Twitter’s advertising proposition has been thrown into further turmoil following an unseemly spat between its CEO, Elon Musk and the New York Times newspaper.
The move comes after the paper announced that it would not be paying Twitter’s US$ 1,000(£810)-monthly fee to remain ‘Blue Tick’ verified, alongside several other organisations and celebrities.
In response, Musk fired a tirade of criticism at the paper in the form of several acerbic and increasingly vulgar tweets in which he likened the New York Times’ content to diarrhoea: “The real tragedy of the New York Times is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting/Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhoea. It’s unreadable.”
The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2023
The social media platform recently announced a ‘shake-up’ of its ‘blue tick’ verification rule in which only ‘verified’ accounts would see their content recommended to users – placing a further emphasis on the need for influential accounts to purchase a subscription.
Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable.
They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles.
Same applies to all publications.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2023
Twitter has now begun removing ‘blue ticks’ from previously verified accounts after announcing that only paid-for verification would be valid from 1 April.
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The paper added in a statement that it would “also will not reimburse reporters for Twitter Blue for personal accounts, except in rare instances where this status would be essential for reporting purposes,” in a further show of defiance to Musk.
This latest upheaval follows the widespread proliferation of “fake” verified accounts late last year which saw many major brands and personalities being impersonated by parody accounts who had purchased the Twitter Blue feature, advertisers have since begun deserting the platform en masse.
Former Dentsu chairman Nick Waters even urged brands to step away from the platform until the situation had stabilised to avoid a potential public backlash.
Many large brands will now no doubt be growing concerned of not only being impersonated by other ‘blue tick’ users, but now face losing their verified statues altogether unless they stump up nearly £1,000 every month.
