Musk replied to a tweet from a user complaining about the new view count feature. The user said that tweets have become “too messy” with the new metric shoved at the bottom of a tweet.

Musk said that the company plans to clean up the look of tweets with the new view count. He also says that, eventually, users can turn off view counts.

Musk and the engineering team at Twitter recently added the view count feature to tweets. Musk shared plans for the feature on December 22, and most users began seeing view counts shortly after.

A feature traditionally kept for video only, view count shows a user how many times other users have seen their tweets. It shows up at the bottom of a tweet, to the left of the retweets and likes.

Many users are upset with the feature, saying it’s unnecessary and doesn’t fit well in its current iteration.

But it’s hard to argue against the usefulness of the new view count as a metric to measure reach.

It shows how many people have seen the tweet, giving users great insight into what kind of content gains the most traction.

It has become common at Twitter for Musk to launch new features with little to no discussion first. He then gauges user interest in that feature before deciding whether or not to keep the new feature as it is.

We saw this with the launch of paid verification through Twitter Blue and the uproar that came after.

It will be interesting to see what view counts look like after Musk and the Twitter team have time to modify and adjust the new feature.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Mastodon surges past 2 million users, but will people keep using it?
• Elon Musk plans to make Twitter polls pay-to-win
• Who’s the most followed person on Instagram?
• TikTok will start telling users why it recommends videos

The post Elon Musk says tweet view counts will soon be optional appeared first on KnowTechie.

Musk responded to a user suggesting that Blue subscribers should be the only ones able to vote in the polls. For reference, Twitter Blue costs $8 monthly ($11 if you are on iOS).

In his response, he notes that the user made a good point and that the company would make the change.

Ironically, this goes directly against a previous tweet, which said that all major policy changes would go to a vote on the platform.

At present, it is unclear if Musk’s tweet holds any weight. We’ve yet to see a “Twitter Blue-only” policy poll.

Considering the billionaire’s history of literally rewriting the rules on the fly, who’s to say if this change to Twitter policy polls will be implemented?

What is clear, however, is that Twitter is still a complete shitshow, and that doesn’t look to change anytime soon.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Quitting Twitter? Try any of these 7 alternatives
• Meta brings Twitter-like Notes feature to Instagram
• TikTok is now testing a full-screen horizontal mode
• Elon Musk showered with boos at Chappelle stand-up show

The post Elon Musk plans to make Twitter polls pay-to-win appeared first on KnowTechie.

The poll, created by Musk himself, asked his 122 million followers if he should step down as head of Twitter. It ended early this morning, with 57.5% of people voting ‘yes.’

Musk said he would follow the poll’s results, regardless of the outcome.

Despite the overwhelming results, Musk has yet to acknowledge the outcome publicly and offer any response.

The only thing he did say about the poll was that finding a replacement wouldn’t be easy.

“No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive,” Musk said in response to a user suggesting that he would resign. “There is no successor.”

At one point, Tom from MySpace (yes, that Tom) chimed in to respond to Musk’s poll, “Depends who you get to run it!” – possibly implying he’d be up for the job.

Does Elon Musk really want to be Twitter’s CEO?

It’s possible that Musk’s poll was a way for him to gauge public opinion and potentially justify leaving Twitter to focus more on Tesla, the main source of his wealth.

In fact, he has sold a staggering $40 billion worth of Tesla stock over the past year.

One painfully obvious thing, which our own Curtis Silver points out, is the seemingly endless barrage of Musk-related news stories.

“Elon has sucked the air out of the room for a few weeks now with his dominance of the tech news cycle and I think even he is getting exhausted by it.”

Either way, Musk’s poll results are definitive, and most users want him out. Will he choose to heed the call of the masses and step down, or will he double down on his tumultuous leadership style?

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Twitter lifts ban on third-party social links
• Twitter bans links to third-party social networks
• Twitter shutting down Substack-like Revue platform
• Meta brings Twitter-like Notes feature to Instagram

The post Twitter thinks Elon Musk should step down as Twitter’s CEO appeared first on KnowTechie.

Twitter has pioneered its way to becoming one of the top social media platforms. The platform lets you tweet all kinds of content with a free-form layout that’s easy to understand.

The app is based on sharing tweets with no more than 280 characters.

However, Twitter is famous for not letting users edit the content of a tweet that they’ve sent. Instead, you have to delete the tweet and start over.

Even though you can’t directly edit a tweet once you’ve sent it, the delete function works almost as well.

It’s also nice to know that you have the ability to look back at some of your past bad takes and get rid of the evidence.

For that reason, deleting a tweet can be one of the most useful features for Twitter users.

How to delete a tweet on the Twitter website and mobile app

Twitter makes deleting a tweet a relatively simple task.

You won’t have to jump through hoops to find out how to delete your tweets, but it may not be super obvious at first.

First, we’ll take a look at deleting a tweet on the desktop Twitter website:

And that will permanently delete that tweet from your profile.

Deleting a tweet through the mobile app

The other way to delete a tweet is by using the Twitter mobile app.

The process is pretty similar, but the menus may look a little different:

1. Navigate to your profile and find the tweet you want to delete
2. Select the three-dot menu in the top right of the tweet
3. Select Delete Tweet
4. Confirm that you want to delete that tweet

Again, the menus for deleting a tweet may look different, depending on your device, but the process is the same.

Remember, this will permanently delete the tweet from your profile, but there’s no way to ensure that any content is permanently deleted from Twitter by doing this.

Someone could have screenshot your tweet and reposted it before you could delete it, so always be careful with what you share on social media.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• How to enable the Tip Jar on Twitter
• How to send a DM on Twitter
• How to block someone on Twitter
• How to change your username on Twitter

The post How to delete a tweet on Twitter appeared first on KnowTechie.

Earlier this morning, the company deleted both the tweets announcing the change and the official blog post that explained the policy in further detail.

In a rare show of contrition, Elon Musk tweeted: “Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won’t happen again.”

The Ban: Explained

As explained last night, the ban prohibited Twitter users from posting links to their profiles on certain alternative social networking sites.

These included Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Donald Trump’s Twitter clone, Truth Social.

The ban also prohibited attempts to circumvent these restrictions by using third-party link aggregators like Linktree, or by otherwise obfuscating the URL through technical or non-technical means.

Violators would face temporary bans and tweet deletions. Twitter also warned that repeat offenders would receive longer (or permanent) bans.

During its few hours, this policy provoked a fiery response from users, who argued it undercut Elon Musk’s purported commitment to free speech.

On a more practical level, this policy would also likely fall afoul of the European Commission’s anti-gatekeeper rules, which are set to be introduced next year as part of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Under the DMA’s rules, companies deemed to be ‘gatekeepers’ could face fines of up to 20 percent of their revenue if they use their incumbent status to disadvantage competitors.

We note that many platforms Twitter listed in the original third-party social media ban were direct (albeit up-and-coming) competitors. Examples include Post, Mastodon, and Tribel.

A New CEO?

Coinciding with this turmoil, Musk issued a (totally non-scientific) Twitter poll that asked if he should step down as “Chief Twit.”

At the time of writing, the yes camp holds a commanding lead with 57.5 percent of the vote.

Musk said he would honor the result of the poll, although followed with a warning: “be careful what you wish for, as you might get it.”

Musk also lamented that he believes that “there is no successor” and “no one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive.”

KnowTechie notes that since acquiring the company in late October, Twitter has suffered an exodus of advertisers.

The company remains deeply reliant on advertising revenue, while subscriptions remain a small proportion of its annual income.

Twitter may have been on a downward trajectory, but Musk’s antics — particularly surrounding the failed first launch of Twitter Blue — have likely only accelerated that trend.

If nothing else, the first incarnation of Twitter Blue lasted longer than his link prohibition to third-party social networking sites.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Twitter shutting down Substack-like Revue platform
• Twitter reportedly looking into forced location tracking
• Elon Musk says Twitter is phasing out legacy verified checkmarks
• Twitter rolls out gold checkmarks for verified business accounts

The post Twitter lifts ban on third-party social links appeared first on KnowTechie.

The list includes well-known names like Facebook and Instagram and platforms that directly compete with Twitter, including Post, Tribel, and Mastodon.

Truth Social, the microblogging site owned by former US president Donald Trump, is also on the blocklist.

So is Nostr, a decentralized microblogging site that’s (ironically) backed by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

Dorsey, we note, still owns about $1bn of Twitter equity.

The Blocklist

Curiously, several big-name social networking sites did not feature on the list.

TikTok was seemingly spared. So are Gab and Parler, Truth Social’s biggest rivals in the alt-tech space.

Seeing the list of banned websites lengthen in the coming days and weeks wouldn’t surprise me.

In practice, Twitter will no longer allow people to share links to their profiles on other platforms.

So, posting your Facebook or Instagram profile is now strictly verboten.

You are, however, allowed to cross-post content from these platforms.

Skirting The Rules

Twitter has cracked down on third-party link aggregators to stop users from circumventing these new rules. These include Linktree and lnk.bio.

The updated rulebook also prohibits attempts to circumvent the ban on third-party social linking “through technical or non-technical means.”

Twitter cited two examples: using a URL cloaking service or spelling the punctuation in a URL (for instance, writing “facebook.com” as “facebook dot com”).

First-time offenders will receive a temporary suspension and must delete the tweet that violated Twitter’s rules.

Those who break Twitter’s link ban will receive lengthier suspensions — or potentially have their accounts banned permanently.

Free Speech and Twitter

Twitter is, as mentioned before, Elon Musk’s personal fiefdom. He owns almost all of the company’s equity. He can do whatever he wants.

But that doesn’t mean people (or, in the case of Twiter Blue’s paid-for verification, advertisers) have to like it.

At the very least, Musk’s self-stated free speech credentials are in doubt. Hypocrisy is never a good look. It’s (as the kids say) bad optics.

If one takes a critical view, Musk’s belief in free speech extends as far as Twitter’s user numbers.

At worst, this move will further alienate Twitter’s most active users.

For those concerned about Twitter’s direction, this crackdown on third-party social websites is emblematic of Twitter’s unpredictable and often self-interested direction.

And it will only incentivize them further to look for alternatives.

In late October, Elon Musk tweeted: “The bird is freed.” He now owned Twitter.

As his own personal fiefdom, the social networking platform would be a bastion of free speech unlike any other.

Two months later, how’s that going? Not great.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Twitter shutting down Substack-like Revue platform
• Meta brings Twitter-like Notes feature to Instagram
• Twitter reportedly looking into forced location tracking
• Elon Musk says Twitter is phasing out legacy verified checkmarks

The post Twitter bans links to third-party social networks appeared first on KnowTechie.

According to the company, users will no longer have access as of January 18, 2023. The service will shut down, and all data will be deleted on the same day.

Twitter bought the Substack-like newsletter platform in early 2021. It was a way to bring more long-form content to the microblogging site.

The whole point was to allow journalists, writers, and other users to create paid newsletters without having to leave Twitter. It might have worked, except for the meteoric rise of Substack, a rival newsletter service.

Twitter is going through a simplification process under new CEO Elon Musk, and Revue is one of the features getting the axe.

How to save your Revue data before Twitter shuts it down

Revue will start compiling your data after you make the export request. Once finalized, you’ll get an email with a link to your export.

This link will include your subscriber list, “newsletter issue stats,” and the content and “metadata of your newsletter issues.”

It’s also worth knowing one other date. On December 20, Revue “will set all paid subscriptions to cancel at the end of their billing cycle.”

It’s sad to see Revue disappear like this. Twitter owned the subscription newsletter service for less than two years.

Was this a planned action, or is the company trying to fix an unintended consequence of the extensive layoffs at Twitter?

We may never know, but we’ll pour one out for Revue and all they were trying to accomplish.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Meta brings Twitter-like Notes feature to Instagram
• Elon Musk says Twitter is phasing out legacy verified checkmarks
• TikTok is now testing a full-screen horizontal mode
• Quitting Twitter? Try any of these 6 alternatives

The post Twitter shutting down Substack-like Revue platform appeared first on KnowTechie.

Twitter is hurting for money under its new management. The ongoing staff reductions and moderation tool rollbacks have made advertisers run for the hills.

Now, the company is working on forcing users to opt-in to share personal and location data with advertisers (via Platformer). Users can only opt out by paying the monthly fee for Twitter Blue.

Once live, the app will ask users for permission to access location data and phone numbers.

Twitter recently paid the FTC a $150 million fine for misusing phone numbers used for two-factor authentication.

That fine was for giving 2FA phone numbers to advertisers for targeted advertising purposes. You know, the same thing this report says Twitter is planning to do again.

We can’t imagine the FTC is happy about this news. It will set the company and CEO Elon Musk up for another legal battle.

Twitter is cruising for some lawsuits

Other authorities worldwide will have issues with the plans, as well. The European Union has laws stating that users can withdraw from data-sharing anytime.

It also seems to be against the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

That statute says Californian residents can opt out at any time. It also says they can’t be discriminated against for exercising their rights.

Blocking access to Twitter without opting into advertising data sharing likely violates both points.

If opting out of data sharing becomes a feature of Twitter Blue, Apple will take issue. App Store rules state apps can’t force users to share data or pay up.

Apple’s new privacy rules also mean apps can’t track users across different apps if they opt out. We’ll have to wait and see if the company goes through with this plan.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Meta reportedly wants to be the new Twitter
• Twitter rolls out gold checkmarks for verified business accounts
• TikTok is now testing a full-screen horizontal mode
• Elon Musk showered with boos at Chappelle stand-up show

The post Twitter reportedly looking into forced location tracking appeared first on KnowTechie.

Kelly Huang at The New York Times got the scoop last Wednesday that Meta employees have been discussing building a Twitter replacement.

With Twitter under new management and many people reconsidering their time on the platform, it seems like the perfect time for Meta to step in. It makes sense. The company is known for “repurposing” other platforms’ ideas.

Multiple ideas were floated, from standalone apps to adding feeds to existing ones:

Those ideas included rolling out Instagram’s new “Notes” feature to add a text feed to Instagram. The company is also reportedly considering using Instagram’s tech to create a text-first app like Twitter.

Notice how none of the ideas include touching Facebook?

That’s odd, but so is trying to cram text feeds into Instagram. Instagram has long been photo-first, with a recent push into video.

What would be a better idea would be borrowing Facebook’s Friend Graph and building a new app around that. It’s no secret that many Facebook users would delete their accounts if it weren’t for their friends and family.

That’s the draw of Facebook, the thing that made it successful to begin with. The ability to have an instant community when you join.

Imagine that instant feeling of belonging and connection when you open a new account on a new, text-first social site. Powerful stuff.

That’s the killer app. None of the pretenders to Twitter’s throne will succeed because it’s hard to build a following.

Meta could succeed because it already has the ultimate connection algorithm. It knows you, your neighbors, your friends, your family, and (almost) everything they do.

There’s no need to shoehorn it into yet another feed on Instagram. Save that space.

Meta, you’ve got a wealth of talented engineers that deserve the chance to make a new app. Don’t squander the opportunity.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Elon Musk says Twitter Blue cuts the number of ads in half
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• Does Instagram notify people when you screenshot a story?
• The Meta Quest 3 will release in late 2023

The post Meta reportedly wants to be the new Twitter appeared first on KnowTechie.

In addition, Twitter will soon also add a gray checkmark for government and multilateral accounts like the United Nations and the World Health Organization.  

According to Twitter, the new gold checkmark aims at “large and established” businesses verified by the platform. 

Here’s what Twitter’s new Gold checkmark looks like on business accounts

On the other hand, the gray checkmark identifies government and multilateral accounts, like national governments and public institutions.

So, where can you expect to see these new gold checkmarks?

Twitter says the new checkmarks will appear on the account’s profile pages and individual tweets from these accounts. 

If this all sounds familiar, it’s because it is. It’s basically the old badge system, but in Gold. 

Twitter says the change is gradually rolling out over the coming weeks, and eligible accounts will eventually get the new checkmarks.

Gold and gray checkmarks are part of Twitter’s ongoing efforts to improve the user experience and provide more information about the accounts on its platform. 

By clearly identifying verified business and government accounts, Twitter hopes to make it easier for users to find reliable sources and reduce the spread of misinformation.

Why Twitter ended up going with the color gold is beyond me, as there are definitely some issues with it.

Mainly, this color doesn’t really match the site’s aesthetic, and it feels a bit out of place and forced. But mainly, it’s this tweet that did it for me:

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Elon Musk says Twitter Blue cuts the number of ads in half
• Twitter Blue relaunches with higher price for iOS users
• How to get back into a locked Twitter account
• Twitter will soon tell you if your account is shadowbanned

The post Twitter rolls out gold checkmarks for verified business accounts appeared first on KnowTechie.

In a response to an inquiry from a Twitter Blue subscriber, Musk confirmed that if you purchase a subscription, you will only see half the amount of ads on your feed.

Additionally, he says that the platform will add a new, more expensive tier of the subscription service in 2023. The higher tier completely eliminates ads from subscribers’ feeds, claims Musk.

The latest Twitter Blue saga has been quite hectic. After Musk took over the platform, he gave verified tags to everyone who paid for it.

That didn’t turn out great as trolls began to take advantage of the feature, and Twitter pulled back a few days later.

The platform eventually relaunched its paid verification system through Twitter Blue. It also increased the price from $8 to $11 on iOS to help circumvent Apple’s 30 percent cut of all sales through the App Store.

Twitter is also rolling out new color badges to represent different verification levels. It’s adding a gold badge for businesses and a gray badge for government accounts.

Seeing fewer ads is always a great benefit of any subscription service. Many of us pay extra to streaming platforms, so we don’t have to deal with unwanted advertisements.

But even so, who thought we’d consider paying $10 a month for social media in 2023?

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Twitter will soon tell you if your account is shadowbanned
• Instagram for desktop just got a great redesign
• A viral TikTok trend is being used to spread malware
• Oversight Board finds Meta puts business over people

The post Elon Musk says Twitter Blue cuts the number of ads in half appeared first on KnowTechie.

Video footage shows Musk taking the stage and yelling Chappelle’s famous Rick James impression: “I’m rich, b***h.” 

Afterward, the audience booed Musk for several minutes, reports Gizmodo. Watch it below:

Interestingly enough, someone posted the video on Twitter. However, as this Twitter user points out, Twitter seems to have deleted the account. What a coincidence.

Chappelle, who has also faced criticism for jokes targeting transgender people, told Musk that “it sounds like some of those people you fired are in the audience.” 

At one point, Chappelle interrupted Musk’s attempt to speak, saying: “Don’t say nothing. You hear that sound, Elon? That’s the sound of pending civil unrest.” 

Naturally, Musk is getting dragged for the appearance and has attempted to save face by joking about it on Twitter.

Musk claimed the audience reaction was “90% cheers and 10% boos.”

However, several people who attended the event tweeted that the booing was louder and more sustained.

The writing is on the wall, and it’s painfully obvious that folks are quickly tiring of his shit. Sure, he’s rich, but all that money in the world can’t buy him people’s respect.

I’ll close with this banger of a tweet from comedian Mike Drucker:

“The funniest part of Elon Musk getting booed for ten minutes by Dave Chappelle fans is you know Elon thought he’d come out doing some corny bit like, “my pronouns are no/thanks!” and get a standing ovation.”

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Elon Musk puts an end to Twitter’s COVID misinformation policy
• Twitter DMs are getting encryption, says Elon Musk
• Twitter Blue relaunches with higher price for iOS users
• New report claims Twitter has secret blacklists

The post Elon Musk showered with boos at Chappelle stand-up show appeared first on KnowTechie.

Twitter Blue confers a few benefits. Subscribers see fewer ads, can edit Tweets, and gain a (once highly-coveted) verification tick next to their name.

The package costs $8 per month or $11 for those using iOS’ in-app payment system.

The price difference for those paying directly with Apple Pay accounts for the 30 percent ‘tax’ that Apple charges on all digital goods. 

The death and rebirth of Twitter Blue 

Twitter Blue (under Elon Musk) first debuted in November, only to be suspended less than 48 hours after users took advantage of the paid-for verification tool to impersonate major brands. 

In one case, a Twitter Blue subscriber changed their profile to mimic pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and announced plans to slash the price of insulin to zero.

Because the account had a verified checkmark, it was almost indistinguishable from the real corporate mouthpiece. Eli Lilly’s stock price tumbled as a result.

One fake, masquerading as McDonald’s, falsely announced the fast food chain routinely sold expired meat. 

Another, this time pretending to be defense giant Lockheed Martin, said it would suspend sales of military hardware to countries with a checkered human rights record.

These hoaxes — although profoundly funny — caused advertisers to suspend their Twitter ad buys. And that’s a problem because Twitter relies heavily on advertising to keep the lights on.

Even with the push towards a subscription model, advertising accounts for the bulk of Twitter’s revenue.

This time around, Twitter plans to closely scrutinize Twitter Blue accounts to mitigate the risk of impersonation. These measures include limiting verification to those accounts that have been active for at least 90 days.

Whether it will be successful — particularly given its drastically diminished headcount — remains to be seen. 

Existing verified accounts could change

Musk has expressed a wish to see existing verified accounts pay for Twitter Blue to maintain their status. So far, that hasn’t happened. 

But it’s not unthinkable. For some (but not all) people with a pre-Musk checkmark, Twitter now says their accounts are a “legacy verified account” that “may or not be notable.” 

Twitter is likely to add additional checkmark styles in the coming weeks. These will distinguish between genuinely noteworthy pages and those that simply paid for verification. 

As some leaks suggest, pages belonging to businesses will receive a gold checkmark, while those associated with government bodies will have a grey checkmark. 

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Twitter will soon tell you if your account is shadowbanned
• Oversight Board finds Meta puts business over people
• Elon Musk puts an end to Twitter’s COVID misinformation policy
• A Tesla Model 3 redesign is in the works

The post Twitter Blue relaunches with higher price for iOS users appeared first on KnowTechie.

Some Twitter employees claim Twitter Blue subscription prices on iOS are increasing to $11.

In a report from The Information, these employees explain how Twitter plans on changing its pricing for Twitter Blue. That includes the increase on iOS and, surprisingly, a price decrease to $7 on web.

The price increase on iOS will likely help Twitter circumvent Apple’s 30 percent cut on in-app purchases through the App Store.

Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner, recently criticized that practice and falsely claimed that Apple was threatening to remove Twitter from the App Store.

Musk later met with Apple CEO Tim Cook, confirming that Apple wasn’t seriously considering removing Twitter from the App Store.

Twitter launched the new $8 Twitter Blue subscription with a verification checkmark for users in November. However, the platform quickly encountered impersonation issues, leading to the suspension of Twitter Blue subscriptions.

The platform will relaunch its Twitter Blue subscription sometime soon, with a few changes to verification. Musk said in a tweet that the subscription will come with changes to Verified check marks.

The app will add color-coded verification: gold for businesses, grey for government, and blue for individuals.

Ultimately, it seems that Twitter Blue is still going through growing pains, so time will tell if this upcoming system will be finalized or if it will change again.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Twitter censored tweets in 2020 at request of Trump and Biden
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• A viral TikTok trend is being used to spread malware
• Does Instagram notify people when you screenshot a story?

The post Twitter Blue prices on iOS are reportedly increasing appeared first on KnowTechie.

There are various reasons for Twitter to lock an account, and they aren’t all bad. If you have been following the rules set forth by Twitter, you will usually get back into your account.

There are a few types of restrictions that can happen. You need to figure out which one is affecting your account before you can rectify the situation.

Types of account restrictions

With Twitter, there are multiple types of restrictions. These usually result in the same thing, but the type of restriction matters when trying to get back into your account.

Locked Twitter account

If Twitter detects unusual login activity, they will place a lock on your account. There are many things that can trigger this.

Too many failed login attempts, higher than normal activity levels, or too many third-party services are some of the ways that can result in Twitter logging you out of all your devices.

Once this happens, you’ll have a lock on the account.

Limited Twitter account

If you become too active on Twitter or violate certain rules, you may accidentally trigger the social media giant to limit your account.

It does this to prevent an account from spamming people on the network. A limited account will restrict your ability to like, tweet, or retweet content until your status returns to normal.

Some guidelines for you are to not follow more than 400 accounts, send more than 2,400 tweets, or write more than 1,000 DMs per day.

You also don’t want to follow (or unfollow) more than 16 accounts, send more than 100 tweets, or write more than 41 DMs in any given hour.

Suspended Twitter account

Getting suspended is the most restricting and the toughest to resolve. A suspension is essentially a ban from the service. Twitter accounts are normally suspended for blatantly breaking the rules.

Typical scenarios are sending spam, being a fake account, impersonating someone, harassing others, or consistently violating Twitter rules.

How to get resolve a locked Twitter account

Getting back into your Twitter account varies based on which restriction Twitter has placed on your account.

A suspended account can be either temporary or permanent. If it is permanent, you will have to appeal the decision to try and get it overturned.

A limited account can be resolvable in one of two ways. The limit will either be for a period of time (up to 7 days), or you can follow the same steps as a locked Twitter account.

Regardless of which type of restriction was placed on your account, you will always get an email and a DM from Twitter to let you know what happened.

Remember that it’s usually reversible

Logging into your Twitter account only to find a restriction in place is not fun. You can feel helpless and become filled with anxiety.

Remember to keep calm and know that you will get your account back in most cases. Unless you actively participate in bad behavior (impersonating someone, for example), your restriction will be reversible.

If facing a suspension, then maybe you are better off without Twitter. Just make sure you understand what you did and avoid doing it on an alternative social account.

Luckily, being suspended isn’t common practice. Just follow the steps provided here, and you will be tweeting again in no time.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Here’s how to edit a tweet
• How to create a Twitter List
• How to block words and phrases on Twitter
• How to download all your tweets from Twitter

The post How to get back into a locked Twitter account appeared first on KnowTechie.

The new Twitter Files thread comes from Bari Weiss, founder of The Free Press.

In the thread, Weiss exposes instances where Twitter has limited the reach of specific tweets and accounts.

One example in the thread involves conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Twitter moderators tagged his account with “Do Not Amplify.”

1. A new #TwitterFiles investigation reveals that teams of Twitter employees build blacklists, prevent disfavored tweets from trending, and actively limit the visibility of entire accounts or even trending topics—all in secret, without informing users.

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022

The LibsofTikTok account was also slapped with a blacklist tag called “Trends Blacklist.”

The thread says that this prevents the account from making it to the “Trending” section of the platform.

Twitter has long denied that it “shadow bans” users on the platform.

But the term shadow banning is vague, and some would consider these examples as shadow banning.

But Twitter executives call it “Visibility Filtering,” and high-level employees confirmed moderators do this quite a bit on the platform without users’ knowledge.

Elon Musk wants to change Twitter’s moderation practices

The Twitter Files is an effort from new management, Elon Musk, to shift the platform’s moderation direction.

But Musk isn’t planning on ending these Visibility Filtering practices. In fact, it looks like he’ll focus on them instead of suspending accounts.

“New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach,” he says.

However, he says he wants to be more transparent. Following the second Twitter Files, Musk tweeted:

Weiss says that the authors of the Twitter files, including herself and Matt Taibbi, who released the first thread, have “broad and expanding access to Twitter’s files.”

She also confirmed that more would be coming soon, this time back on Matt Taibbi’s Twitter profile.

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A recent thread aptly named ‘The Twitter Files’ from journalist and author Matt Taibbi gave us a unique look at some of Twitter’s moderation practices.

The majority of the thread deals with Twitter’s suppression of a New York Post report about Hunter Biden’s laptop back in 2020.

However, the thread also looked at how Twitter had granted many requests from both parties to remove certain content during the election race.

According to Taibbi, it was “routine” for Twitter to receive requests for removal from both parties:

Taibbi shared an email between the Biden campaign team and a Twitter staffer. In the email, the Biden team requested that Twitter ‘review’ five different tweets.

The Twitter staffer responded that they had “handled these,” and the tweets are no longer on the platform.

Elon Musk cries ‘First Amendment’

Then, of course, Elon Musk had to chime in. The new billionaire owner of Twitter responded to the thread, saying, “IF this isn’t a violation of the Constitution’s First Amendment, what is?”

Of course, most normal people know by now that Twitter doesn’t have to abide by the First Amendment. The First Amendment forbids the government from restricting free speech, not private companies.

Now, if the Trump administration, which was the only government entity in this entire ordeal, tried to order Twitter to remove content, then that would be a violation of the First Amendment.

But, from what we’ve seen, that’s not the case. Instead, both parties seemingly pointed out tweets they’d like Twitter to look at. After that, it was up to Twitter whether or not it removed that content.

At the end of the day, Twitter is a private company that can moderate its platform in any way it sees fit. If that means suppressing content because a political figure asked it to, so be it.

It’s up to the user to decide if they’re okay with how the platform is moderated.

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The former rapper used his day on Thursday to spread anti-semitic rhetoric on the Alex Jones Show and later via Twitter. Naturally, the internet exploded with buzz.

To kick things off, Kanye brought neo-nazi commentator Nick Fuentes with him on the show. Fuentes is a known antisemite, and Kanye was obviously making a statement by bringing him along.

But that wasn’t the worst part. The entire thing was bizarre and outrageous, with Kanye praising the Nazis and expressing his love for Hitler.

Not to mention, he wore a ski mask that covered his whole face for the entirety of the full interview.

After his appearance on the show, Kanye took to Twitter to continue spewing his hatred. After tweeting a few images of a shirtless Elon Musk, Kanye posted a swastika intertwined with the Star of David.

Shortly after, he posted a screenshot of a text message conversation between himself and Elon Musk.

“Sorry, but you have gone too far. This is not love,” read Elon’s message to the former rapper.

And now he has been permanently banned from the platform. It’s unclear exactly what the final straw was for Musk to ban Kanye.

Was it the swastika or Kanye sharing his messages with Musk?

Either way, Twitter has done us a huge favor. Kanye was once a great artist who made great music. But now, he’s just an antisemitic bozo desperate for attention anywhere he can get it.

Hopefully, the ban will be permanent, and we don’t have to hear anything more about this clown again.

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Elon Musk has threatened to build his own smartphone if Apple and Google remove Twitter from their app stores.

This followed a series of tweets in which the Twitter CEO criticized Apple for threatening to withhold the microblogging site’s app from the App Store.

But now, after meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook at the company’s headquarters, Musk says that he was told by Cook that Apple “never considered” removing Twitter from its App Store.

“Good conversation,” Musk wrote in a tweet. “Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.”

To be fair, Apple never publicly announced its decision to ban Twitter from the App Store.

Still, rumors suggested that Cupertino company could take action after Musk reinstated accounts previously banned by Twitter. Mainly former President Donald Trump.

Not only that, but Twitter suspended its policy against COVID misinformation, which could open the door to a flood of unmoderated content.

Apple and Google app store policies prevent hate speech, discrimination, and harassment on apps in their respective app store.

It’s unclear whether Musk managed to clear up other issues he mentioned in recent tweets.

He complained that Apple takes a 30 percent share of any app-related revenue generated by developers who earn more than $1 million through the App Store.

I’m guessing he didn’t. This was all a big stunt just to get users to log on to Twitter and read his tweets. Ultimately, Musk looks like the loser here. As Twitter user Security Dialogue wrote in a tweet:

Well said. If anyone is keeping score: Tim Cook: 1 – Elon Musk: 0.

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The post Musk says Apple never considered removing Twitter from App Store appeared first on KnowTechie.

Twitter announced that it plans to expand the app’s account recommendations, showing users more curated tweets from people they don’t follow.

The company announced its plans to update the feature in a blog post on its website earlier this week.

The post itself was pretty vague, but the idea is that Twitter is expanding recommendations to all users, regardless if they follow an account or not.

Recommendations show up in the app’s Home feed. They come from topics or accounts that Twitter thinks you are interested in but not following.

For example, if you interact with a lot of soccer content, Twitter might recommend tweets about the World Cup from accounts you’re not following.

They’ll have a tag notifying you that they are recommendations and not from accounts you’re following.

Thankfully, you can opt out of a given suggestion. For example, Twitter says users will see an “X” on recommended tweets, so you can easily remove them from your Home feed.

Additionally, the company’s recommendations help users discover more content on the platform. But in reality, Twitter will show you what it wants you to see, not what you want to see.

After all, you’d be following an account or topic if you wanted to see tweets about it. Fortunately, you can still change to the ‘Latest Tweets’ feed, eliminating recommended content.

The newly Elon-run Twitter has made some bold and questionable changes over the last few weeks.

We wouldn’t be surprised if the platform starts serving tons more recommended content across the entire app in the coming weeks.

But for now, we’ll have to wait and see what Twitter’s new recommended changes will bring. Hopefully, it won’t mean an end to the chronological timeline option.

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