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Elon Musk wants to turn X into a LinkedIn competitor
All in the name of turning X into an "everything app."
The social media platform formerly known has Twitter has undergone a multitude of changes in the one year since Elon Musk bought it for a reported $44 billion, including a sudden and unexpected name change to 'X.' Despite the initial concerns over Musk's erratic policies, the site has reportedly seen an increase in user engagement over the past year, and major advertisers that ditched the platform in droves just a few months earlier, are said to be returning in recent months.
Blocking users on X (Twitter) will no longer be an option
A big change, but will it really come to fruition?
It's been a while since Elon Musk ruffled some feathers, but now, he's announced a big change coming to X formerly Twitter, that has definitely caught the attention of the media and its users. Musk has announced that the feature to block users will be removed. While this will come as a shock to some, it's unclear when this change will occur.
Twitter Blue: What does paying for Twitter actually get you, and should you do it?
Are the additional features worth your $8?
Twitter has been slowly evolving into a richer social media service. What started as a basic tool to express ideas using no more than 140 characters has now gained some advanced features. These include Spaces for audio rooms, voice note support in DMs, text formatting, and more. Eventually, the company launched what plenty of users didn't see coming — a paid subscription.
Two months after its launch, Jack Dorsey’s Twitter alternative comes to Android
It already has more than 5,000 downloads with a total user base of currently 25,000 strong.
Since his departure from Twitter in late 2021, co-founder Jack Dorsey has been working on an alternative to the microblogging site, now owned by eccentric billionaire Elon Musk. Bluesky was initially rolled out to iOS devices in February, and it's now finally come to Android.
Twitter Blue character limit upped to 10,000, adds bold and italic text formatting
Twitter Blue subscribers now have new ways to express themselves.
A couple of months back, when Twitter upped its character count to 4,000, it was a huge deal. For years, user wondered how the company would approach changing its restrictive 280-character limit. And just like that, it went from one extreme to another. Now, it looks like Twitter is once again making changes, increasing the character count of a tweet to 10,000, while also adding bold and italic text formatting.
Twitter Subscriptions gives creators a 'new' way to monetize their audience
Twitter has revealed its new revamped monetization program, which looks familiar if you look at the details.
Those on Twitter can now monetize their feeds, as the platform debuted its 'new' Subscriptions offering. But looking at the details, this looks to simply be a rebranding of the previous monetization feature called Super Follows which was launched back in 2021. Regardless, those on Twitter that meet the requirements will be able to monetize their feeds, giving those interested access to exclusive content and badges.
Twitter Blue's 'Half ads' perk is now live, doesn't actually hide 50% of promoted tweets
Twitter Blue's 'Half ads' feature doesn't really reduce ads by half.
Many have been waiting for Twitter Blue's 'Half ads' perk, and now that the feature has gone live, we're seeing that it isn't all that it's cracked up to be. While Twitter owner Elon Musk has previously touted that the feature will remove half the ads, the new perk description doesn't even seem to manage to reach the 50 percent mark, stating, "see approximately 50% fewer ads in the For You and Following timelines." If that wasn't enough of an issue, the reduction of ads only applies to the timelines and not other areas of the service, which means overall, there really isn't a 50 percent reduction in ads. But maybe to some, something is better than nothing.
Twitter launches new API access tiers with Free, Basic, and Enterprise
Twitter has officially launched its new API access tiers, while also deprecating the old ones.
After announcing changes to access its API last month, Twitter has finally released a formal price sheet and also opened a sign-up page, giving those interested a chance to put down money to gain access. There are currently three tiers, coming in as Free, Basic, and Enterprise. As you might have guessed, the Free tier will cost users nothing but will have quite a bit of restrictions, while the Basic tier will cost $100 per month. The company does not list pricing for its Enterprise package, instead requesting those interested to contact the platform for details about its monthly subscription tiers.
Twitter will block non-verified users voting in polls and being recommended in 'For You' timeline
These changes are coming on April 15.
Elon Musk, who is the owner of Twitter, has shared through his personal account that the platform will be making changes to its 'For You' tab starting next month. Musk shares the 'For You' tab will only recommend verified accounts starting on April 15. He also goes on to share another change coming on the same date, with voting in polls only being open to verified users. Musk went on to state that the changes were being made in an effort to combat bots on the platform
Twitter's leaked source code was on GitHub for months before it was discovered
Apparently, the source code was available on GitHub for several months before being pulled recently.
Twitter's source code has apparently leaked, giving those curious, and also competitors, a glimpse at the foundation of the social media platform. Although only part of the platform's source code was posted online to popular website GitHub, this could have huge impacts later down the line.
Twitter says goodbye to legacy verified checkmarks on April 1
The legacy verified checkmark has been a status symbol for quite some time. But it will finally be going away on April 1.
Twitter's verified checkmarks were once a coveted thing, given out by the company on rare occasions to people deemed worthy enough to hold the blue tick symbol on their profile. With Elon Musk purchasing Twitter, all of that changed, with the platform offering anyone a blue checkmark next to their name as long as they paid for the company's premium subscription service, Twitter Blue. But what about all the verified checkmarks that were issued before Twitter Blue? While the company has stated its plans, it made them more concrete with a recent tweet, sharing that "legacy verified checkmarks" will be removed from user's profile and the platform on April 1.
Twitter Blue gains global rollout, bringing coveted features to more people
Twitter is now rolling out its premium subscription service to more regions.
It looks like more people around the world are going to get access to Twitter Blue. The company tweeted that the service is now available globally, giving users a chance to experience all the wonderful features of the subscription service. Unfortunately, the company has not shared where the service is expanding to, so you'll just have to check the app or webpage to see if your region is covered.
Twitter's Periscope video archive is going away, download your broadcasts while you can
Twitter is on the verge of removing its Periscope video archive, meaning you'll want to download your videos as soon as possible if you want them.
It's probably been ages since you've heard of Periscope and probably even longer since you've actually thought about it. While the app burst onto the scene, providing Twitter's users with a quick and easy way to set up and broadcast live video, the popularity of the app took a dive, slowly fading into obscurity. In 2021, the service was finally discontinued, and while the company has kept video archives of users live streams, it's now letting them know that it will, at some point, remove them from the platform permanently.
[Update: Fixed] Twitter's offline in what appears to be a major outage
It's not just you, Twitter's experienced a significant outage.
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It's not just you Twitter is down, and it's not a good sign. As to what's wrong, that's unknown at the time, but it looks like people started having issues around 11:30 am ET, and it's still continuing as of this report. While you can head to Twitter, you'll be greeted with an error message that references an API issue.
Twitter users prevail as Elon Musk rolls back recent API change
Twitter will roll back its recent API change, giving some users free access to its API under certain conditions.
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Things are always changing at Twitter, and it now looks like the company is going to roll back a recent API change, giving bots with 'good content' free access. The roll back comes a week after the platform tweeted that it would begin charging for its API starting on February 9. Twitter owner Elon Musk stated that the free API was being 'abused badly' since there wasn't a verification or a cost associated with using it. He would later clarify that it would cost $100 a month for access and that this would cut down on 'bot scammers and opinion manipulators' on the website.
Twitter debuts long-format tweets with support for up to 4,000 characters
Twitter is finally making long-format tweets a reality by allowing up to 4,000 characters, but it's going to cost you.
It's finally happening — Twitter is introducing longer format tweets to its platform, giving users a new way to express themselves. While threads are nice, long-format tweets will be more concise, with users being able to use up to 4,000 characters to express themselves in one tweet. If interested, the feature is now live on the platform, but you'll need to be a Twitter Blue subscriber to take advantage.
Twitter begins sharing ad revenue with creators, but it'll cost them
Twitter owner Elon Musk has revealed that starting today, creators on the platform can start earning revenue from tweets.
Today, Elon Musk announced that creators on Twitter will be able to earn ad revenue from the platform. While this is exciting news, there is one small catch, and it's that those wanting to earn revenue will need to be enrolled in the platform's premium subscription service Twitter Blue.
Twitter will begin charging for API access starting next week
Twitter is once again making a dramatic change on short notice. Starting next week, it will kill free access to its API, requiring payment instead.
It seems like yesterday when Elon Musk completed the purchase of Twitter, and made swift changes by firing top executives at the company. Since then, over the past few months, Twitter has been going through some changes, with some causing users and developers to cry foul. Now, Twitter is once again introducing another big change, revoking free access to its API, and will instead, begin charging users and developers starting next week. While the company has not stated how much it will charge, judging by the community's reaction, this really could be the last straw.
Twitter kills CoTweets, ending co-authoring and collaboration
Twitter shared that it was ending its CoTweets experiment effective immediately.
We first heard about users being able to co-author tweets in March 2022 and saw CoTweets go live for some a few months later. While it seemed like an exciting idea at the time, the feature never reached the masses, instead only being available as a "limited-time experiment" for "select accounts in Canada, Korea, and the US." Now it looks like most will never get to experience the joy of co-tweeting with friends or family, as the company has now posted on its support page that it will sunsetting the feature on January 31.
Twitter’s font change is its latest move to combat rampant impersonation
It looks like Twitter's been updated with a new font, which might not be purely for aesthetic reasons.
For the past few months, Twitter has undergone a number of changes, and some, don't even get an explanation, leaving users on the platform to discover and theorize on their own. Well, as you might have guessed, a new change has been unleashed on the platform, with the latest one coming in the form of a new font being used on the web version of Twitter. While the change is subtle, some have speculated that this change is more than just for looks.