Within weeks, all the tweets you see on the To feed you will come from Twitter Blue users. Twitter boss Elon Musk has announcement that the website will only show tweets from verified accounts in For You recommendations starting April 15.
Musk explained that the company was preparing to fight AI bots and that it was the “only realistic way” to prevent “swarms of advanced AI bots” from taking over. He also said Twitter was fighting a “losing battle” if not if it didn’t implement the change. In a follow-up tweet, Musk clarified that AI bots can pay for verification (and likely show up in the For You timeline), as long as they don’t impersonate a human.
Twitter’s For You interface not only displays tweets from accounts a user follows, but also content based on previous tweets they’ve liked or others in their network have liked. Functionality debuted on iOS in January as an alternative to the Next tab before heading to other platforms. Not everyone liked it, and Twitter released an update so its web and mobile apps were default on timeline tab users were last opened after its release. But showing only verified users could potentially mean that those who choose to view it would see a lot more promotional tweets.
After all, very soon the only verified accounts on the social media site will be Twitter Blue followers. Twitter previously announced that it is remove inherited checkmarks on April 1, stripping public figures, businesses, governmental and non-governmental organizations and others of their verified status unless they pay for it.
Starting April 15, only verified accounts will be eligible to be featured in For You recommendations.
This is the only realistic way to deal with the takeover of swarms of advanced AI robots. It is otherwise a losing battle.
Voting in polls will require verification for the same reason.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2023
