MLE, MTE, derogatory, slang) A youth, a young person, often a young black person.

_____

As if these Spanish speaking negroes are even old enough to have been on Twitter in the first place.

The twitter mob will try to cancel Elon Musk, if they haven't already begun .. They hate him because they believe he won't stifle their percieved enemies ..
..He hasn't even owned it long enough to do anything they don't like but they're predicting he will... Maybe he will.. I hope he does everything they're afraid he'll do
... They'll go after his advertisers for Tesla, SpaceX...Anyone and anything that brings him revenue... They'll pile on complaints about him like they've never seen anywhere before, like they do with all the others they've cancelled .. They're hateful, spiteful, and there's a lot of them. .. Hopefully Musk has enough money and influence to deal with the barrage of angry left wingnuts
...

SHIT...godamit .. ughh!...I hate to be the bearer of bad news... Don't kill the messenger...I'm just relaying... I hope you guys are sittimg down

WHOOPIE QUIT TWITTER... It's cuz of that fukkin Musk bastid ...we all know he's gonna change it .. He's gonna let them Ultra Maga fukkers keep on posting as if they're allowed .. Now Mark Ruffalo and other celebrities are gonna quit.. Mize well close it down
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2022/11/07/whoopi-goldberg-quits-twitter-after-elon-musk-takeover/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

Elon Musk just told his 114 million Twitter followers which party to vote for one day before the midterms
BYAKAYLA GARDNER, MARK NIQUETTE AND BLOOMBERG
November 7, 2022 at 10:27 AM MST

Twitter Inc. owner Elon Musk told his audience of more than a 100 million followers on the social-media platform to vote for Republicans — on the eve of midterm elections where Democrats are poised for losses.

“To independent-minded voters: Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic,” Musk wrote.

Musk, who also serves as chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., pointed out that independent voters are often pivotal.

“Hardcore Democrats or Republicans never vote for the other side, so independent voters are the ones who actually decide who’s in charge!” he said in another tweet.

Last week, President Joe Biden criticized Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, saying it “spews lies all across the world.” Musk fashions himself as an advocate for free-speech, echoing concerns from many Republicans that content moderation on the platform before Musk’s ownership skewed against conservatives.

Musk has previously said he voted Republican in a special election for a Texas House seat earlier this year and that while he has voted for Democrats in the past, he will now vote GOP because Democrats “have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them.”

Musk has developed a close relationship with GOP House leader Kevin McCarthy, who is poised to become Speaker next year if Republicans take the House. Musk attended a Republican retreat hosted by McCarthy in Wyoming in August, according to reports, and at least one GOP lawmaker tweeted a photo of Musk that week.

Musk also has said he’s leaning toward supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination and that former President Donald Trump should “sail into the sunset” rather than run again as he has teased. That prompted Trump to use an expletive to criticize Musk and his agreement to buy Twitter in July.

Democrats closed the gap with Republicans in voter enthusiasm during the final days before the US midterm elections, which remain “highly competitive,” according to an NBC News poll.

While that’s a measure of good news for Biden as his party seeks to retain control of both houses of Congress, a Washington Post-ABC News poll suggests that Republicans are more certain about actually casting a vote.

All Twitter Offices Closed as Hundreds of Employees Resign
Charisma Madarang | Rolling Stone
Thu, November 17, 2022 at 6:09 PM

Twitter offices are shutting down and employees are leaving in droves following an ultimatum from Elon Musk on Wednesday. The CEO asked Twitter employees to either commit to an “extremely hardcore” culture at the company that involves “long hours at high intensity” or leave with severance, the Verge reported. Anyone who did not sign the pledge by 5 p.m. ET Thursday would reportedly receive three months of severance pay, The Washington Post reported.

Hours before the curtain call, hundreds of resignations rolled in, according to the New York Times. And as waves of employees opted for the three months severance pay, Twitter later announced via email that it would close their office buildings and disable employee badge access until Monday.

Before the Thursday deadline, Musk and his advisers held meetings with “critical” Twitter employees in an attempt to dissuade them from leaving, reports say. He also seemed to retreat on his stance on not allowing people to work from home in confusing messages about the company’s remote work policy.

The Twitter exodus follows the growing list of changes that have fallen on the company since Musk’s $44 billion takeover. Earlier this month, Musk fired top executives, slashed off half of the workforce, and fired any remaining staff who dared to bruise his ego on Twitter.

While Musk framed Wednesday’s 36-hour notice to leave or commit to “a breakthrough Twitter 2.0” as a way to give the company a competitive edge, the action is most likely an attempt to cut costs as the possibility of bankruptcy looms closer.

As word of the dire situation inside Twitter spread, #RIPTwitter and #GoodbyeTwitter were the top trending hashtags as users took the moment to reminisce on fond memories on the social media platform before the lights went out. Many also shared links to other (more reliable) services like Instagram, Twitch, YouTube, and Twitch.

Although Musk has tried to mitigate the hemorrhaging staff by bringing in engineers and managers from his other companies, Tesla included, many of them are unfamiliar with the internal mechanisms of social media, reports state.

The future of how Twitter will maintain its ability to handle misinformation and operate day-to-day is unclear as the thousands of employees have left in such a short amount of time.

The number of engineers required to operate Twitter’s critical systems are down to two or even zero, the Washington Post reported. “I know of six critical systems (like ‘serving tweets’ levels of critical) which no longer have any engineers,” a former employee told the Post. “There is no longer even a skeleton crew manning the system. It will continue to coast until it runs into something, and then it will stop.”

Shortly after news of the latest departures, Elon Musk tweeted, “How do you make a small fortune in social media? Start out with a large one.”