Elon Musk reveals a fundamental change in Twitter account recommendations

Twitter CEO Elon Musk revealed new changes to the social media platform’s follow filter algorithm, which targets recommendations only from verified accounts in Twitter’s recommendation feed.

Twitter’s “For You” tab shows users tweets from people they don’t follow, but those recommended by the social media company’s algorithm, as the platform shows accounts from any users of the communication platform, whether verified or not.

But Musk announced in a tweet late Monday that from now on, only verified accounts will appear in the “For You” section of the site.

Musk claims the move is “the only realistic way to address advanced bot swarm control.”

Musk also said that only verified users will be able to vote in polls.

Since buying Twitter last year, Musk has sought to change the way the company does verification. Prior to the acquisition, Twitter used the blue tick to verify users as a way to identify the account that matches the person or company it claims to be its official account. This process was free and applied to celebrities, journalists, government officials, and organizations.

Musk introduced a subscription service last year called “Twitter Blue” that allows users to pay $8 per month to verify and get a blue tick.

And “Twitter” said last week that it would start ending its “legacy verification program” and removing check marks on April 1, according to what was reported by “CNBC”, and viewed by “Al Arabiya.net”. And the company is urging people with the old checkmarks to sign up for its “Twitter Blue” subscription service.

Musk’s plan comes as part of attempts to find ways to generate new revenue streams on Twitter, with paid verification a key policy.

Despite those efforts, Twitter’s value has nearly halved. Musk told employees last week that the platform was now valued at $20 billion, according to an email sent to employees and seen by The New York Times.