Elon Musk unveils Twitter shake-up with key features behind paywall

Twitter boss Elon Musk has unveiled another major shake-up of the social media platform that will put key features behind a subscription paywall. The rule change will mean only verified subscribers who pay a premium for the sites’ Twitter Blue service will have posts recommended to other users and be allowed to vote in polls.

Posts from free accounts will not be included in the “For you” stream of recommended tweets under the new policy.

It comes after the company said it would get rid of the verified status of some “legacy” accounts.

Legacy accounts, or accounts with a blue tick, featured before Musk snapped up the firm in a multi-billlion-dollar acquisition.

But the Twitter Blue feature introduced by Musk allows anybody to acquire a blue check mark for a monthly or yearly subscription.

Blue Tick verification currently costs $7 (£5.70) a month, but this also gives you access to additional features.

The Blue Tick was once previously given for free to notable accounts belonging to typically high-profile individuals, celebrities, institutions, politicians or members of the media.

Now, those who pay for it will be given even more privileges than non-paying accounts in a change set to come into effect from April 15.

Musk claimed the latest changes were “the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle”.

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The billionaire added: “Voting in polls will require verification for same reason.”

The Twitter boss said in an earlier post that paid verification makes the cost of using bots much higher, as well as making it simpler to identify them.

But the move to make the blue tick only available if you pay has sparked a backlash.

The 92-year-old Canadian Star Trek actor William Shatner condemned the new subscription programme, posting on the platform: “Hey @elonmusk, what’s this about blue checks going away unless we pay Twitter?

“I’ve been here for 15 years giving my [time] & witty thoughts all for bupkis. Now you’re telling me that I have to pay for something you gave me for free? What is this-the Colombia Records & Tape Club?”

Musk responded: “It’s more about treating everyone equally. There shouldn’t be a different standard for celebrities imo.”

This also comes months after the initial planned rollout of Twitter Blue faced a wave of parody accounts posing as brands in a humiliating start for Twitter under Musk’s ownership.

It was later relaunched in December 2022.

Now, Twitter will “begin winding down our legacy verified programme”, meaning those who want to keep their blue checkmark will have to subscribe to Blue for an £8 monthly fee for UK-based accounts and $8 per month for those in the US.

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