If you’ve been following the Twitter developments since Friday, then you’re well aware the developments are very much… developing.
At the center of it is Elon Musk and an inner circle working to quickly implement changes to the company and platform.
So, what’s happened so far?
First came the sink. Then firing Parag Agrawal, the now-former CEO. Then the firing of “Rahul Ligma” — which, unsurprisingly, was a prank.
Over the weekend, reports continued circulating about potential layoffs, which are now widely expected. Throughout, Musk has tweeted some updates, including plans for the formation of a content moderation council.
Both Musk and friend Jason Calacanis — a VC and Twitter’s self-proclaimed “Chief Meme Officer” — have surveyed users about bringing back Vine, the short-form video app (basically, TikTok before TikTok) that Twitter shut down in 2016.
What’s this about charging for verification?
Musk’s team is also revamping Twitter’s verification process, possibly looking to charge $19.99 a month for verification.
It seems unlikely that decision would have a wide-scale fiscal impact, though: In a poll run by Calacanis, 81.5% of ~1.6m users said they wouldn’t pay for verification.
Opinions on the implications of such a move vary:
- Calacanis contends wide-scale verification is “the quickest path to making the platform safer and more usable for everyone.”
- Critics note that it would allow nefarious actors to pay for credibility and potentially lead to the spread of more disinformation.
By the time you read this, there’s a real chance new details will be out — we’ll make sure to keep you posted tomorrow.
