Rapid unscheduled disassembly
April 21, 2023 8:19 AM Subscribe
we were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the blue checks began to disappear. CW: birdsite.
I was having fun watching all the Sesame Street characters joke about losing their blue checkmarks.
posted by jb at 8:30 AM on April 21, 2023 [38 favorites]
posted by jb at 8:30 AM on April 21, 2023 [38 favorites]
Truly astounding to witness one fragile man's ego destroy an entire social platform/business.
*eating popcorn.gif*
posted by Fizz at 8:31 AM on April 21, 2023 [20 favorites]
*eating popcorn.gif*
posted by Fizz at 8:31 AM on April 21, 2023 [20 favorites]
This is Just To Tweet
I have deleted
the blue check
that was beside
your handle
and which
probably once
denoted
authenticity
Forgive me
I'm trying to raise a buck
and own
the Libs
posted by The Bellman at 8:31 AM on April 21, 2023 [109 favorites]
I have deleted
the blue check
that was beside
your handle
and which
probably once
denoted
authenticity
Forgive me
I'm trying to raise a buck
and own
the Libs
posted by The Bellman at 8:31 AM on April 21, 2023 [109 favorites]
That’s a great thread. Thanks for sharing. Reminds me again of what we are losing because of EM’s shenanigans.
posted by leahwrenn at 8:34 AM on April 21, 2023
posted by leahwrenn at 8:34 AM on April 21, 2023
that post title 🤌🏼
posted by saturday_morning at 8:35 AM on April 21, 2023 [19 favorites]
posted by saturday_morning at 8:35 AM on April 21, 2023 [19 favorites]
one of my favorites from that thread:
“ Some say the checks will end in lies,
some say in greed
From what I've seen of wealthy guys
I hold with those who favour lies
But if it has to end indeed,
I know that for destruction greed
Is also great
And meets the need.”
posted by leahwrenn at 8:36 AM on April 21, 2023 [62 favorites]
“ Some say the checks will end in lies,
some say in greed
From what I've seen of wealthy guys
I hold with those who favour lies
But if it has to end indeed,
I know that for destruction greed
Is also great
And meets the need.”
posted by leahwrenn at 8:36 AM on April 21, 2023 [62 favorites]
for sale: blue checkmarks, never verified
posted by saturday_morning at 8:40 AM on April 21, 2023 [96 favorites]
posted by saturday_morning at 8:40 AM on April 21, 2023 [96 favorites]
Also disappearing, State Controlled Media labels.
In short, Twitter is doing everything to facilitate misinformation and bad actors.
posted by mazola at 8:41 AM on April 21, 2023 [22 favorites]
In short, Twitter is doing everything to facilitate misinformation and bad actors.
posted by mazola at 8:41 AM on April 21, 2023 [22 favorites]
12 hours ago someone registered an account for the leader of the Sudan coup attempt, paid for a blue check, then posted an announcement that the dude had been killed in combat.
This is what it means to not have blue checks.
posted by ocschwar at 8:42 AM on April 21, 2023 [38 favorites]
This is what it means to not have blue checks.
posted by ocschwar at 8:42 AM on April 21, 2023 [38 favorites]
Link. Twitter's API into Google translate is still good.
posted by ocschwar at 8:44 AM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by ocschwar at 8:44 AM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Has anyone found an automatic blue tick blocker that does blocking in replies well? Blue Blocker gets timeline things well, and doesn't block people you follow, but seems inconsistent about getting blue ticks in replies, where a lot of the real trash tends to be. Also Elno seems to have invented a new status, blue ticks associated with a gray tick, and it doesn't yet distinguish those.
posted by tavella at 9:08 AM on April 21, 2023
posted by tavella at 9:08 AM on April 21, 2023
Sucks that I like the starlink constellation + Cybertruck but utterly loathe Elog for the stupid shit he says and the even more harmful things he has done now.
It didn’t have to be this way, but the technoright saw the opportunity to destroy what was a pillar on the center-left side of the house (located next to Wikipedia) and decided to take it out.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 9:15 AM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
It didn’t have to be this way, but the technoright saw the opportunity to destroy what was a pillar on the center-left side of the house (located next to Wikipedia) and decided to take it out.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 9:15 AM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Rapid unscheduled disassembly
This, I like. In fact, I look forward to a near future where the acronym R.U.D. becomes synonymous with various spectacular FUBARs whose blame can be placed directly on the bosses, whose hair brained schemes were bound to fail spectacularly, and everybody who knew their shit warned them. But because they were The Boss, everybody had to just obsequiously nod and do as they were told lest they be publicly humiliated and/or fired.
eg: Musk Drops Another RUD On Shareholders
posted by philip-random at 9:18 AM on April 21, 2023 [11 favorites]
This, I like. In fact, I look forward to a near future where the acronym R.U.D. becomes synonymous with various spectacular FUBARs whose blame can be placed directly on the bosses, whose hair brained schemes were bound to fail spectacularly, and everybody who knew their shit warned them. But because they were The Boss, everybody had to just obsequiously nod and do as they were told lest they be publicly humiliated and/or fired.
eg: Musk Drops Another RUD On Shareholders
posted by philip-random at 9:18 AM on April 21, 2023 [11 favorites]
I can't remember where I read it but somewhere in the wilds of the Internet yesterday, a columnist said it's folly thinking you can make money off Twitter and at this point, Twitter should be paying its users.
Like we should be hunting Elon for sport, but at the same time, I have never seen someone so thoroughly and publically and continually shit the bed on all fronts.
posted by Kitteh at 9:20 AM on April 21, 2023 [10 favorites]
Like we should be hunting Elon for sport, but at the same time, I have never seen someone so thoroughly and publically and continually shit the bed on all fronts.
posted by Kitteh at 9:20 AM on April 21, 2023 [10 favorites]
well its sad a very expensive piece of someone's ego blew up spectacularly but these tragedies really bring out the comedy gold. (youse are knocking in outta the park with these poems, I want to compile a list of all the nicknames for Melon Head. Elno...yeah, no.)
everybody had to just obsequiously nod and do as they were told lest they be publicly humiliated and/or fired
this is pretty much the theme of...
THE F'ING TITANIC
um, CHERNOBYL
posted by supermedusa at 9:25 AM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
everybody had to just obsequiously nod and do as they were told lest they be publicly humiliated and/or fired
this is pretty much the theme of...
THE F'ING TITANIC
um, CHERNOBYL
posted by supermedusa at 9:25 AM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
"Lone Skum" is still my favorite.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:33 AM on April 21, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:33 AM on April 21, 2023 [11 favorites]
Saw somewhere or other today that Twitter's going to insist that any advertisers buy a blue check.
Putting up a barrier in front of already-fleeing advertisers makes one iota of business sense how, exactly?
posted by humbug at 9:35 AM on April 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
Putting up a barrier in front of already-fleeing advertisers makes one iota of business sense how, exactly?
posted by humbug at 9:35 AM on April 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
Best of Dying Twit(t)er has been having a field day. I love it.
posted by May Kasahara at 9:38 AM on April 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by May Kasahara at 9:38 AM on April 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
Last week, we had a "dream big" style consultant at work leading us all in a long range planning session.
He said "we're blue sky-ing, so don't worry about cost. Imagine Elon Musk is going to give you so the money you need. "
Everyone groaned and one of my more fearless coworkers piped in "My cars blow up and I blew up Twitter - now, I'm ready to do the same for your company!"
Blue sky dude used Oprah as an example of a rich benefactor for the rest of the meeting.
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:44 AM on April 21, 2023 [63 favorites]
He said "we're blue sky-ing, so don't worry about cost. Imagine Elon Musk is going to give you so the money you need. "
Everyone groaned and one of my more fearless coworkers piped in "My cars blow up and I blew up Twitter - now, I'm ready to do the same for your company!"
Blue sky dude used Oprah as an example of a rich benefactor for the rest of the meeting.
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:44 AM on April 21, 2023 [63 favorites]
See also: Twitter is Going Great (probably based on the superlative Web3 Is Going Just Great).
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:44 AM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:44 AM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
According to this guy on Mastodon, they're just hiding the checkmarks, your account is still flagged verified if it had been in the past.
I suppose it's easier to extort someone with the least amount of effort rather than actually removing their verified status requiring reverification again at a later date.
posted by AzraelBrown at 9:52 AM on April 21, 2023 [8 favorites]
I suppose it's easier to extort someone with the least amount of effort rather than actually removing their verified status requiring reverification again at a later date.
posted by AzraelBrown at 9:52 AM on April 21, 2023 [8 favorites]
If you're on Mastodon, follow Don Melton and it will instantly feel like Old School Birdsite once again.
Don is a prolific booster of all kinds of interesting stuff, and I'm not sure if he sleeps.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:55 AM on April 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
Don is a prolific booster of all kinds of interesting stuff, and I'm not sure if he sleeps.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:55 AM on April 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
I know this whole mess has very large implications, but all the same I hope Twitter burns up and sinks to the bottom of the sea.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:56 AM on April 21, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:56 AM on April 21, 2023 [9 favorites]
Next, they’re going to start introducing customized pricing for people to keep their blue checks. The more your career depends on Twitter, the higher your monthly subscription will be.
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:56 AM on April 21, 2023
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:56 AM on April 21, 2023
Death by Twitter
Elon the Muskian, not quite dead,
Forgot the cry of workers, and revenue fell
And the profit and loss.
So currently under siege
Clicked his tweets in downvotes. As he rose and raged
He passed the stages of his age and youth
Soiling the Internet.
Gentile or Jew
O you who click the links and look to windward,
Consider Elon, who was once handsome and tall as you.
-- TS Elon
posted by SPrintF at 10:10 AM on April 21, 2023 [12 favorites]
Elon the Muskian, not quite dead,
Forgot the cry of workers, and revenue fell
And the profit and loss.
So currently under siege
Clicked his tweets in downvotes. As he rose and raged
He passed the stages of his age and youth
Soiling the Internet.
Gentile or Jew
O you who click the links and look to windward,
Consider Elon, who was once handsome and tall as you.
-- TS Elon
posted by SPrintF at 10:10 AM on April 21, 2023 [12 favorites]
“The only thing that really worried me was the Twitter. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of a Twitter binge. And I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon. Probably at the next gas station.”
Don't use my Twitter handle, so I just dropped this here on the blue. What a fun thread that was...
posted by Chuffy at 10:14 AM on April 21, 2023 [10 favorites]
Don't use my Twitter handle, so I just dropped this here on the blue. What a fun thread that was...
posted by Chuffy at 10:14 AM on April 21, 2023 [10 favorites]
A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that website
Used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people scroll
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But November made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his SpaceX dive
Something touched me deep inside
The day the Blue Tick died...
posted by Lanark at 10:31 AM on April 21, 2023 [20 favorites]
I can still remember how that website
Used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people scroll
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But November made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his SpaceX dive
Something touched me deep inside
The day the Blue Tick died...
posted by Lanark at 10:31 AM on April 21, 2023 [20 favorites]
As a long-time-ish Twitter user (Jesus, apparently a little over eleven years) I am loathe to say anything positive about it because I feel that it is against the very spirit of Twitter itself but this fuckin' sucks man, I've got friends on there that I may never talk to again if one or the other of us leaves Twitter. I reference tweets in conversation all the time because they convey my meaning in a pithy way and also make me laugh. It pains me to say this about Twitter but something of value really is being lost.
posted by an octopus IRL at 10:34 AM on April 21, 2023 [26 favorites]
posted by an octopus IRL at 10:34 AM on April 21, 2023 [26 favorites]
We need to work to get people to actively deplatform themselves from Twitter. I encourage Metafilter and my fellow users to delete your account and stop sharing links to tweets. Journalists and celebrities should be discouraged from using twitter.
posted by interogative mood at 10:34 AM on April 21, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by interogative mood at 10:34 AM on April 21, 2023 [9 favorites]
Journalists and celebrities should be discouraged from using twitter.
Don't worry, Elon's got this part covered.
posted by mstokes650 at 10:45 AM on April 21, 2023 [10 favorites]
Don't worry, Elon's got this part covered.
posted by mstokes650 at 10:45 AM on April 21, 2023 [10 favorites]
On the other hand....
So there is a conservative shit-stirrer on the hellsite named "Catturd" who....is a bit of a celebrity in his own right, believe it or not. He paid the $8 for a blue check. And he's kinda gross. And he's cackling with glee about all the celebrities who are getting the blue check taken away, all "poor babies don't wanna spend a measley $8 for your little blue check, waaaaaah". So....he thinks of the blue check as just a kind of bling.
So.
What if someone also signed up with "Catturd" as their name (distinguishing themselves from his official "Catturd2" title with something like "catturd1" or something equally as difficult to catch on a glance), used the same profile photo, and then started posting all kinds of left-wing propaganda?
Think of it - you'd pass whatever passes for a 'verification' process (remember, you're not "catturd2", you're someone different), and you'd have the little blue check, and you paid your $8 like anyone else. So why should he complain if people get all confused about who the real Catturd is?
Hell, I'd pay $8 to start that kind of chaos.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:52 AM on April 21, 2023 [12 favorites]
So there is a conservative shit-stirrer on the hellsite named "Catturd" who....is a bit of a celebrity in his own right, believe it or not. He paid the $8 for a blue check. And he's kinda gross. And he's cackling with glee about all the celebrities who are getting the blue check taken away, all "poor babies don't wanna spend a measley $8 for your little blue check, waaaaaah". So....he thinks of the blue check as just a kind of bling.
So.
What if someone also signed up with "Catturd" as their name (distinguishing themselves from his official "Catturd2" title with something like "catturd1" or something equally as difficult to catch on a glance), used the same profile photo, and then started posting all kinds of left-wing propaganda?
Think of it - you'd pass whatever passes for a 'verification' process (remember, you're not "catturd2", you're someone different), and you'd have the little blue check, and you paid your $8 like anyone else. So why should he complain if people get all confused about who the real Catturd is?
Hell, I'd pay $8 to start that kind of chaos.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:52 AM on April 21, 2023 [12 favorites]
Also disappearing, State Controlled Media labels.
Extremely bizzare since a few days ago, Elon drove both NPR and CBC off Twitter over nitpicky and eventually juvenile arguments over the "state controlled" and then the "government funded" labels. Elon "absolute free speech" Musk is actively trying to drive everyone he doesn't like off the platform.
posted by meowzilla at 10:57 AM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
Extremely bizzare since a few days ago, Elon drove both NPR and CBC off Twitter over nitpicky and eventually juvenile arguments over the "state controlled" and then the "government funded" labels. Elon "absolute free speech" Musk is actively trying to drive everyone he doesn't like off the platform.
posted by meowzilla at 10:57 AM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
I think it's deeply hilarious to ask famous people with million of followers for $8 a month when they bring people to the site. And of course, deverifying them if they don't pay means that there is now no guarantee that the LeBron James you're following is actually LeBron James, so maybe you don't spend as much time on Twitter as you used to.
posted by rhymedirective at 10:57 AM on April 21, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by rhymedirective at 10:57 AM on April 21, 2023 [7 favorites]
I'm pretty sure I caught a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly show when they did a tour of east coast punk venues with Tangible Corn.
posted by slkinsey at 10:57 AM on April 21, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by slkinsey at 10:57 AM on April 21, 2023 [8 favorites]
What if someone also signed up with "Catturd" as their name (distinguishing themselves from his official "Catturd2" title with something like "catturd1" or something equally as difficult to catch on a glance), used the same profile photo, and then started posting all kinds of left-wing propaganda?
Among other problems with this plan, Elon Musk is known to respond directly to Catturd2 and appears to intervene personally on that account's behalf. I absolutely think you would be banned immediately for this because the rules do not apply evenly and Elon Musk actively supports this.
posted by an octopus IRL at 11:01 AM on April 21, 2023 [10 favorites]
Among other problems with this plan, Elon Musk is known to respond directly to Catturd2 and appears to intervene personally on that account's behalf. I absolutely think you would be banned immediately for this because the rules do not apply evenly and Elon Musk actively supports this.
posted by an octopus IRL at 11:01 AM on April 21, 2023 [10 favorites]
something like "catturd1" or something equally as difficult to catch on a glance
Does Twitter support Unicode? Cause there are several letters that would be useful in that context.
U+0162 Ţ 354 Ţ Latin Capital Letter T with cedilla 0290
U+0163 ţ 355 ţ Latin Small Letter T with cedilla 0291
U+0164 Ť 356 Ť Latin Capital Letter T with caron 0292
U+0165 ť 357 ť Latin Small Letter T with caron 0293
U+0166 Ŧ 358 Ŧ Latin Capital Letter T with stroke 0294
U+0167 ŧ 359 ŧ Latin Small Letter T with stroke 0295
There are more...
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 11:02 AM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
Does Twitter support Unicode? Cause there are several letters that would be useful in that context.
U+0162 Ţ 354 Ţ Latin Capital Letter T with cedilla 0290
U+0163 ţ 355 ţ Latin Small Letter T with cedilla 0291
U+0164 Ť 356 Ť Latin Capital Letter T with caron 0292
U+0165 ť 357 ť Latin Small Letter T with caron 0293
U+0166 Ŧ 358 Ŧ Latin Capital Letter T with stroke 0294
U+0167 ŧ 359 ŧ Latin Small Letter T with stroke 0295
There are more...
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 11:02 AM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
they're just hiding the checkmarks, your account is still flagged verified if it had been in the past.
Given that every policy change at Twitter has at least a 50% chance of being reversed within a few days, that's a sensible fallback to leave in place.
posted by Lanark at 11:08 AM on April 21, 2023 [7 favorites]
Given that every policy change at Twitter has at least a 50% chance of being reversed within a few days, that's a sensible fallback to leave in place.
posted by Lanark at 11:08 AM on April 21, 2023 [7 favorites]
Is Twitter down rn?
posted by Hermione Dies at 11:16 AM on April 21, 2023
posted by Hermione Dies at 11:16 AM on April 21, 2023
It has a terrible pain in all the diodes down its left side.
posted by flabdablet at 11:21 AM on April 21, 2023 [16 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 11:21 AM on April 21, 2023 [16 favorites]
Disaster alert accounts are preparing for a world after Twitter
posted by Artw at 11:27 AM on April 21, 2023 [15 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:27 AM on April 21, 2023 [15 favorites]
My favorite:
SpaceBehemoth @SpaceBehemothposted by joannemerriam at 11:30 AM on April 21, 2023 [14 favorites]
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, after the check mark's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Elon Musk is known to respond directly to Catturd2 and appears to intervene personally on that account's behalf. I absolutely think you would be banned immediately for this.....
Oh, it totally wouldn't last long - but wouldn't the chaos be glorious, however brief it might be?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:31 AM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
Oh, it totally wouldn't last long - but wouldn't the chaos be glorious, however brief it might be?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:31 AM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
I don't think whatever small amount of chaos created would be worth it. Musk would just use it as another opportunity to demonstrate that he's on their side and will take unilateral action to protect them.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 11:37 AM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 11:37 AM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
More pettiness.
Public Citizen @Public_Citizen
Public Citizen @Public_Citizen
First Elon Musk blocked usposted by Buntix at 11:41 AM on April 21, 2023 [32 favorites]
Then he unblocked us
Then he gave us a gold checkmark for free
Then we tweeted about his rocket exploding and he took our gold checkmark away...
We live rent free in the head of a “genius billionaire”
Disaster alert accounts are preparing for a world after Twitter
If you're in the USA, Iowa State University has wired up Mastodon bots with feeds from 122 NWS stations nationwide.
It would be nice if the US Govt eventually ventured into their own federated server for anything/everything like this and we didn't need to depend on a private/public corporation to do it. But here we are. It's a start. Go Cyclones (oh wait that's a bad pun).
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:44 AM on April 21, 2023 [21 favorites]
If you're in the USA, Iowa State University has wired up Mastodon bots with feeds from 122 NWS stations nationwide.
It would be nice if the US Govt eventually ventured into their own federated server for anything/everything like this and we didn't need to depend on a private/public corporation to do it. But here we are. It's a start. Go Cyclones (oh wait that's a bad pun).
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:44 AM on April 21, 2023 [21 favorites]
Elog’s original “Sorry to be a free speech absolutist” assertion was regarding carrying Russian government propaganda on Starlink.
I deleted my Twitter account in December since I don’t want to abide with it turning into the next 4chan.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 11:50 AM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
I deleted my Twitter account in December since I don’t want to abide with it turning into the next 4chan.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 11:50 AM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
I think it's deeply hilarious to ask famous people with million of followers for $8 a month when they bring people to the site. And of course, deverifying them if they don't pay means that there is now no guarantee that the LeBron James you're following is actually LeBron James, so maybe you don't spend as much time on Twitter as you used to.
It's far more hilarious than that.. celebrities like Stephen King and LaBron James and James Cameron are being "gifting" blue checks and their PR teams are contacting twitter to make it extremely clear that they don't want them and please take them away, please. Having a blue check is a kind of anti- status symbol now.
posted by subdee at 11:56 AM on April 21, 2023 [22 favorites]
It's far more hilarious than that.. celebrities like Stephen King and LaBron James and James Cameron are being "gifting" blue checks and their PR teams are contacting twitter to make it extremely clear that they don't want them and please take them away, please. Having a blue check is a kind of anti- status symbol now.
posted by subdee at 11:56 AM on April 21, 2023 [22 favorites]
Musical artists who have signed up for Twitter blue:
Britney Spears
Cardi B
Chance the Rapper
Coldplay
Miley Cyrus
David Guetta
Joe and Nick Jonas
Madonna
Rihanna
Shawn Mendes
Snoop Dogg
Taylor Swift
The Weeknd
Yoko Ono, Sean & Julian Lennon (but not John)
So together that is at least $130 /month Elon is raking in.
posted by Lanark at 11:59 AM on April 21, 2023 [12 favorites]
Britney Spears
Cardi B
Chance the Rapper
Coldplay
Miley Cyrus
David Guetta
Joe and Nick Jonas
Madonna
Rihanna
Shawn Mendes
Snoop Dogg
Taylor Swift
The Weeknd
Yoko Ono, Sean & Julian Lennon (but not John)
So together that is at least $130 /month Elon is raking in.
posted by Lanark at 11:59 AM on April 21, 2023 [12 favorites]
Though do we know for sure they've paid, or did they just not decline the free gift?
posted by RobotHero at 12:04 PM on April 21, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by RobotHero at 12:04 PM on April 21, 2023 [14 favorites]
“Just Shatner, LeBron and King,” Elon Tweeted on Friday.
posted by Lanark at 12:25 PM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Lanark at 12:25 PM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Phillips P. OBrien
@PhillipsPOBrien
·
42m
I think understand the business model, soon Twitter will start forcing blue ticks on some accounts, and charge them $16 a month to get rid of them. Genius
posted by Harald74 at 12:27 PM on April 21, 2023 [9 favorites]
@PhillipsPOBrien
·
42m
I think understand the business model, soon Twitter will start forcing blue ticks on some accounts, and charge them $16 a month to get rid of them. Genius
posted by Harald74 at 12:27 PM on April 21, 2023 [9 favorites]
A+++ for the post title.
posted by bluesky43 at 12:27 PM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by bluesky43 at 12:27 PM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best of Dying Twiter Retweeted
soul nate
@MNateShyamalan
·
6h
if elon were smart, he’d let us pay $18 to remove somebody else’s checkmark. i would happily go broke tormenting twitter user catturd2
posted by bluesky43 at 12:32 PM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
soul nate
@MNateShyamalan
·
6h
if elon were smart, he’d let us pay $18 to remove somebody else’s checkmark. i would happily go broke tormenting twitter user catturd2
posted by bluesky43 at 12:32 PM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
It is possible some of those musician's accounts are managed by a publicist who just signed them up, will be interesting to see if any of the ticks disappear next month.
posted by Lanark at 12:33 PM on April 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Lanark at 12:33 PM on April 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
It would be nice if the US Govt eventually ventured into their own federated server for anything/everything like this and we didn't need to depend on a private/public corporation to do it.
If federated services continue to gain traction this will undoubtedly come. It's only been a few months since Musk's meltdown which would motivate change and governments move slowly on this sort of thing. Twitter proved the worth of this sort of information dissemination systems and having systems the government or other agencies control is a natural.
posted by Mitheral at 12:53 PM on April 21, 2023 [7 favorites]
If federated services continue to gain traction this will undoubtedly come. It's only been a few months since Musk's meltdown which would motivate change and governments move slowly on this sort of thing. Twitter proved the worth of this sort of information dissemination systems and having systems the government or other agencies control is a natural.
posted by Mitheral at 12:53 PM on April 21, 2023 [7 favorites]
He'll have recouped that $44 billion in no time...
Travis Brown @travisbrown
posted by Buntix at 1:06 PM on April 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
Travis Brown @travisbrown
Update for the day after: just before the purge yesterday, 19,469 of the 407k legacy verified accounts I had identified in early April had Twitter Blue. Today that number for those same accounts is 19,497, for a net increase of 28 accounts.There's a list of the accounts at https://gist.github.com/travisbrown/b50d6745298cccd6b1f4697e4ec22103
posted by Buntix at 1:06 PM on April 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
I make it 23,507 years until the blue accounts pay off the $44 billion debt, that's assuming there is no interest to pay.
posted by Lanark at 1:16 PM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Lanark at 1:16 PM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
We spent four years having the country run by a petulant boy-man. Have we learned nothing?
Narrator: They had not learned a thing.
posted by tommasz at 1:50 PM on April 21, 2023 [15 favorites]
Narrator: They had not learned a thing.
posted by tommasz at 1:50 PM on April 21, 2023 [15 favorites]
Celebrities Love Losing Their Blue Checks
posted by 1970s Antihero at 2:01 PM on April 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 2:01 PM on April 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
they're just hiding the checkmarks, your account is still flagged verified if it had been in the past.
Given that every policy change at Twitter has at least a 50% chance of being reversed within a few days, that's a sensible fallback to leave in place.
What I heard about this is that, since the verification system was literally a by-hand system within Old Twitter, there was no way to automate removing the checkmarks across the site. They would have to go through and remove them by hand, much like how they were added by hand in the first place.
Not sure how true that is, but it sort of makes sense to me.
posted by hippybear at 2:04 PM on April 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Given that every policy change at Twitter has at least a 50% chance of being reversed within a few days, that's a sensible fallback to leave in place.
What I heard about this is that, since the verification system was literally a by-hand system within Old Twitter, there was no way to automate removing the checkmarks across the site. They would have to go through and remove them by hand, much like how they were added by hand in the first place.
Not sure how true that is, but it sort of makes sense to me.
posted by hippybear at 2:04 PM on April 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Oh, just saw this. Yo-Yo Ma (of all people) is suddenly having problems.
posted by hippybear at 2:08 PM on April 21, 2023
posted by hippybear at 2:08 PM on April 21, 2023
I deleted my account but still swing by to check some accounts I've bookmarked. In addition to alienating the "good" Twitterers that the site needs, the remaining people with paid blue checkmarks are uniformly horribly, and the algorithm boosts them so I see their replies first. It's an ultra-rare triple play of self-inflicted harm, sort of honored to have witnessed it in real time.
The brain rot of the people who have paid for this crap lashing out at celebrities or brands for not joining them is almost as impressive. It's like paying the cover fee at the worst bar in town, getting inside and looking at the crowd of losers, then getting angry because all the cool people you wanted to hang out were too stupid recognize what a good deal this was.
posted by mark k at 2:11 PM on April 21, 2023 [13 favorites]
The brain rot of the people who have paid for this crap lashing out at celebrities or brands for not joining them is almost as impressive. It's like paying the cover fee at the worst bar in town, getting inside and looking at the crowd of losers, then getting angry because all the cool people you wanted to hang out were too stupid recognize what a good deal this was.
posted by mark k at 2:11 PM on April 21, 2023 [13 favorites]
The composer Gabriel Kahane has taken to roleplaying Gustav Mahler. Someone heckled him to buy the checkmark and he replied that the costs of writing out scores had drained his bank account, and sadly commissioning rates hadn't increased since 1894.
posted by hippybear at 2:26 PM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 2:26 PM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
I heard my momma cry,
I heard her pray when she lost her verify
posted by hairless ape at 2:41 PM on April 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
I heard her pray when she lost her verify
posted by hairless ape at 2:41 PM on April 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
@theweeknd 's tick has just disappeared, they must have edited their profile to turn it off.
So income from music megastars, now down to $122 /month
posted by Lanark at 3:42 PM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
So income from music megastars, now down to $122 /month
posted by Lanark at 3:42 PM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
A currently trending phrase is "paid for free", as in "I paid for free speech".
With a lot of tweets being quoted and people pointing out that if you pay for speech, it isn't free speech.
posted by hippybear at 3:45 PM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
With a lot of tweets being quoted and people pointing out that if you pay for speech, it isn't free speech.
posted by hippybear at 3:45 PM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
They paid for freeze peach.
posted by Artw at 3:54 PM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 3:54 PM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
The best part of the de-blue-checkmark-ening has been (at least so far) a blissful realization that no one I follow has ponied up the $8, and that the blue tick has now become exactly what Musk and his sycophants* always said it was: a clear an undeniable sign that an account with it is full of shit, unable to be trusted, and oh, so desperate for some form of validation that they not only pay for it, they’re going to do everything they can to ignore the fact that they signed up for the cool kids perk right when all the cool kids abandoned it, and they’re showing up to school wearing last year’s big deal.
*Is that it? Is the whole weirdness about musk that he’s just a sycophant, desperate for approval, who’s found himself elevated far beyond his comfort zone. He should be the schmuck in middle management, sucking up to the wrong boss, making a fool of himself. Instead, he’s Wormtongue if he’d actually gotten the throne of Rohan.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:59 PM on April 21, 2023 [15 favorites]
*Is that it? Is the whole weirdness about musk that he’s just a sycophant, desperate for approval, who’s found himself elevated far beyond his comfort zone. He should be the schmuck in middle management, sucking up to the wrong boss, making a fool of himself. Instead, he’s Wormtongue if he’d actually gotten the throne of Rohan.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:59 PM on April 21, 2023 [15 favorites]
Realistically, all the verified data is still there mostly because there's no reason to get rid of it. Distributed systems don't like deleting data. It was no one's job to delete the data. And companies are allergic to deleting data on a business level.
If I see any blue checks responding in my Following list, I'm probably going to block them just out of principle.
posted by meowzilla at 4:08 PM on April 21, 2023
If I see any blue checks responding in my Following list, I'm probably going to block them just out of principle.
posted by meowzilla at 4:08 PM on April 21, 2023
Amusing that Musk's chuddy pals now have the sads that no sooner do they get to have them, the blue checks no longer carry the cachet they used to. This is catturd today: Hollywood celebrities are showing exactly who they are right now - arrogant elitist snobs worth $200 million dollars who won't pay $8 because they think they're better than everyone else.
posted by meehawl at 4:26 PM on April 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by meehawl at 4:26 PM on April 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
Mike Scollins:
imagine your rocket explodes and it's *not* the most humiliating part of your day
posted by cheshyre at 4:44 PM on April 21, 2023 [27 favorites]
imagine your rocket explodes and it's *not* the most humiliating part of your day
posted by cheshyre at 4:44 PM on April 21, 2023 [27 favorites]
> EmpressCallipygos: "And he's cackling with glee about all the celebrities who are getting the blue check taken away, all "poor babies don't wanna spend a measley $8 for your little blue check, waaaaaah". So....he thinks of the blue check as just a kind of bling."
On the other hand, we also have this from Mr. catturd2:
Meanwhile, I sometimes think of the old mythological tale of Prometheus getting his liver pecked out every day by an eagle and wonder whether or not he would just get used to it or if it would hurt every time. Well, with Elon, it seems pretty clear to me that after a nearly non-stop run for the past 8 months of utter failure and humiliation at Twitter, he's still definitely feeling it (e.g.: "paying for" Lebron's check). And the wild thing of living in this age is that we can all see it unfold in public, in real time, and, in an inevitable irony, on the very platform that he owns and is the cause of his downfall. He's not like some kind of remote and mysterious figure with an unknowable inner life. His inner life is messy as hell and posting on main at 3am.
posted by mhum at 5:38 PM on April 21, 2023 [16 favorites]
On the other hand, we also have this from Mr. catturd2:
Hollywood celebrities are showing exactly who they are right now - arrogant elitist snobs worth $200 million dollars who won't pay $8 because they think they're better than everyone else.Various commentators (too numerous to count, really) are pointing out how this was always going to be the obvious outcome, that the blue check would become a mark of shame rather than prestige. And all but the most dipshittiest of dipshits could fail to see it; with Ol' Elon, of course, being King Dipshit of them all.
Meanwhile, I sometimes think of the old mythological tale of Prometheus getting his liver pecked out every day by an eagle and wonder whether or not he would just get used to it or if it would hurt every time. Well, with Elon, it seems pretty clear to me that after a nearly non-stop run for the past 8 months of utter failure and humiliation at Twitter, he's still definitely feeling it (e.g.: "paying for" Lebron's check). And the wild thing of living in this age is that we can all see it unfold in public, in real time, and, in an inevitable irony, on the very platform that he owns and is the cause of his downfall. He's not like some kind of remote and mysterious figure with an unknowable inner life. His inner life is messy as hell and posting on main at 3am.
posted by mhum at 5:38 PM on April 21, 2023 [16 favorites]
I was a “legacy verified account” for over a decade. I used it to build my programming career in the niche of evangelizing the idea of writing tests for the PHP programming language. I have 12.7k followers, built up by providing value to folks.
My check mark is gone and I stopped visiting the site at the end of March, setting my account to private. There are going to be hundreds of people I will likely never interact with again because they are only on Twitter.
So now I have to figure out how to rebuild an audience that has put thousands of dollars over the past decade via book sales into my pocket.
Probably will never get it back to where it was.
posted by grmpyprogrammer at 5:45 PM on April 21, 2023 [22 favorites]
My check mark is gone and I stopped visiting the site at the end of March, setting my account to private. There are going to be hundreds of people I will likely never interact with again because they are only on Twitter.
So now I have to figure out how to rebuild an audience that has put thousands of dollars over the past decade via book sales into my pocket.
Probably will never get it back to where it was.
posted by grmpyprogrammer at 5:45 PM on April 21, 2023 [22 favorites]
he's still definitely feeling it
At the base of his horns is one of Nature's greatest shock absorbers, protecting his small brains from the full force of the impact.
posted by flabdablet at 6:11 PM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
At the base of his horns is one of Nature's greatest shock absorbers, protecting his small brains from the full force of the impact.
posted by flabdablet at 6:11 PM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
Imagine my shock that the right wing is whiny upon finding out that people genuinely disagree with their bullshit.
They paved twitverse and put up a parking lot
With a racist hotel, a goop boutique, and a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?
They paved twitverse and put up a parking lot
They took all the twits and put 'em in a twit museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half twenty eight dollar? to see them
No, no, no
posted by Jacen at 6:39 PM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
They paved twitverse and put up a parking lot
With a racist hotel, a goop boutique, and a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?
They paved twitverse and put up a parking lot
They took all the twits and put 'em in a twit museum
And they charged the people a
No, no, no
posted by Jacen at 6:39 PM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
Realistically, all the verified data is still there mostly because there's no reason to get rid of it.
I would guess the reason is because the top engineering goal is to make Elon not mad, and that means Elon needs to see what he expects in the UI, and also changes need to be reverted immediately if/when Elon changes his mind.
Software is a bad place for narcissist managers. At least with hardware they can be slowed by the BOM and change orders and manufacturing processes and the laws of physics.
posted by credulous at 6:50 PM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
I would guess the reason is because the top engineering goal is to make Elon not mad, and that means Elon needs to see what he expects in the UI, and also changes need to be reverted immediately if/when Elon changes his mind.
Software is a bad place for narcissist managers. At least with hardware they can be slowed by the BOM and change orders and manufacturing processes and the laws of physics.
posted by credulous at 6:50 PM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
Enjoying NZ/Ao twitter which is today hilariously devolving into people impersonating RW arsehole's twitter accounts
posted by mbo at 8:05 PM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by mbo at 8:05 PM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
I mean, that's a strategy. I'm not devoted to pay $8/mo to do it, but you could just impersonate an asshole's account with your own tomfoolery.
I'd still like to see more "insulin is free" type stunts, personally.
posted by hippybear at 8:12 PM on April 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
I'd still like to see more "insulin is free" type stunts, personally.
posted by hippybear at 8:12 PM on April 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
A little bonus that I saw being floated: to advertise on Twitter, you need to subscribe to Twitter blue. Therefore, any checkmarks blocking app also functions as an ad-blocker, which means advertising on Twitter is even more useless than before, and he’s just gutted his revenue stream.
It’s fun watching him demand change after change where he’s clearly never given any thought past his immediate idea. He just thinks, eh, it’s hot outside, I don’t want to wear pants, and just walks outside nude from the waist down, and then five hours later he’s posting about how rude all these pants-wearers are, and how enlightened not wearing pants is, way too advanced for all those yokels.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:15 PM on April 21, 2023 [8 favorites]
It’s fun watching him demand change after change where he’s clearly never given any thought past his immediate idea. He just thinks, eh, it’s hot outside, I don’t want to wear pants, and just walks outside nude from the waist down, and then five hours later he’s posting about how rude all these pants-wearers are, and how enlightened not wearing pants is, way too advanced for all those yokels.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:15 PM on April 21, 2023 [8 favorites]
Here's a fun new wrinkle: the Gold Checkmark, intended for corporations, costs $1000 up-front on application. And if the application is rejected, they don't refund it.
posted by rifflesby at 8:42 PM on April 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by rifflesby at 8:42 PM on April 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
I wonder how popular a plugin that replaced all paid for checkmarks with, uh, justifiably banned in Germany symbols would be. It seems like the natural path of a MuskMark
posted by Jacen at 9:48 PM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Jacen at 9:48 PM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Hey Blue
Don't make him mad
He'll take your checkmark
So he'll feel better
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:52 PM on April 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
Don't make him mad
He'll take your checkmark
So he'll feel better
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:52 PM on April 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
Best comment today: "if all advertisers are going to be required to have blue ticks then that browser extensions that blocks blue ticks is going to get really popular ...."
posted by mbo at 6:25 AM on April 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by mbo at 6:25 AM on April 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Dril and other Twitter power users begin campaign to 'Block the Blue' paid checkmarks
"99% of twitter blue guys are dead-eyed cretins who are usually trying to sell you something stupid and expensive, and now they want to pay a monthly subscription fee to boost their dog shit posts front and center," Twitter user @dril told me in an email when I asked about his thoughts on the #BlockTheBlue campaign.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:14 AM on April 22, 2023 [9 favorites]
"99% of twitter blue guys are dead-eyed cretins who are usually trying to sell you something stupid and expensive, and now they want to pay a monthly subscription fee to boost their dog shit posts front and center," Twitter user @dril told me in an email when I asked about his thoughts on the #BlockTheBlue campaign.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:14 AM on April 22, 2023 [9 favorites]
Those few bots that remain also seem to have the blue checkmark. I like a lot of those bots (Hourly _____, etc) and feel they contribute to the fabric of twitter in a positive way. I unfortunately have two friends that have paid for the checkmark, and I'm not going to block them. But it is nice to have the badge to see and make an assessment.
posted by hippybear at 7:26 AM on April 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 7:26 AM on April 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
I didn't understand the post title until I read the SpaceX post just now.
posted by MtDewd at 8:27 AM on April 22, 2023
posted by MtDewd at 8:27 AM on April 22, 2023
But they were, all of them, deceived, for another checkmark was made.
posted by Phssthpok at 9:47 AM on April 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Phssthpok at 9:47 AM on April 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
@SnoopDogg and @Coldplay have now been changed to an 'official organisation' (gold tick). Thats the $1,000/month + $50/month per account option unless they were comped it.
posted by Lanark at 10:23 AM on April 22, 2023
posted by Lanark at 10:23 AM on April 22, 2023
Speaking of accounts that have been comped very much against their will.
Rhianna Pratchett 🇺🇦🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ @rhipratchett
posted by Buntix at 11:23 AM on April 22, 2023 [7 favorites]
Rhianna Pratchett 🇺🇦🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ @rhipratchett
Just to be clear @terryandrob has not paid for Twitter Blue. If Mr Musk is a fan then I suggest a rereading of the books might be in order.Which, as with Elon Musk is inspired by Iain Banks’s utopian sci-fi novels – but he doesn’t understand them [The Telegraph, oddly] is kinda evidence that some people shouldn't be advised to 'read another book' so much as just not read any above their comprehension level if they're just going to go and Dunning/Kruger it.
posted by Buntix at 11:23 AM on April 22, 2023 [7 favorites]
Dril is now an involuntary blue checkmark: Ah they got me. Im fucked
At this rate Elon is going to "comp" every single content creator on Twitter.
posted by meowzilla at 2:18 PM on April 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
At this rate Elon is going to "comp" every single content creator on Twitter.
posted by meowzilla at 2:18 PM on April 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Good. He was viewing them as a monthly cash influx. If they're refusing and he's comping them, then he's lost.
posted by hippybear at 2:38 PM on April 22, 2023
posted by hippybear at 2:38 PM on April 22, 2023
Although he may have given @dril his blue checkmark because he is one of those Sacred Thirty (or however many) he had given priority status to early in the Blue Check Saga.
posted by hippybear at 2:39 PM on April 22, 2023
posted by hippybear at 2:39 PM on April 22, 2023
It was never going to be a significant source of income if it relied only on genuine celebrities paying 8 dollars a month. It needed the wannabes, but that only happens if it has the cachet of being something the genuine celebrities have.
If the only people who have it are alt-right and hustle grindset weirdos, it loses that cachet pretty quick.
posted by RobotHero at 3:00 PM on April 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
If the only people who have it are alt-right and hustle grindset weirdos, it loses that cachet pretty quick.
posted by RobotHero at 3:00 PM on April 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Part of it may be to try to prevent people from autoblocking, but it's not going to stop me! Though I still need to find a autoblocker that differentiates between gray checks and blue checks, both Blue Blocker and BluesBlocker unfortunately do not.
posted by tavella at 3:21 PM on April 22, 2023
posted by tavella at 3:21 PM on April 22, 2023
I'm pretty sure a cease and desist letter would get rid of the involuntary checks, at least for celebrities. Lying to say a celebrity brought your product, as the blue check mouse over explicitly claims, strikes me as a fairly clear-cut case of false endorsement, though IANAL.
posted by tavella at 3:26 PM on April 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by tavella at 3:26 PM on April 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Can someone write @dril a script to change his name every 5 minutes?
posted by hippybear at 3:30 PM on April 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 3:30 PM on April 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Forcing people onto Blue against their will is only a step away from straight up editing your opponent's tweets in the database
posted by lemoncake at 3:35 PM on April 22, 2023
posted by lemoncake at 3:35 PM on April 22, 2023
The thing which caught my attention was calling it, "The BFR!"
posted by Oyéah at 3:39 PM on April 22, 2023
posted by Oyéah at 3:39 PM on April 22, 2023
Oh, I bet more people have been forced onto the Green against their will than the Blue.
posted by hippybear at 3:42 PM on April 22, 2023
posted by hippybear at 3:42 PM on April 22, 2023
Can someone write @dril a script to change his name every 5 minutes?
Much as I disagree with donating free content to Elon they are on fire right now.
posted by Artw at 3:43 PM on April 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Much as I disagree with donating free content to Elon they are on fire right now.
posted by Artw at 3:43 PM on April 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Forcing people onto Blue against their will is only a step away from straight up editing your opponent's tweets in the database
Come on, it's a standard marketing technique.
posted by clawsoon at 5:10 PM on April 22, 2023
Come on, it's a standard marketing technique.
posted by clawsoon at 5:10 PM on April 22, 2023
so much depends
upon
a blue check
mark
grazed with gun
fire
beside the white
supremacists
posted by donatella at 6:26 PM on April 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
upon
a blue check
mark
grazed with gun
fire
beside the white
supremacists
posted by donatella at 6:26 PM on April 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
So it seems like there is currently a wave of accounts with over a million followers that are getting blue checkmarks automatically. The only problem is that some of the people getting them have already passed away, including Chadwick Boseman, Michael Jackson, Kobe Byrant and Jamal Khashoggi.
The previous evening, the author of the Spy X Family manga, Tatsuya Endo, received a gold checkmark and he has no idea why.
posted by LostInUbe at 7:56 PM on April 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
The previous evening, the author of the Spy X Family manga, Tatsuya Endo, received a gold checkmark and he has no idea why.
posted by LostInUbe at 7:56 PM on April 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
So, I generally don't get a lot of ads on Twitter. Any ad I see I respond with the "Not interested in this ad", and then I basically don't see them again.
I've been seeing ads for the past couple of days, since the RUD.
They've all been either for investment companies or high end travel companies.
So we can see now who wants to advertise on twitter now that all this has gone down.
posted by hippybear at 8:27 PM on April 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
I've been seeing ads for the past couple of days, since the RUD.
They've all been either for investment companies or high end travel companies.
So we can see now who wants to advertise on twitter now that all this has gone down.
posted by hippybear at 8:27 PM on April 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
So apparently a lawyer got to Elon and pointed out the legal hazard of saying "this user paid" when they did not, and the language has changed to "this user is subscribed". But they still claim you verified a number whether you did or not.
posted by tavella at 8:58 PM on April 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by tavella at 8:58 PM on April 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
"I wasn't going to do the bulk block until today. Noticed an ACLU post where the blue checks were elevated in the replies, and the blue checks were 100% ten follower TERFs. And they were all at the top."
Yes, that's the thing, autoblocking blue checks has become simple necessity. I feel bad for users with involuntary blue checks that will be hit by it, but c'est la vie.
posted by tavella at 9:01 PM on April 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Yes, that's the thing, autoblocking blue checks has become simple necessity. I feel bad for users with involuntary blue checks that will be hit by it, but c'est la vie.
posted by tavella at 9:01 PM on April 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
It is *hilarious* that Musk & his chuddy grifter fans whined about Twitter's old verification system, yelling that it played favorites & was elitist and arbitrary. Now they get to pay Musk $8 monthly, while Musk plays favorites, verifying elite members arbitrarily but not demanding an $8 monthly toll. Only the little people pay.
I'm having so much fun blocking. Remind me of Usenet in the wild days when the Prodigy and AOL mind started arriving and a robust kill file was a must. But when you are no longer getting the same thrill from pressing block, there are automated solutions:
List of Twitter Blue Verified accounts that have less than 2000 followers
posted by meehawl at 9:45 PM on April 22, 2023 [6 favorites]
I'm having so much fun blocking. Remind me of Usenet in the wild days when the Prodigy and AOL mind started arriving and a robust kill file was a must. But when you are no longer getting the same thrill from pressing block, there are automated solutions:
List of Twitter Blue Verified accounts that have less than 2000 followers
posted by meehawl at 9:45 PM on April 22, 2023 [6 favorites]
Oh, even better. It seems like he didn't stop giving blue checks to Lebron and Stephen King. It seems he is (in addition to giving the check to certain large following accounts and dead people who can't fight back) also giving them to people who were vocal about the checkmark just to troll them.
Matt Binder wrote about the "Block the Blue" movement and twitter gave him back his check as a "punishment." He's now trying to use his check to boost the movement.
posted by LostInUbe at 10:20 PM on April 22, 2023
Matt Binder wrote about the "Block the Blue" movement and twitter gave him back his check as a "punishment." He's now trying to use his check to boost the movement.
posted by LostInUbe at 10:20 PM on April 22, 2023
It is *hilarious* that Musk & his chuddy grifter fans whined about Twitter's old verification system, yelling that it played favorites & was elitist and arbitrary. Now they get to pay Musk $8 monthly, while Musk plays favorites, verifying elite members arbitrarily but not demanding an $8 monthly toll. Only the little people pay.
I'd find it a lot more hilarious were it not for the fact that this is absolutely SOP for the Right.
1: Latch onto some simple consequence of statistics.
2: Furiously denounce it as an example of bias and/or malice until it becomes a talking point.
3: Amplify the talking point until it becomes a culture war shibboleth.
4: Prosecute the culture war at the expense of discussing all genuine issues, whipping up enough spurious grievance to gain power.
5: Enshrine as official policy the very same kind of bias and/or malice that was so furiously denounced in step 2.
Every accusation is a confession. It's got to the point where you can tell exactly how any right winger intends to go about fucking you over just by paying attention to what they're whining about.
An aspect of this that I do find a little bit hilarious is just how terrifying the Woke Mob apparently is to grifters who have spent so long exhorting Sheeple to Wake Up.
posted by flabdablet at 1:43 AM on April 23, 2023 [10 favorites]
I'd find it a lot more hilarious were it not for the fact that this is absolutely SOP for the Right.
1: Latch onto some simple consequence of statistics.
2: Furiously denounce it as an example of bias and/or malice until it becomes a talking point.
3: Amplify the talking point until it becomes a culture war shibboleth.
4: Prosecute the culture war at the expense of discussing all genuine issues, whipping up enough spurious grievance to gain power.
5: Enshrine as official policy the very same kind of bias and/or malice that was so furiously denounced in step 2.
Every accusation is a confession. It's got to the point where you can tell exactly how any right winger intends to go about fucking you over just by paying attention to what they're whining about.
An aspect of this that I do find a little bit hilarious is just how terrifying the Woke Mob apparently is to grifters who have spent so long exhorting Sheeple to Wake Up.
posted by flabdablet at 1:43 AM on April 23, 2023 [10 favorites]
There are a few accounts trying to make a special pleading to not block artists and others who bought blue checks because they just simply need that extra boost from paid engagement. It’s not making much impact, rightly. Fuck your paid engagement.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 9:33 AM on April 23, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 9:33 AM on April 23, 2023 [4 favorites]
“The Sabotage of Twitter Is a Disaster for Democracy,” Thomas Zimmer, Democracy Americana, 23 April 2023
posted by ob1quixote at 1:37 PM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ob1quixote at 1:37 PM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
Fortunately, Disney is notoriously easy going about things like this.
Disney Junior UK [OFFICIAL GOLD ORGANISATION VERIFICATION STAR] @DisneyJuniorUK: "no fucking way."
posted by Buntix at 3:04 AM on April 24, 2023
Disney Junior UK [OFFICIAL GOLD ORGANISATION VERIFICATION STAR] @DisneyJuniorUK: "no fucking way."
posted by Buntix at 3:04 AM on April 24, 2023
Per the guy's main account:
posted by Buntix at 3:23 AM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
@7virtues_: That's actually fucking crazy. I just noticed this like 2 days ago and was like, "Damn, I'm actually in control of this bitch"So it looks a bit like Musk may be doing organisational verification by regex, rather than, say, actually verifying.
Nick @nickstwt: did you actually spend a thousand dollars on this or did it just appear out of absolutely nowhere like it happened with some other peeps
@7virtues_: just appeared out of nowhere. I'm not fucking with you
Nick @nickstwt: one of my mutuals actually had the same fucking thing happen with them i fully trust you lmao, his was gone in like 6 or 5 days so make the most out of it
Nick @nickstwt: actually it did not disappear at all and i just misrembered it. enjoy the gold checkmark
posted by Buntix at 3:23 AM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
How Elon Musk Turned the Blue Checkmark Into a Scarlet Letter
A weekend-long masterclass in business failure
The masses are not balking at paying for Twitter Blue because they’re trying to shelter themselves within a crumbling elitist internet order, but because they think Musk is offering an unworthy product and is also a dickhead.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:33 AM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
A weekend-long masterclass in business failure
The masses are not balking at paying for Twitter Blue because they’re trying to shelter themselves within a crumbling elitist internet order, but because they think Musk is offering an unworthy product and is also a dickhead.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:33 AM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
new tingler NOT POUNDED BY TWIDDOR CHECKMARKS BECAUSE I BLOCKED EVERY PERSON WHO HAS ONE, DESPITE ELON MORK STANDING OUTSIDE MY HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT CRYING AND BEGGING ME TO JOIN TWIDDOR BLUE out now on amazon
posted by hippybear at 7:20 AM on April 24, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 7:20 AM on April 24, 2023 [11 favorites]
It is possible that Twitter got a list of accounts from Disney to put a gold star next to and someone at Disney thought it was an official account. Disney buys a lot of ads on social media, so of course they've done the gold star thing.
posted by interogative mood at 7:45 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by interogative mood at 7:45 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
So either Twitter doesn't know who the official Disney accounts are or Disney doesn't know who the official Disney accounts are, I'm not sure which is worse. If only there was some kind of flag or indicator for that.
posted by Lanark at 7:49 AM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Lanark at 7:49 AM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
If you can buy a verification and associate a phone number without proving you actually control that account, wouldn't that mean you could pay to take over any account that isn't verified?
- pay to verify an account
- give Twitter your own phone number
- claim the account has been hacked
- Twitter uses phone number to verify identity
- gain control of the account
Anyone got recommendations for Chrome autoblockers that aren't Bluesblocker or Blue Blocker? Blue Blocker isn't blocking stuff in replies, which is what I really need, and Bluesblocker has multiple issues.
posted by tavella at 8:43 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 8:43 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
There's the block-the-blue script/bookmarklet + various forks with fine-tunings. Probably only good for those with enough know-how to comfortably apply/edit it, though. Had been thinking of modifying it to draw from the list posted above just to see what having a 200k+ block list was like in terms of response times and the like, but that's the ADHD shoulder-demon whispering, and I shouldn't be listening to them.
One thing to watch out for is that Twitter will log you out if you block x amount of people in y amount of time. Not sure what the limits are, but I got booted just going through threads blocking manually.
posted by Buntix at 9:51 AM on April 24, 2023
One thing to watch out for is that Twitter will log you out if you block x amount of people in y amount of time. Not sure what the limits are, but I got booted just going through threads blocking manually.
posted by Buntix at 9:51 AM on April 24, 2023
If you can buy a verification and associate a phone number without proving you actually control that account
How do you buy verification for an account you aren't logged into?
posted by hippybear at 9:59 AM on April 24, 2023
How do you buy verification for an account you aren't logged into?
posted by hippybear at 9:59 AM on April 24, 2023
I was going with the implications of the theory that Disney accidentally included DisneyJuniorUK in a list of official accounts. If it actually required you to be logged in, that mistake would be impossible.
posted by RobotHero at 10:03 AM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by RobotHero at 10:03 AM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
For individual accounts you have to be logged in, for institutions with dozens of accounts across multiple countries, I imagine it is something different.
posted by Lanark at 10:38 AM on April 24, 2023
posted by Lanark at 10:38 AM on April 24, 2023
I'm taking a small pleasure in, when I am viewing What's Happening topics on Twitter (which I don't do all that much), blocking blue checkmarks I encounter there.
My For You tab is generally free of blue checks, so I don't really see them often. So blocking 10 or so accounts here and there feels nice.
posted by hippybear at 2:08 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
My For You tab is generally free of blue checks, so I don't really see them often. So blocking 10 or so accounts here and there feels nice.
posted by hippybear at 2:08 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yeah, people have been mentioning how terrible their For You tab is now, and mine's fine. So I think my sea-change a few years ago, when I decided to stop listening to the people that viewed blocking as some kind of victory for the other side and began to block with verve and abandon, has been once again vindicated. I urge people: block! block for any reason! block for no reason at all if you feel like it! It will make your life less annoying.
posted by tavella at 2:34 PM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by tavella at 2:34 PM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
Sorry sorry sorry... The For You tab is the algorithm. It's my Following tab that isn't awful.
I don't look at the For You tab. Ever.
And yes, I have long advocated blocking people, especially people you have ZERO connection to that are appearing randomly and causing even the slightest irritation.
If you didn't follow them and aren't asking to see content from them... then you are entirely free to block with abandon.
I've been blocking people I only encounter in the wild! Not even via my timeline at all!
posted by hippybear at 2:46 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
I don't look at the For You tab. Ever.
And yes, I have long advocated blocking people, especially people you have ZERO connection to that are appearing randomly and causing even the slightest irritation.
If you didn't follow them and aren't asking to see content from them... then you are entirely free to block with abandon.
I've been blocking people I only encounter in the wild! Not even via my timeline at all!
posted by hippybear at 2:46 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
Far-right Britain First party given Twitter gold tick
- Verification mark granted to account that was suspended in 2017 but reinstated following takeover by Elon Musk last year
posted by Artw at 3:10 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
- Verification mark granted to account that was suspended in 2017 but reinstated following takeover by Elon Musk last year
posted by Artw at 3:10 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
Thanks buntix! I'm liking the block-the-blue bookmarklet so far. Just tested it on a thread with a lot of Elon bootlickers and it is working nicely.
posted by tavella at 5:26 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 5:26 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
Excellent, thanks. Note that if you use Firefox, there is an extra browser setting you need to enable, for block-the-blue to work.
(Standard disclaimer: be very careful with random bookmarklets, it could do anything to your twitter account. Browser extensions are safer, if you can find one in the extension store for your web browser).
posted by sourcejedi at 5:28 AM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
(Standard disclaimer: be very careful with random bookmarklets, it could do anything to your twitter account. Browser extensions are safer, if you can find one in the extension store for your web browser).
posted by sourcejedi at 5:28 AM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
Quick backgrounder for today's Twitter discourse:
Elon Musk has (had?) an alt account named "Elon Test (@ErmnMusk) which seems to be cosplaying as a boy (possibly his son). This was exposed when Musk posted a screenshot of his (main) Twitter account which had been taken while he was logged into his alt.
posted by cheshyre at 8:07 AM on April 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
Elon Musk has (had?) an alt account named "Elon Test (@ErmnMusk) which seems to be cosplaying as a boy (possibly his son). This was exposed when Musk posted a screenshot of his (main) Twitter account which had been taken while he was logged into his alt.
posted by cheshyre at 8:07 AM on April 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
I've created a modified version of the block-the-blue bookmarklet to make the minimum number of followers to avoid blocking configurable. Even if only because it's satisfying to do the bigger accounts manually.
All the caveats, etc. especially as I mostly work with elderly legacy code so it's a bit like trying to switch from speaking renfair English to modern...
posted by Buntix at 9:21 AM on April 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
All the caveats, etc. especially as I mostly work with elderly legacy code so it's a bit like trying to switch from speaking renfair English to modern...
posted by Buntix at 9:21 AM on April 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
> (Standard disclaimer: be very careful with random bookmarklets, it could do anything to your twitter account. Browser extensions are safer, if you can find one in the extension store for your web browser).
I think this is backwards? It's relatively easy to look at bookmarklet code - here's an editor to turn the %20 stew into something legible - while extensions can update themselves whenever, quietly and possibly maliciously. And you can decide when to run the bookmarklet, while extensions can run whenever they want, on ... any page and site they want, I think?
Vet either a bookmarklet or extension before installing or running it, though.
posted by Pronoiac at 10:46 AM on April 25, 2023
I think this is backwards? It's relatively easy to look at bookmarklet code - here's an editor to turn the %20 stew into something legible - while extensions can update themselves whenever, quietly and possibly maliciously. And you can decide when to run the bookmarklet, while extensions can run whenever they want, on ... any page and site they want, I think?
Vet either a bookmarklet or extension before installing or running it, though.
posted by Pronoiac at 10:46 AM on April 25, 2023
Pronoiac, for a person who can't parse JavaScript, they're often relying on the existing vetting process from the extension store, be it Mozilla or Chrome. There's some level of scrutiny for both new extensions and updates, I believe.
posted by sagc at 11:11 AM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by sagc at 11:11 AM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
Vice article explaining this burner account....thing.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:47 PM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:47 PM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
Buntix, I like yours! I've been training it on Biden tweets. You might want to highlight how to change the threshold in the bookmarklet, it's not easy to see. Ie, the followerCount<=l(2e3) value needs changing to whatever exponent code you want.
posted by tavella at 4:59 PM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 4:59 PM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
If you're gonna post a link to the Chuck Tingle book dunking on Elon Musk for this decision, don't post the link to his tweet! Chuck Tingle is on tumblr :)
https://drchucktingle.tumblr.com/post/715490434419425280/after-a-cloudquake-wakes-george-in-the-middle-of
posted by subdee at 7:11 AM on April 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
https://drchucktingle.tumblr.com/post/715490434419425280/after-a-cloudquake-wakes-george-in-the-middle-of
posted by subdee at 7:11 AM on April 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
Looks like Elon is busy cleaning up the evidence of when his army of blue checks accidentally say the quiet part out loud:
(content warning: calling for the killing of trans people and anyone who helps us as children)
posted by tigrrrlily at 12:15 PM on April 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
(content warning: calling for the killing of trans people and anyone who helps us as children)
posted by tigrrrlily at 12:15 PM on April 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
Every time my Twitter page is slow to reload for any reason, I wonder if THIS is the moment when I'm gone.
posted by hippybear at 3:47 PM on April 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 3:47 PM on April 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
One my fav websites is now down- Belong has been “ Murdered by Elon”. Can’t believe it ran for a decade.
posted by zenon at 10:02 AM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by zenon at 10:02 AM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by mhoye at 8:27 AM on April 21, 2023 [74 favorites]