Elon Musk says Twitter’s For You page is now pay-to-play

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In yet another baffling move, Elon Musk dropped the bombshell that Twitter’s For You page will soon only feature verified accounts.

Musk says the change goes into effect on April 15 and says only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations. What’s his reasoning behind this?

“The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle.”

And oh, one more thing: “Voting in polls will require verification for same reason,” Musk tweeted.

Coincidence? I think not.

RIP Legacy accounts

What about Legacy accounts? Better cough up the cash for Twitter Blue or kiss that precious blue checkmark goodbye. Now everyone and their dog will be sporting that checkmark.

Honestly, it’s like he’s on a mission to drag the core product down. Who needs a sense of exclusivity when you can turn verification into a pay-to-play club?

Unverified is the new verified

Maybe the unverified folks will become the true Twitter elite. So, what do we have to look forward to on the For You feed? They are a bunch of card-carrying dweebs who shell out real money to use the site. Great.

But hey, maybe there’s a silver lining here. This decision could actually strengthen the bonds of those who’ve built tight-knit communities on the platform.

While the wannabe influencers and hustle scammers flood the For You page, the real Twitterverse can carry on, unbothered by the blue checkmark brigade—so long, and good riddance.

I’ll close with this: Elon Musk, a man with a legacy of ambitious feats like self-driving cars and landing rockets back on Earth, could have been remembered as a visionary.

But nope, looks like he’s setting himself up to be remembered as a colossal dweeb and a $7 bill-collecting puppet, dancing to the tune of China.

Who knew the same guy revolutionizing transportation and space exploration would be best known for turning Twitter into a glorified country club for verified try-hards?

I picked up a little life hack some time back: just hit mute on Musk. Trust me, dorks like him can’t stand it, and they’re forced to throw around their cash to win people over.

Never forget:

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Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.