What you need to know

• The UK plans to ban social media access for under-16s, with the rules expected to take effect in 2027.
• Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, and X would be affected by the ban.
• The proposal would also restrict livestreaming and communication with strangers on gaming platforms.
• Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal are exempted for now.

The UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced what could become one of the most aggressive social media crackdowns we've seen yet, unveiling plans to ban social media access for users under the age of 16 in the UK.

Starmer says the goal is to "set a new normal for future generations" and give children their childhoods back. According to him, parents have been calling for stronger protections for years, and the government now wants to introduce broader safeguards to address those concerns.

As part of the proposal, users under 16 would be blocked from accessing platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X (Twitter). An exhaustive list of affected platforms has not yet been released, so it's still unclear whether services like Bluesky or Reddit would also be included. More details are expected soon.

According to the announcement, the measures would also require platforms to prevent children from livestreaming and from communicating with strangers on gaming platforms. Any feature involving communication between under-16s and unknown adults would be restricted.

These protections would reportedly be enabled by default for both 16 and 17-year-olds as well, in an effort to avoid what the government describes as a "cliff-edge" at age 16.

The government is also exploring additional measures, including overnight curfews for social media use and mandatory breaks in infinite scrolling feeds for users under 18. Further details on those proposals are expected in July.

For now, the government says messaging services such as Signal and WhatsApp would not be covered by the ban. The proposal would also require AI chatbot services that offer romantic companion features or simulate intimate relationships to enforce a minimum age of 18. Similar roleplay and intimate features would have to be restricted for under-18s.

Starmer says the government plans to pass the legislation before Christmas this year, which would allow the measures to come into force in early 2027.

It's also worth noting that this announcement comes just days after Apple unveiled a number of new child safety and parental control features across iOS, macOS, and iPadOS — something that we want Google to bring to Android.

So far, none of the major tech companies affected by the proposal have publicly commented on the UK's plans. That said, we expect more responses and developments from both platform operators and regulators in the coming weeks.

What you need to know

• X faces a significant outage affecting app and website access, with over 78,000 reports.
• Problems reported include issues with the app, website, and Grok AI chatbot functionality.
• No official response from X despite claims of operational systems on their status page.

X could be following Verizon as it faces a widespread outage this morning (Jan 16), as thousands of users reported that they were unable to access the social media platform's app or the website.

At its peak, there were about 78,000 reports of the service being inaccessible. Users reported issues on Downdetector beginning around 10 am ET this morning. The issues were primarily related to the app (56%) and the website (33%), with the remaining 10% having trouble with their timeline or feed. The AI chatbot Grok, developed by xAI, also seems to be down, with users reporting issues concerning its AI generation, app, and website.

People across the U.S., Canada, and the UK report that the mobile app and desktop site showed blank feeds, with "something went wrong. Try reloading, internal server error / Error code 500. Or posts aren’t loading right now,” messages on their screen.

Android Central's staff also faced similar issues, with Senior Editor Nick Sutrich, who was unaware of the outage at the time and thought it could have been his network connection, said, "I didn't even get an error, it just never loads sometimes."

Currently, there is no known solution or fix for the issue. However, the service appears to be gradually stabilizing, as some users are now reporting that they can view their feeds.

X hasn't issued any statement about the outage yet; its developer platform status page states that “all systems are operational.”

This is a developing story...

What you need to know

• X (formerly Twitter) brought location labels to account pages, so users can see where others' accounts originate from.
• However, it was quickly realized that some locations were woefully inaccurate or, in some cases, shed light that certain political accounts weren't from the U.S. at all.
• X originally started rolling these labels out to combat its bot problem on the platform, as well as trying to get a hold on misinformation, but as experts say, this will be a "constant game of cat-and-mouse."

X (formerly Twitter) started rolling out a feature over the past couple of weeks, designed to help wrangle in its bot problem, but there are some glaring issues.

As reported by NBC News, X started pushing a new feature called "location labels." The point of these labels is to show where the account originates from. If you've created your X account in the U.S., ideally, your location should say "United States." However, when the feature arrived, users started noticing that their location wasn't accurate at all, which was reportedly a concern by those working at X (formerly Twitter), who "rejected" the idea, per NBC News.

The publication tapped an X employee who remained anonymous, who stated, "the company had decided against deploying the idea in the past for two reasons: concern about creating a visible target for bad actors to manipulate and fear that the label could backfire."

VPNs were also thrust into the discussion, as such software is useful for effectively shifting your location, even if you're not from that country, region, etc. The report takes a turn, as users online, involved in the political side of things, have voiced that people they once thought were based in the U.S. have been shown to reside elsewhere. This brings us to the other side of X's battle: a war against misinformation.

These location labels were also designed to try and help fix that misinformation, giving people the awareness of knowing if the user they've seen posting about American politics is even from the United States. Ellison Barber from NBC News held a brief interview with TechRadar's editor-at-large, Lance Ulanoff, about X's location feature.

To Barber's question about whether or not this could stop X's bot problem "meaningfully" or if it's just a "performative band-aid," Ulanoff states, "I don't think it's going to have much of an impact at all." He adds, "what it's done is started a conversation and sometimes started controversy that may go nowhere."

It's a constant struggle

NBC News cited experts in the field who state, "there’s a constant game of cat-and-mouse between tech companies and adversaries who are trying to avoid detection. At worst, the labels can backfire." Recently, Nikita Bier, head of product at X, reported that the new "About this account" feature had been used "over 360 million times since launch," which likely points toward people who've been genuinely curious about the supposed general location of others.

The social media platform had reported that it was working to fix its inaccuracy for users, especially for those with pages that say their accounts are from a foreign country, when they aren't.

This location label feature is probably the most controversial update to hit the app this year. X updated its mobile app in January with a feature that was more light-hearted, and one that took a fight to TikTok, as it gave users a dedicated video tab on the Explore page. The video feed displays, you guessed it, only videos; however, they are roughly a minute long. Either way, users can "endlessly" scroll through this feed, as if they were drowning in Reels.

What you need to know

• X users face login issues due to a verification loop affecting both app and website access.
• YubiKey re-enrollment required by November 10 prompts access issues for some users.
• Despite reports, most users remain unaffected as X engineers work to restore service.

Some X (formerly Twitter) users are seeing login issues that began earlier today, with reports of issues on the app, website, and server connection. Users expressed their frustration on Reddit, noting they were caught in an infinite account verification loop.

They described repeatedly attempting to verify their identity via phone number, email, or a code generator app. However, the verification often failed because X could not send the necessary code or would not accept the code that was provided.

Some users are seeing "You must re-enroll your YubiKey. It’ll just take a few minutes to re-enroll. Re-enrolling your YubiKey will associate it with x.com, allowing us to retire the Twitter domain" pop-up on the screen.

Reports from DownDetector.com also echo the fact that users in the US and Canada are seeing some issues with spikes at around 1:30 PM ET. Some of our colleagues from Windows Central have also noticed the same YubiKey issue; however, TechRadar says this could be related to X finally switching to a different domain, and this could be causing to cause issues with 2FA.

In October, X's Safety account also announced that on November 10, they want all accounts using security keys as 2FA (two-factor authentication) to re-enroll their key to continue accessing X. Otherwise, they would be locked out of their account and may have to choose a different 2FA method, or elect not to use 2FA. This could be a reason why some users seem to be facing an outage.

The outage doesn't seem to be widespread, as a majority of people are still able to access the social media site without any problems. However, sources told Windows Central that "X's engineers are reverting the recent changes, and we should see service restored soon."

That said, if you still have access to your account and haven't re-enrolled for your 2FA key, then here's how to do it: Head to Settings and privacy on the X website or app, then proceed to Security and account access and select Security. From there, choose Two-factor authentication and select the Security key option. It is also important to note that X is yet to officially acknowledge the outage.

Update (May 30, 6:40 p.m. ET): X confirmed the global outage on the X Developer Platform status page, calling it a "site-wide outage."

The company specified that "some X API endpoints are currently experiencing degraded performance" and "you may experience 503 errors for the following endpoints: Get User Timeline / Get Tweets / Get DM / Create Tweet."

As of 5 p.m. ET, service was restored globally for all users.

You can read the original, unedited article below.

What you need to know

• X (formerly Twitter) appears to be down for many users as of 4:00 p.m. ET on Friday, May 30.
• The platform saw a spike of outage reports on Downdetector starting at around 3:40 p.m ET.
• At this time, X hasn't confirmed the outage or provided any remedies. We will update this story as the situation develops.

X (formerly Twitter) appears to be suffering an outage, with thousands of users being unable to load new posts on the platform. The social media site appeared to go down around 3:40 p.m ET, when reports of unavailability spiked on the Downdetector tracker. Less than an hour later, the number of outages reported has exceeded 25,000 and is quickly climbing.

The outage looks like it is specifically affecting posts, as user profiles, topics, and pages are still accessible. However, tapping on any area of the site will result in an error message if you try to load new posts. You may see older posts on your timeline, but likely won't be able to successfully interact with them.

Users are seeing "Nothing to see here — yet ... Check back later to see posts about this" messages appear when trying to refresh their timeline. When trying to load a specific post, you'll see a "Something went wrong. Try reloading." error message.

So far, X hasn't acknowledged the outage. If you're having trouble loading posts, know you're not alone. Some users are flocking to other platforms, like Threads or Reddit, to track the outage.

Stay tuned, as we'll update this story as more details become available.

What you need to know

• Elon Musk's AI Platform is partnering with Telegram to bring Grok to its users for a year, starting this summer.
• Telegram's CEO posted about this agreement on X, stating that they will receive $300M in cash and equity from xAI, as a part of this collaboration.
• Additionally Telegram will also be getting 50% of revenue coming from any Grok subscriptions made via the app.

Telegram's CEO, Pavel Durov, took to X to announce a one-year partnership with Elon Musk's startup xAI earlier today. In his post, he stated that all Telegram users will gain access to Grok X's AI chatbot starting this summer.

"Elon Musk and I have agreed to a 1-year partnership to bring xAI’s Grok to our billion+ users and integrate it across all Telegram apps," Durov wrote on his X Post.

Furthermore, he added that this integration would strengthen the messaging app's financial status. Durov confirmed that Elon Musk's xAI will pay Telegram $300 million in cash and equity, plus 50% of the revenue generated from AI subscriptions sold through the messaging platform, as part of their partnership.

“This summer, Telegram users will gain access to the best AI technology on the market,” Durov added.

Before the Grok AI partnership was announced, Telegram's CEO shared on X that Telegram's Premium subscribers had doubled over the past year, now exceeding 15 million, and according to CNBC, Telegram passed 1 billion monthly users this year, indicating that users on the messaging app continue to grow.

Telegram also recently rolled out the ability for its users to cast videos on Chromecast-supported devices. Android users can now cast a whole host of media, from memes to meeting presentations, through Telegram.

Elon Musk's Grok AI has been around since November 2023 and has been deemed the most uncensored chatbot so far. Earlier in March, xAI acquired social media platform X for $33 billion — Elon Musk stated that this was just the beginning for xAI as it is rapidly becoming one of the world's leading AI labs.

"xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk, stated in his post on X. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent," he added.

What you need to know

• Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has also jumped on the opportunity to capitalize on TikTok's precarious situation in the U.S.
• X came up with its own video "feed" by adding a new tab to the explore page that exclusively showcases videos.
• This feature is currently only available on the mobile app and showcases minute-long videos.

X (formerly Twitter) is trying to capitalize on the rocky TikTok scene. The platform came up with its own video "feed" by adding a new tab to the explore page that just showcases videos for users to scroll through. In a tweet, the social media platform joked about "not making a video tab" while posting a video showcasing the same.

The new "immersive new home for videos" was rolled out to U.S.-based users yesterday (Jan. 19) and showcased a vertical video tab mimicking TikTok/Instagram reels based on the user's interest/accounts they follow.

Considering the platform was banned for roughly half a day over the weekend, other social media sites wanted to leverage this and came up with their versions to slide into user's DMs.

For instance, Instagram introduced a new "edits" app resembling CapCut, a video editing software from ByteDance. "Edits is a free video editor that makes it easy for creators to turn their ideas into videos, right on their phone. It has all the tools you need to support your creation process, all in one place."

X showcases videos that go along with its tweets. However, this feed seems to give users a combination of videos that are both in a 9:16 aspect ratio and as well as landscape ones, much like Instagram (via Android Police).

From the looks of it, this feature is currently only available on the mobile app and showcases minute-long videos. There's not much information as to whether this tab will become available to people outside the U.S., and if so, when can we expect a broader rollout to happen?

Meanwhile, U.S. TikTok users rejoiced as the app made a comeback over the weekend after the ban went into effect and the app went dark. The official TikTok Policy account on X (formerly Twitter) shared a statement on Sunday, Jan. 19, announcing that it restored service as a result of President Trump's support.

The company wrote in the post, "We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive."

What you need to know

• In what was supposed to be a fun look back at an iconic video came character, the official Google Play Store account revealed it doesn't know anything about Sonic the Hedgehog on X (formerly Twitter).
• Every single post in the X thread was hit with a Community Note pointing out the glaring and obvious inaccuracies. 
• By the end, we heard from Sonic himself, who joined in with X users poking fun at the original Google Play Store thread.

The official Google Play Store account on X (formerly Twitter) frequently highlights video games, characters, and pop-culture moments on its page. But something that was supposed to be a fun look back at one of the most iconic video game characters ever ended up backfiring for the Play Store's social team. In a thread about the history of Sonic the Hedgehog, the Google Play Store account got everything wrong, and we literally mean everything.

The original premise was this: "Sonic, but as you scroll he gets older and older." Seems simple, right? All you had to do was find images of Sonic throughout history and list them in chronological order. For the Play Store, it was anything but.

Things started off on the wrong foot when the Play Store tried to show an image of Sonic from 1991, but there was just one problem. Tails was in the corner of the image, and Tails wasn't introduced as a character until the following year. The Play Store actually showed a 2013 version of the original game, which was referred to as "8-bit glory." In fact, the original Sega Genesis version of Sonic from 1991 was a 16-bit game.

Think the errors stopped there? Think again. When trying to find a picture of 1993's Sonic, the Play Store shared one from 2014 instead. It's pretty obvious to anyone, even those without a knack for Sonic, that the Sonic design in this post was not from 1993. 

Instead of showing the 1996 Sonic, the Play Store posted a 2013 iteration. In place of a 2003 version of Sonic, we got a 2005 version. When trying to show the 2006 character, a post shared 2017 Sonic. And in a truly-remarkable error, the Play Store ended up correctly showing the original 1991 game — but called it a "2018 Sonic" that "weirdly looked like 90's Sonic." 

Originally, we thought the Play Store finally got one right when it shared a screengrab from the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, claiming it was an example of "2020 Sonic." But as it turns out, this frame comes from the second Sonic film, which was released in 2022. Wrong again.

Of course, Community Notes had a field day with all these mistakes, covering the entire thread with corrections. By the end, the official Sonic the Hedgehog himself chimed in:

What you need to know

• X (Twitter) is now rolling out voice and video calls to Android users and states users must update the app first to try them out.
• Premium X users have the privilege of outgoing voice and video calls while anyone on the platform can receive them.
• X provides security options for users to decide who can call them alongside an "Enhanced call privacy" option to mask your IP address.

Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) finally brought a useful communication tool to Android users after iOS picked it up in 2023.

According to Enrique, a developer at X, the platform is now rolling out Voice and Video calls for Android users (via GSMArena). All users can receive calls, however, Premium X users are the only ones who can start a call with another person. Users are instructed to update the X app via the Google Play Store before seeing the latest features.

Once updated, users will be greeted by a small introductory message in the X app about the arrival of voice and video calls. The platform advises users to check their settings to toggle the feature on or off. Moreover, if you've enabled it, users can decide who can call them on X and who cannot.

As detailed on X's support page, users can choose between users in their address book, people they follow, and verified users.

Initiating a voice or video call is done through the DM conversation you have or have started with another user. The former is simple as it allows users to put the call on speaker by tapping the "audio" icon alongside a simple mute option. X allows users to switch between their front and rear cameras for video calls by tapping the "flip camera" icon.

Users can also turn their cameras off alongside a microphone mute button.

Additionally, X details an "Enhanced call privacy" setting as a layer of extra security. The platform explains that, when enabled, your IP address will be hidden from those you call and receive calls from. The setting is disabled by default as X states its servers facilitate the startup and then routed into a peer-to-peer scenario where both sides see the other's IP.

To add this extra bit of security, you can tap the envelope icon (DMs) > Settings (gear icon) > Toggle Enhanced Call Privacy on.

The update for Android arrived nearly three months after iOS picked up voice and video calls in October 2023. These features were wrapped in Elon Musk's plans to bring more communication options to X while also boosting the security levels of users' direct messages. There were talks with Signal's creator and former CEO, Moxie Marlinspike, about methods to implement stronger encryptions for DMs.

Recently, X (Twitter) secured its 15th money transmitter license from the state of Utah. Intending to secure licenses in all 50 states, X is moving closer to a time when it can legally host user money transfers, similar to Paypal's Venmo. Musk had previously stated he wanted users to manage their "entire financial life" on X. He foresees this feature arriving "by the end of" 2024.

What you need to know

• X (Twitter) has secured its 15th money transmitter license in Utah, which joins other states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Maryland.
• With this license X can legally host money transfers so users can send or receive money on the platform, similar to Paypal's Venmo.
• Elon Musk previously stated he wants users to manage their "entire financial life" on X and expects the features to be available "by the end of" 2024.

X (formerly Twitter) has secured another license that would pave the way for new user-to-user payment options.

As reported by Reuters, the social media platform X has obtained its 15th money transmitter license from Utah on Monday, January 15 (via PhoneArena). This is wrapped in Elon Musk's plans to bring money transfer capabilities to the platform, akin to Paypal's Venmo. This means users on X are in line to receive money transfers, as a result.

X adds Utah to its list of obtained licenses alongside Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, and New Hampshire.

The long-term goal is to obtain a money transmitter license in all 50 states so the platform can roll out whatever its new payment features are to everyone. However, its seat in the waiting room remains as it awaits approval from California, New York, and Texas.

In another report, Musk made it clear to his employees that users should be able to manage their "entire financial life" from the X app. Moreover, he expects the feature to be officially "rolled out by the end of next year" (2024). X's (formerly Twitter) CEO, Linda Yoccarino adds, "We want money on X to flow as freely as information and conversation," PhoneArena, adds.

While more specifics on "financial life management" remain a mystery, Musk has continued to rework X with features such as its latest cheaper subscription plan. Launched back in October, users could grab a subscription plan ranging from $3 to $16 that would let them edit posts, write more in posts, and gain a "small" reply boost in its Basic tier.

The more expensive Premium Plus tier removes ads from your "For You" and "Following" feeds while providing a larger boost for replies.

Also, tucked by its subscriptions Premium tier paywall are Video and Voice calls, which rolled out in October, as well. The feature appeared first on iOS devices and still has yet to roll out for Android.

What you need to know

• Threads will come to the European Union starting in December, according to the Wall Street Journal. 
• Meta had to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act before it could expand its microblogging service to the market.
• Threads currently has nearly 100 million monthly active users and will reportedly add another 40 million with its EU expansion. 
• Rival app X is currently losing advertisers in response to owner Elon Musk's alleged antisemitism. 

Threads, the microblogging expansion to Instagram, launched "worldwide" in July 2023, with the exception of Europe. Regulatory protections stopped Meta from an immediate launch there. Now, the way has apparently been cleared for Threads to officially launch in the European Union in December. 

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported the news, citing "people familiar with the matter." The WSJ noted that for the EU to allow Threads to work there, Meta had to "give EU users the choice of using Threads purely for consumption without a profile," whereas many social media apps require a logged-in account to see content.

Meta also recently enabled users to delete their Threads account without deleting their Instagram account, another alleged hangup to an EU launch. And it allows you to edit posts without paying for the privilege (unlike X). 

The WSJ cited Debra Aho Williamson, an "independent tech analyst," as saying this would help Threads add an additional 40 million monthly users, based on the proportion of Instagram users worldwide that have signed up for Threads. 

During the Meta Q3 earnings report, Mark Zuckerberg reported that just under 100 million users still use Threads monthly, despite the earlier report that Threads lost half its users within a month of launch. 

A 40% increase would certainly be significant. But this figure assumes EU Instagram users will sign up at the same rate for an "older" app as U.S. users did in July, which isn't a guarantee.

What could help Threads' expansion is the current struggles of its most popular rival, X (formerly Twitter). Owner Elon Musk has come under fire for describing an antisemitic post on the platform as "the actual truth." Then, this week, he told advertisers who left X in response to his tweet to "go f*ck yourself."

If Meta plays its cards right, it can appeal to any European users who choose to leave X behind in response to Musk's actions. We've already seen the rise of various blogging platforms in recent months, like Bluesky and Mastodon, although Threads — bolstered by its Instagram ties — has the biggest chance of success. 

What you need to know

• Yup arrives as a new decentralized social media app, letting users cross-post content on several different platforms.
• Users can post and see content from X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky, Farcaster, Lens, and Threads.
• If users are interested in connecting Threads, they will need to disable their Instagram 2FA on the account, which is not something that's recommended.

A new social media app has arrived on Android and iOS that claims it offers a decentralized social experience "all-in-one" place.

This new app, called "Yup," gives users a singular feed to view posts from all of their connected social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky, Farcaster, Lens, and Threads (via TechCrunch). Once these platforms are properly connected with your Yup account, the app will let you toggle which services your crafted post will appear on.

Yup adds the app contains most of the functions users are already familiar with, like comments, a "like" button," and a repost function. Moreover, notifications from each individual platform are collected and displayed through the app.

The "Crossfollow" feature lets users follow a person they've discovered on Yup on every social media platform they've connected, and there's also support for "For You" and "Following" feeds.

The app seems to have some problems early on, as some of the previously stated feeds aren't updating properly.

Users hopping in will notice Yup does not support other platforms like Mastodon, Nastr, or Damus. Those working behind the scenes state they will work to bring in support for these platforms, though the ones they have on the current roster will take precedence for now.

Elsewhere, Yup's integration with content posted on Threads comes with a severe caveat that many would be adverse to. The company informed TechCrunch that the app "informally uses the internal API" found through Threads' web-based client.

Due to this workaround, if users are interested in using Threads through Yup, they'll have to disable Instagram's 2FA (two-factor authentication) — which is not recommended.

The other apps seem to work fine without sacrificing such an important digital security parameter. Fortunately, Yup's developers seem confident in their plans to bring proper API usage of Threads when its official one becomes available.

Furthering the development of Yup is the $3.5 million it raised during its early days almost two years ago. The app is free on Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store. However, the publication raises awareness that a subscription plan could appear on Yup sometime in the future to help support the platform.

What you need to know

• X now offers three different subscription tiers, ranging from $3 a month to $16 per month.
• The Basic tier includes an edit button, longer posts, and a "small" reply boost.
• The new Premium Plus tier removed ads from feeds and provides the largest boost for replies.

If you want to take advantage of some of the paywalled features on Twitter X, but the price is offputting, the social media platform is now tweaking its subscription with two additional plans, one of which will slash the price by more than 50%.

The company recently announced the new Basic and Premium Plus plans, which join the existing Premium plan. Both are currently available via the web and aim to offer users more choices if they want to get more out of their experience on X. Premium Plus is the most expensive of the pack, costing double that of the regular Premium tier. Opting for Premium Plus will remove ads from your feeds and boost the visibility of your replies.

But the more compelling option may be the $3 Basic tier, which gives you some of the most interesting X features. That includes the ability to edit posts, video downloads, background video playback, longer posts, a small boost in reply visibility, and more. The downside is that you won't get the oh-so-coveted blue checkmark.

You can check out the available features by visiting the Premium sign-up page. 

For now, the new plans are available only on the web, but these could go a long way toward bringing in more paid subscribers as they attempt to entice users who prefer not to see ads between posts or only want some of the features without the nearly $10 cost ($11 on mobile). Only time will tell if this will pay off for the platform, which has increased competition from the likes of Meta, which has its own ad-free subscription and a new X clone in the shape of Threads.

Recently, X began charging new users in certain regions $1 per year in an effort to reduce spam and bot activity on the platform

What you need to know

• Elon Musk announced X (Twitter) has gained video and voice calling through DMs for Premium subscription holders.
• While every user can receive calls, only Premium users can initiate a call to someone else.
• The feature is rolling out for those on iOS with those on Android having to wait a little longer before it's their turn.

After almost a year of teasing the idea, Elon Musk announced an "early version" of a feature for DMs that has now rolled out.

As spotted by Gizmodo, X (formerly Twitter) is rolling out "video and audio calling" for Premium users on the platform. Since this is an early variant of the feature, there isn't much to really dive into. What we do know is turning on the feature within your direct message settings will let users select who can call them.

A newly created support page for the feature states, "All accounts are able to receive calls." However, this is a Premium-based feature, and it's been stated that only those users can actually call someone on top of receiving calls from other subscription holders.

Calls are also open by default to those you follow and those saved in your address book if you've previously given the app access to that information. The page adds that for someone to call you, they must have sent you a DM at least once.

With the feature being accessible by heading into the app's Settings > Privacy & Safety > Direct Messages > Enable Audio & Video Calling, Musk adds it's "still a beta product, but it is promising."

Lastly, the feature has arrived for iOS users ahead of Android. The support page's mention of the latter suggests it'll arrive "soon."

X CEO Elon Musk teased his vision for bringing video and voice calling to the platform back in November 2022. This idea was wrapped in his plans to make X's direct messaging much more private and secure for users interested in taking part. Musk had initiated discussions with Signal's creator and former CEO Moxie Marlinspike about bringing a strong level of encryption for user's DMs.

Meanwhile, other dealings within X's atmosphere involve its latest experimental choice of charging new users $1 per month to combat bots. This has spurred whispers that if the platform observes positivity with its test in the Philippines and New Zealand, it could spread to more regions in a more concrete form.

Despite X standing against the idea that this new method is simply another way to make money, it could likely arrive as another reason for people to continue abandoning the platform altogether.

What you need to know

• X, formerly known as Twitter, is implementing a $1 annual subscription for new users in New Zealand and the Philippines in an effort to reduce spam, manipulation, and bot activity on the platform.
• New users in these countries will also need to verify their accounts with a phone number, though the subscription is only for new users joining via the web.
• Users who opt out of subscribing will only be able to view content, not interact with it.

X (formerly Twitter) is implementing a $1 annual fee for new users in New Zealand and the Philippines, and those who refuse to pay will be restricted to spectator mode—unable to post, reply, repost, quote, bookmark, or even like content on the web.

The new subscription method requires new users to pay up every year to unlock all of the site's core features, but those who are already on the platform can keep using it for free. Otherwise, you'll be stuck with a "read-only" account, only able to view posts, watch videos, and follow accounts.

Last month, during a live-streamed conversation about AI with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk hinted at introducing a paid model to tackle bots and spam, so this new subscription fee isn't exactly a shock.

"This new test was developed to bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity," the company said in a support page. "This will evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers on X, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount."

X's support team made it clear that this "Not A Bot" initiative isn't about making money, but rather about weeding out fake accounts. As part of the program, new users will need to verify their phone numbers.

This new subscription method comes in addition to X's existing subscription plans, including the $8 monthly X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue) and the $1000 monthly Verified Organization plan.

Although this new subscription model is only being tested in two countries for now, it's bound to stir up rumors that X might eventually charge everyone. Even if it's just a small fee, the thought of paying for something that used to be free might drive some people away from the platform instead of bringing them in.

What you need to know

• X no longer displays headlines in articles posted to the platform.
• Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk notes that he thinks this will make X posts look cleaner.
• The change was made on Wednesday for iOS and desktop users, but it hasn't yet reached Android users.

Elon Musk’s history of questionable decisions concerning X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, has just gained a new addition. The platform has stopped displaying headlines for links posted on the social network after Musk said it would make posts look cleaner.

Now, articles shared on X only appear as an image, which also notes the domain of the link. This means that article posts on the platform will appear truncated, making them look exactly like image posts, as you’ll only see the featured image of the article. The only difference — and an indication that it is, in fact, a link to an article — is the small text in the bottom left corner of the image detailing the site’s URL. 

The move was made on Wednesday for iOS and desktop users. At this point, it hasn’t yet reached Android users, but we don’t expect them to be safe from the change. 

Opting to remove headlines may not be a popular decision, but the move is hardly a surprise. Fortune first reported back in August that the change was in the works. Musk then took to X to confirm the plan, noting that the decision to remove headlines from article posts to X “is coming from me directly” and that it  “will greatly improve the esthetics [sic].”

Most recently, Musk had been encouraging users to post content directly to the platform in lieu of sharing links, of which he apparently isn’t a fan. The billionaire entrepreneur argues that the service’s content algorithm deprioritizes links as they divert users away from the platform. 

He recently tweeted that “our algorithm tries to optimize time spent on X, so links don’t get as much attention, because there is less time spent if people click away,” adding that “the best thing is to post content in long form on this platform.”

However, since this already appears to be an unwelcome change among users, time will tell as to whether this change to the platform’s UI will have Musk’s desired effect. 

What you need to know

• A research organization discovered X's recent move to eliminate the option to report misinformation on the platform.
• Reset.Tech Australia revealed that at least five individuals are unable to report electoral misinformation on the platform, weeks before a referendum.
• It appears that X's remaining tool to fight misinformation is to let users fact-check tweets using its Community Notes feature.

X, the micro-blogging site formerly known as Twitter, has ditched the option for users to report misinformation, potentially posing a threat to the platform's longstanding feature for keeping misleading tweets at bay.

According to an open letter published by the research group Reset.Tech Australia, users in countries where the feature was released can no longer flag misleading tweets about elections, which could lead to more misinformation spreading in the lead-up to Australia's upcoming referendum (via The Guardian).

The feature was first introduced in 2021 in the United States, Australia, and South Korea, where users were able to report tweets that they thought were misleading. Twitter's (as it was known back then) staff would then review the flagged tweets, along with other methods for reporting abuse or hate speech.

Reset.Tech Australia notes in its letter that at least five Australians were unable to find the "misleading information" category within the "Report post" option when reporting a tweet. That said, X retains the ability to report content for hate, abuse and harassment, violent speech, child safety, spam, privacy, self-harm, sensitive media, violence, and deceptive identities.

"It is extremely concerning that Australians would lose the ability to report serious misinformation weeks away from a major referendum," Reset.Tech Australia said.

The tool was part of limited testing and rolled out to more countries, including Brazil, the Philippines, and Spain, in 2022. While Twitter vowed to expand globally, this never happened, especially since Elon Musk took over the company.

The move comes at a time when social media platforms are facing increasing pressure to crack down on the spread of misinformation, particularly about elections. In recent years, there has been a growing trend of people using social media to spread false claims about elections.

Musk has been critical of Twitter's content moderation policies, and he has said that he believes in free speech, even if it means allowing the spread of misinformation.

Twitter has previously taken steps to combat misinformation about elections, but its decision to remove the ability to report false election information is a major step backwards. However, people can still use the platform's Community Notes feature to fact-check X posts, which is its last line of defense against misinformation.

What you need to know

• X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, will go behind a paywall, making all users pay a monthly subscription fee.
• It's unclear when this will happen or how much users will have to pay.
• Elon Musk announced this change during a live-stream on the platform.

Elon Musk has a history of making unpopular decisions regarding Twitter, now called X. Now, it looks like we have one more to add to the list, as Musk made a surprise revelation concerning the future of the social media platform. 

In a live-streamed conversation about AI with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the billionaire entrepreneur announced that he is postulating the idea that the social network formerly known as Twitter may soon no longer be a free platform. 

Musk said the company is moving toward “a small monthly payment for use of the X system,” suggesting the change is a necessary step to address the problematic prevalence of bots on the platform. 

“It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,” Musk explained. “Because a bot costs a fraction of a penny — call it a tenth of a penny — but even if it has to pay…a few dollars or something, the effective cost of bots is very high.”

The disesteemed CEO’s rationale is that a bot creator would need to register a new payment method for every bot created, which could regulate the swarms of fake accounts being set up on the platform.

At this point, though, it’s unclear when the new subscription plans will roll out or how much exactly users would be charged to use the platform. Given Musk’s proclivity for jumping the gun, it’s also possible these plans don’t come to fruition at all. However, since Musk took over the platform last year, the company began pushing users towards X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue). 

During the Netanyahu chat, Musk shared the latest metrics for X, noting the platform currently has 550 million monthly users and sees 200 million posts daily. However, it’s likely that these numbers would decline if such a change was made. Users have already started to gravitate to other platforms, such as Mastodon, Blue Sky, and Threads, since Musk took over and rebranded. So, if and when the new subscription plans do see the light of day, it’s likely that even more users will jump ship.

What you need to know

• Elon Musk announces X will remove the ability to "block" someone everywhere except in DMs.
• Blocking is a crucial function that can aid a person's safety on social media platforms.
• Musk's controversial decision could breach Google's Play Store guidelines for apps hosting user-generated content.

Elon Musk is making another decision that has X posters in an uproar as some are rallying behind a crucial social media feature.

The owner of X posted on Friday that the ability to block users "is going to be deleted as a 'feature,' except for DMs." This was posted as a response to another post asking whether or not there's a reason behind such action or even muting another person on the platform.

X's block feature brings a bit of totality to removing someone aggressive or heinous — even spam accounts — from your social media experience. It functions a little differently from X's "mute" button, which just conceals their tweets from your view.

Curiously, though, Musk's choice to remove such a key safety feature may breach app guidelines Google requires all developers to follow before listing. Users have started grudging up counter-arguments such as the aforementioned policies for apps which state apps with user-generated content must provide "an in-app system for blocking UGC and users."

It appears as though the same can be said for Apple's App Store. However, this is still unconfirmed if this plays into the users' hands or the hands of the service.

Musk hasn't given a concrete timeframe for when users can expect the block option to disappear everywhere except in DMs.

X's owner is no stranger to controversial decisions that lead posters to voice their opinions. Though, Musk has gone back on his word once in accordance with the removal of "light mode" for X's UI. Musk stated light mode would stay and "dim" would go, leaving dark mode as the platform's new default UI theme.

Another recent change saw X Pro (formerly TweekDeck) being shoved behind an X Premium paywall if users would like to access the application.

What you need to know

• TweetDeck has been renamed X Pro and now requires a subscription to use.
• The organizing tool used to be free but now sits behind X Blue's paywall.
• The move was earlier announced in July alongside a revamp of the then Tweetdeck.

Tweetdeck, the application that helps manage your Twitter X accounts, has recently seen several changes. Along with a name change and revamp with new functionalities, the service's new paywall just went into effect for anyone interested in using it.

According to The Verge, several Tweetdeck (now known as X Pro) users are noticing that loading up the application now asks for an X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue) subscription. And it seems previously logged-in and unverified customers were signed out, asking to pay for the new subscription to access X Pro.

The move isn't completely out of nowhere, as X's support team mentioned the change in early July. The announcement came with several new features introduced to the platform. They included full composer functionality, support for Spaces, video docking, polls, and more. The support team had further alerted users to be Verified within the following 30 days to continue using the service. Per that deadline, the date has passed already, which makes the new change to X Pro not very surprising.

Sadly, although the redesign is undoubtedly a welcome update for some, adding the verified paywall to the service, which has been free since launch (Twitter acquired TweetDeck for $40 million in 2011), isn't quite so welcoming. Nonetheless, it is an excellent tool for those who follow several accounts on the platform, although now you'll have to settle for forking over money every month for the Blue subscription if you want to better manage your accounts.

In addition to Tweetdeck (X Pro), we have seen numerous changes to Twitter X since Elon Musk took over one of the best social media apps. Initially, the change started with the introduction of the revamped Twitter/Blue subscription, which seemingly made the verified badges meaningless, as well as the addition of several new features like longer Tweets and edit functionality.

Twitter recently began paying creators on the platform via ad revenue sharing.

What you need to know

• X will bring video calling support as well as audio calling features.
• X CEO Linda Yaccarino has confirmed the feature roll out happening soon.
• Yaccarino has further confirmed there wouldn't be a need for a phone number to make video calls.

X, formerly Twitter, has been quite the roller coaster ride ever since Elon Musk acquired the brand and renamed it, bringing various drastic changes and new feature additions. One such upcoming feature is the ability to make video calls via Direct Messages on the platform.

The announcement comes from X CEO Linda Yaccarino through an interview given to CNBC, explaining the reason for Twitter's rebranding to X. According to the CEO, ever since Musk's acquisition, there have been several experiences and evolutions seen on X, such as long-form videos, articles, and having the option to subscribe to favorite creators, amongst others. 

Further remarking about video, Yaccarino added, "You look at video, and soon you'll be able to make video chat calls without having to give your phone number to anyone on the platform."

Andrea Conway, a current designer at X, had already hinted about the feature in July in a post implying we could soon see audio and video call capabilities. Conway had additionally shared screenshots of the feature on X, indicating what to expect from the interface once the feature rolls out. The shared image showcases X's DM between individuals, where you can spot a phone icon in the top right corner.

Tapping it would allow users to have an audio or video call with the person from the DM. The other shared image reveals the ongoing video call interface, which resembles that of most messaging apps. In corresponding tweets, Conway had further assured users would be able to adjust these upcoming call feature settings from their accounts so that not everyone from the platform could call them DMs.

Like some other messaging platforms, an X user doesn't need a phone number or email to call another person on X, so long as they know each other and presumably are already connected on X. We'll likely know more once the feature rolls out, but it will be an exciting addition to the platform.

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What you need to know

• Twitter's "X" rebrand has started to spread to its dashboard application TweetDeck but only in the app name and certain other elements.
• The app still displays "tweet" instead of "post" and its description still falls back on the Twitter moniker.
• The X app has been busy replacing Twitter on Android and iOS devices, as well.

Twitter is slowly slipping away as the social media platform shifts its dashboard application branding to fit the new "X" moniker.

Spotted by 9to5Google, the platform's management application known as TweetDeck has been renamed to "XPro" amid wider mobile app rebranding. Currently, the name change is only evident at the top of the application's landing page and appears in the tab of a user's browser.

Additionally, the URL link remains tweetdeck.twitter.com, while the description of the app still mentions it is a "powerful, real-time tool" for Twitter.

Other elements of TweetDeck aren't entirely XPro, such as the "tweet" button that remains unchanged even though the platform has dropped that term in favor of "post." Although, the bottom left-hand sidebar of the app does mention the new name for the app alongside the new "X" logo.

Though it may be sad to see the blue bird go along with its old name, changes to TweetDeck in this manner were expected. However, that's not the only thing changing as soon XPro will require users to be "verified" if they wish to access the dashboard application. X is essentially wrapping the app within its Blue subscription, requiring individuals to pay $8 per month to retain certain benefits.

Considering the rebranding of the app has started to come in, it's likely we're approaching that lockout for those not subscribed to Blue on the platform, as the company announced it would take place "in 30 days" back in early July.

Moreover, XPro, formerly TweetDeck, recently went through a rework of sorts, letting users import saved searches, lists, and columns into the app for a little more convenience. That said, the slightly rebranded landing page offers a "Legacy XPro" link which will direct users to the old version of the app devoid of the revamp.

Elon Musk's "X app" has been busy spreading its new influence on Android phones and Apple's iPhones as the app is now appearing with the new logo alongside X as its name. A new app description accompanied the logo and name change on the Play Store, which reads, "X app is the trusted digital town square for everyone."

Musk has continuously stated he wants X to become a place where people can come and speak, although certain changes, such as introducing a post-viewing limit, have not sat well with users. This was most likely just another attempt at trying to entice people over to purchasing the platform's Blue subscription for a much larger post-viewing limit cap.

What you need to know

• Twitter's UI will soon default to "Lights-out" dark mode, which Musk says "is superior in every way."
• Initially, Musk said Lights-out would be the only option but has since reversed his stance, saying only Dim mode would go away.
• Light mode is often used by users who have vision impairment issues as it provides better contrast for text and less modulation on OLED displays.

Twitter (X) is due for another round of changes in the near future, this time canning a favorite UI feature. Dim mode is going away forever in favor of the "Lights out" mode, meaning users will be able to choose from just one light and one dark mode.

Initially, Musk Tweeted that "dark mode" would be the only option for users in the near future but reversed his stance after backlash. Now, it looks like the "Dim" setting is the only UI color that will be removed in a future update, leaving users with one light and one dark mode option.

Currently, Twitter offers a light mode, Dim mode, and Lights out mode, as demonstrated in the image below. The Twitter app will now default to Lights out mode, and users who prefer light mode can change it in the app.

Light mode is an important UI mode to keep for several reasons. It's easier to see when using phones outside during the day, which is why Android phones offer the ability to schedule dark mode for sunrise and sunset.

In addition to that, PWM-sensitive individuals (like myself) use light mode because it offers a friendlier UI for folks with vision impairment or sensitivity issues. True dark mode UIs, like Lights-out mode on Twitter, cause OLED displays to heavily modulate between extremely dark and extremely bright, which can be straining for human eyes.

Lights-out-style dark modes are thought to be superior usually because of the enhanced contrast, but research is a bit mixed on this thought. Most users seem to read better when using light mode, while users with certain vision issues — like cataracts — find it easier to read in dark mode.

No matter what you prefer, it's always nice to have options that you can choose from instead of being cornered into one decision. Unfortunately, folks who love dim mode might find themselves in search of other social networks once this change takes place. Twitter has undergone a number of huge changes lately, including being rebranded to X earlier this week.

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What you need to know

• Elon Musk has started replacing the blue bird app icon on Android with Twitter's new X branding.
• The new X logo is spreading to Twitter's beta version and has yet to arrive on the stable channel.
• Twitter's name will also reportedly be changed to X in the near future.

Twitter's new X logo is making its way into the last few places where the platform's old branding still exists, and the latest to get the treatment is its Android app.

Elon Musk's Twitter began rolling out the new, abrupt branding earlier this week after announcing it during the weekend. The change began to arrive on Twitter for the web. As spotted by 9to5Google, Twitter for Android has begun adopting the X logo in the beta channel.

If you head over to the Google Play Store and type "Twitter" in the search bar, the results will show the new X branding. It includes the white letter X against a black background, replacing the iconic blue bird logo. The same logo also shows up as a status bar icon for Twitter notifications.

The updated Play Store listing is the latest step in Musk's campaign to remove Twitter branding from the internet. The app description even goes so far as to say that the "X app is the trusted digital town square for everyone."

The rest of the description in the listing removes any mention of "Twitter." However, the app's stable version continues to stick with the old logo and name, though this will presumably no longer be the case soon.

Meanwhile, Twitter Beta's Android app still embraces the same old branding and name, though 9to5 believes this will change in the near future and the launcher name will become "X" when the branding reaches the stable channel.

Earlier this week, the rebranding was also reflected on the social media platform's official handles. For example, its Twitter handle has changed from @twitter to @x.

What you need to know

• Twitter officially ditches its blue bird branding and is now rebranded to "X."
• The rebranding was announced on Sunday and went into effect on Monday.
• Visiting X.com now redirects people to Twitter's website.

Elon Musk has given Twitter a new look, ditching the bird logo for an "X" in what appears to be an overnight decision.

Twitter's new owner and its Chief Executive Officer, Linda Yaccarino, unveiled the new logo for the social media network on Sunday, with Musk teasing a white X against a black background. A day later, the rebranding went into effect, marking the latest change since Musk took over the social media platform for $44 billion last year.

"It’s an exceptionally rare thing – in life or in business – that you get a second chance to make another big impression," Yaccarino tweeted. "Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate."

Yaccarino went on to say that X "will go further, transforming the global town square." When you visit X.com on any of the leading browsers, you'll be redirected to Twitter's website.

The Chief Twit, as he used to describe his Twitter profile after buying the company, reportedly informed Twitter employees about the rebranding the night before announcing it. His email also stated that it would be his final one from a Twitter address, according to Platformer managing editor Zoe Schiffer on Threads.

Speaking of which, Twitter's abrupt brand refresh comes a few weeks after Meta launched its own text-based social app, Threads, in an attempt to provide an alternative platform for disgruntled Twitter users in the Elon Musk era.

However, the change is not surprising given Musk's fondness for the letter X. In April, Twitter Inc. was merged into X Holdings Corp., a company owned and created by Musk, as part of the Twitter acquisition. It was a move that reflected his ambition to create a "super app" a la WeChat.

Musk’s other businesses also have the letter X attached to their names. His rocket company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is more commonly known as SpaceX. He also founded a financial services startup named X.com in 1999, a company we now know as PayPal.

The rebranding could be seen as a way for Musk to stamp his own mark on Twitter. He has a history of making bold changes to companies he acquires, and the rebranding of Twitter might be seen as another example of this, at the risk of alienating some existing Twitter users and advertisers.

What you need to know

• Some Verified Organizations are already able to use the new Twitter Hiring feature.
• They can list up to five available jobs right on their profiles.
• Meanwhile, Twitter has created a dedicated handle for Twitter Hiring, which is already live.

Twitter is reportedly testing a new feature that lets verified organizations post their job listings on the social media platform (via TechCrunch).

Early this year, Elon Musk tweeted in reply to a user who asked to make Twitter suitable for dating with relevant features. The response stated, "Interesting idea, maybe jobs too." 

TechCrunch further notes the social media giant had acquired Laskie (back in May) — a startup platform that hires talent. According to Axios, the acquisition has been significant since it was the first deal made after Musk owned Twitter.

According to an app researcher, Nima Owji, he shared the alleged welcome screen of the Twitter Hiring feature, which gave interested users what to expect.

It states, "Twitter Hiring is a free feature for Verified Organizations to post jobs, feature jobs, on your company profile, and attract top talent to your open positions."

It might sound familiar to what we have seen on other apps like LinkedIn; however, engagement could be an interesting aspect to look for with a user base of half a billion on Twitter. The organizations and HR executives are already familiar with posting jobs on the platform through regular tweets, but having a dedicated account could be beneficial while dealing with the authenticity of the job postings.

Additionally, Verified Organizations can add up to five jobs on their company's profiles, wherein all users will be able to see the jobs when they visit their Twitter handles. The feature also involves adding the ability to import jobs to Twitter via an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or XML feed in a hassle-free manner.

TechCrunch notes some Verified Organizations like Workweek (@workweekinc) have already been able to use the featured jobs attached to their Twitter profiles, which sit right beneath the "Following" and "Followers" sections, as seen in the screenshot.

Adam Ryan, the CEO of Workweek, has shared a screenshot addressing the benefits and valuable features of Elon Musk's Twitter. He has further confirmed that Verified Organizations need to pay an additional amount to use the feature other than the $1000 per month they already pay to obtain the "Verified Organizations" badge right next to their accounts.

Meanwhile, Twitter has created a new account dubbed @TwitterHiring, which is already live with the official verified badge that could presumably add the latest updates and features of Twitter Hiring. The launch date of the newest job listings feature is yet to be determined.

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What you need to know

• TweetDeck has officially been revamped with new functionalities.
• They include a full tweet composer, the ability to hear Spaces, and a new Deck, amongst others.
• The service, which has been free since the launch, will not be for those who don't pay $8 per month for Twitter Blue.

Tweetdeck is a great way to organize your Twitter through columns that give you multiple timelines in a simpler interface. It's been around for a while now and for free for all Twitter users. Well, that's about to change.

A new post from Twitter Support has stated, "In 30 days, users must be Verified to access TweetDeck." It fits well, implying taking on the Twitter Blue subscription, which gives any Twitter user the "Verified" badge if they are willing to pay $8 a month or $84 a year to get the subscription.

Interestingly, the announcement comes as part of TweetDeck's official revamp, which is now up for users to try by hitting "Try the new TweetDeck" in the bottom left menu of the current TweetDeck version. The new TweetDeck has been in the preview version, which was first revealed back in 2021.

The revamp also allows users to import their existing saved searches, workflows, lists, and columns, which will reload when they try the new TweetDeck. The platform also brings support to full composer functionality, Spaces, video docking, and polls, amongst others.

However, the Teams functionality seems to be unavailable as Twitter promises to be restored in the coming weeks. TweetDeck 2.0, which is what the revamp is being called, also introduces Decks, allowing users to group columns into "clean workspaces."

If you want to know more about TweetDeck 2.0, the company has provided a complete list of new FAQs regarding the revamp and features the next iteration wants to offer.

While the revamp is certainly a welcoming change, putting the verified paywall on the service, which has been free ever since the launch (Twitter bought TweetDeck for $40 million in 2011), is not so welcoming.

Twitter is making it easier for its users regularly to look for alternatives — thanks to its recent changes or simply put restrictions for consumers from viewing tweets without signing up or limiting users to view a certain number of posts per day, which is also another convenient way to ask users to subscribe to the platform's infamous Twitter Blue subscription.

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What you need to know

• Instagram's Threads app is coming soon as Twitter's alternative.
• It is supposedly a conversation-based app, which incorporates the famous "threads" inspired by Twitter.
• Users with Instagram accounts can sign up for Threads when it goes live.

Instagram is attempting to capitalize on the disarray that Elon Musk's reign over Twitter has created. Your phones might soon receive the new thread app from the Meta-owned platform.

We have been hearing about Instagram working on a Twitter alternative for quite some time. It is dubbed "Threads, an Instagram app," and it has already made its way to Google Play Store for Android devices and via Apple App Store for iOS devices. On the latter, the app goes with a description stating, "Share ideas & trends with text."

Both app store listings showcase the same set of screenshots of the Threads app revealing what to expect from the interface alongside the process of signing up. Instagram users can sign up directly with their Instagram accounts, similar to how Facebook allows users to sign up to their Instagram using Facebook accounts.

The screenshots also indicate giving users the flexibility to choose from the same followers that they follow on Instagram, even on the new Threads app. The other images reveal a similar thread format, which we are accustomed to through Twitter threads, meaning a post can be converted to a thread with multiple relative replies it gets.

The interface further reveals the ability to "love," "reply," "repost," and "share" posts and threads. The "repost" feature appears new on Threads, as others are already seen on Instagram. The Threads app, which calls itself Instagram's text-based conversation app, has the following description on the app listings revealing the primary purpose of the new app from Meta.

"Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world."

According to The Verge, Meta has also started teasing the launch date of the Threads app via Instagram. Users who search for "threads" in the Instagram app are apparently greeted with a ticket icon revealing the launch date slated for July 6 at 10 AM ET.

Although it is encouraging to see Meta launch a direct Twitter rival, the Threads app has already caught the attention of former Twitter executives.

Jack Dorsey has tweeted out stating, "All your Threads are belong to us," with a screenshot of the Threads' Apple App Store page (the same can be seen on the Play Store listing as well), which reveals the amount of data that the new app collects, including health & fitness data, location, user content, sensitive information amongst other parameters. To which Elon Musk had conveniently replied, "Yeah."

Users have to bear in mind Dorsey is already behind another Twitter alternative dubbed "BlueSky," the process to get on it is still limited to consumers as it is invite system-based. The chance of getting it is fairly limited.

On the other hand, ever since Elon Musk brought Twitter, the radical changes it went through had made other text-based alternatives like Mastodon climb up the ladder to make it to the best social media apps list.

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What you need to know

• Elon Musk announces new limits for the number of posts viewed per user.
• Verified users can see 6000 daily posts, which can go up to 10,000 in the coming months.
• Unverified users are restricted to viewing 600 posts per day, and later, they get bumped to 1000 posts/day.

After blocking unregistered users from viewing accounts and tweets early this month, Twitter is back with another move restricting the number of posts users can view daily.

The announcement comes directly from Elon Musk's Twitter post, where he mentioned that users with verified accounts could view 10,000 posts per day, whereas unverified users can view 1,000, and the new account holders can see through 500 posts per day. This actually came as a follow-up tweet to another post that stated aforementioned users could view 8000, 800, and 400 posts, respectively.

Meanwhile, the original announcement from Musk stated, "Verified accounts are limited to reading 6000 posts/day". This will be followed by 600 posts per day for unverified accounts, and new unverified accounts will be limited to seeing 300 posts per day. 

Musk says that this new move is apparently to address data scraping next to system manipulation by AI companies, and these new limits seem to be temporary.

Here's the full statement from Twitter Business regarding the new usage limits:

"To ensure the authenticity of our user base we must take extreme measures to remove spam and bots from our platform. That’s why we temporarily limited usage so we could detect and eliminate bots and other bad actors that are harming the platform. Any advance notice on these actions would have allowed bad actors to alter their behavior to evade detection.

At a high level, we are working to prevent these accounts from 1) scraping people’s public Twitter data to build AI models and 2) manipulating people and conversation on the platform in various ways.

Currently, the restrictions affect a small percentage of people using the platform, and we will provide an update when the work is complete. As it relates to our customers, effects on advertising have been minimal.

While this work will never be done, we’re all deeply committed to making Twitter a better place for everyone.

At times, even for a brief moment, you must slow down to speed up.

We appreciate your patience."

The change in viewing posts is, however, isn't mentioned by Musk as in where the aforementioned users are limited in viewing tweets whether in the "For You" tab or the "Following Tab."

This move appears somewhat to uplift users to get a Twitter Blue subscription in order to get the verified badge right next to their names and the ability to view more posts as aforementioned, aided by the other conventional benefits the subscription provides, like the ability to edit tweets, post longer character tweets, and long-form videos, amongst other benefits.

Elon Musk further shared some new features that are likely to come to Twitter. In a response tweet to podcaster Lex Fridman's tweet in which he shared an idea of having the ability to upload over three-hour podcast video alongside timestamps/chapters, Musk responded that the feature is also coming. There isn't any specific timeline for the feature rollout at this point. If it goes live, it will be similar to what we have witnessed on YouTube videos for a while now.

Twitter is one of the best social media apps, and it has seen a lot of changes lately, and more recently, blocking unregistered users from viewing tweets took users by surprise early this month. This action comes as an addition to an earlier move, which involved API changes that practically ditched third-party Twitter clients, again very similar to what we have been recently seeing with Reddit as well.

•  Phone deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Samsung | Amazon | Verizon | AT&T 

What you need to know

• Twitter is blocking unregistered users from viewing accounts and tweets.
• An unregistered user will be prompted to sign in or create an account if they wish to access the platform.
• Twitter has not publicly stated whether or not this is an intended change.

Unregistered users are encountering quite a frustrating problem when attempting to browse Twitter.

A few people from The Verge and other publications noticed and have been able to replicate the blackout Twitter is curiously imposing upon unregistered users. If you attempt to view a tweet or account on your computer or mobile device while not signed in, Twitter will block you and instruct you to do so or create an account.

We're left scratching our heads for now as Twitter has not formally stated whether or not this change is intentional or if this is a newfound error.

Perhaps this change isn't entirely shocking given the platform's drastic changes since Elon Musk took over, such as API changes revealed earlier this year that practically killed off third-party clients.

However, Musk recently stepped aside from his role and named NBC Universal's Linda Yaccarino as the company's new CEO in May. Meanwhile, Musk remains part of the top management, focusing on product design and new technology.

For so long, Twitter has allowed users, regardless of their platform status, to view information. With this change, users aren't even given a preview of the tweet or account before being met with a "sign into Twitter" splash screen. And it'll be interesting to see if and how this affects Google Search results.

Of course, it could be that Twitter is trying to encourage users to make an account so it can gain more daily users and expose them to its Blue subscription plan, which continues to add new features. After all, many users have seemingly flocked to competing platforms like Mastodon and Blue Sky following Musk's takeover and subsequent changes.

Still, it seems Twitter's monetization efforts haven't quite paid off, and the company is seemingly adding new features every so often to make it more attractive. Earlier this year, The Information reported that subscribers only accounted for 0.2% of the platform's monthly U.S. user base two months after launching, which was roughly 180,000 people.

What you need to know

• Instagram is allegedly working on a new text-based app that could rival Twitter.
• The new app will keep a user's Instagram log-in information, handle, bio, followers, and more should they choose to use it.
• Posts will have a 500-character limit with familiar liking, replying, and even reposting options.
• Users may see Instagram's new app launch in late June.

There's been quite a bit of news swirling around Twitter recently, and for some, the changes have pushed them to the brink of migrating to other platforms. With people searching for alternatives, Lia Haberman posted a detailed look at Instagram's text-based app on her ICYMI Substack newsletter, which could launch with Twitter in its crosshairs (via The Verge).

Apparently, the information gained has come from a creator who was selected among others to privately meet with Meta about "Project 92," which is the app's internal codename.

While the app doesn't have a more flashy name just yet, what's known is that it will feature a "centralized feed" showing content from your followers alongside some recommendations. Posts on this new social networking app can be up to 500 characters in length. This is quite far from Twitter's 10,000-character limit on longer tweets, but that is something only Twitter Blue subscribers can get in on.

Users will be able to throw in photos and links, but videos are capped in length at five minutes. Post interactions include liking, replying, and reposting.

For those who have built a following on what would be Instagram's "main app," the creator told Haberman the new app would take a user's already existing Instagram log-in and password. Users and creators can sync their existing followers from the main Instagram app along with their handle, bio, and verification mark.

On an interesting note, users on other apps can search, follow, and interact with your profile. On the backend, it appears as though the new text-based app is built from the bones of Instagram but includes compatibility with other apps such as Mastodon (a place some Twitter users migrated to last year).

Like all social media apps, there comes a certain dosage of content moderation and user safety. Haberman states users will have control over replies and mentions with tools to easily block and report spam. Two-factor authentification will be enabled, and the same community guidelines present on Instagram will carry over to this upcoming version, as well. Blocked accounts and hidden words users have set on the main Instagram app will still apply to its in-progress app.

Nothing is set in stone, although it's been floated that Meta will look to launch this new Instagram app in late June 2023. There also don't appear to be any monetization plans for the app at the moment, leaving Haberman to speculate users may not see ads on this new platform when it launches.

Twitter has had a, for lack of a better word, "interesting" run these past few months. Since Elon Musk's takeover, he's implemented sharper subscription-based monetization of Twitter Blue while also trying to introduce a more "hardcore" Twitter environment to the company's employees.

However, just recently, Elon Musk stepped down as Twitter's CEO in favor of bringing in Linda Yaccarino from NBCUniversal. The changes done to Twitter, from a user's perspective, have left a sour taste in their mouths. If Instagram is preparing to launch a new app that may rival Twitter within the next month, it'll be worthwhile seeing what impact it makes and if it'll be enough to make users make the switch.

What you need to know

• Elon Musk is leaving his role as chief executive officer of Twitter.
• Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal's head of advertising, has been named CEO, and she will take over in about six weeks.
• Musk, on the other hand, will become executive chair and chief technology officer.

Elon Musk is leaving his role as chief executive officer of Twitter in the near future, as the "Chief Twit" tweeted that he has found a new executive to take the helm at the social media company.

In a tweet, Musk announced that he has hired a new CEO for Twitter, who will take over in about six weeks. A few hours later, Musk announced in a separate tweet that Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal's outgoing chairperson of global advertising and partnerships, is joining Twitter as its new CEO.

Meanwhile, Musk will remain part of the top management at the social networking company. This means that he will assume the roles of executive chair and chief technology officer. He says that Yaccarino will focus on business operations while he oversees product design and new technology.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Yaccarino was "in talks" for the position, although Musk did not confirm it immediately.

The announcement doesn't come as a huge surprise in light of Musk's recent tweets, which suggested that he did not intend to stay as Twitter CEO for a long period of time. Last December, he polled Twitter users, asking whether he should remain as the company's CEO and promising that he would abide by the results. The poll gained 57.5% yeas, and Musk is now making good on his promise.

A few other factors may have also influenced Musk's decision to relinquish his role, including his other commitments. Musk is also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, in addition to his other business interests. Tesla investors felt that he was spread too thin and called for him to relinquish control of Twitter in December, as Tesla's stock price plummeted.

The latest announcement is clearly in response to mounting pressure for him to turn his focus back to Tesla.

However, the executive changes do not mean he will lose control of the company he eventually purchased after a tumultuous acquisition process. We can count on Musk still calling the shots when it comes to Twitter's policies.

What you need to know

• Downdetector shows thousands of Twitter outage reports for both the website and apps.
• Users report being unable to stay logged into their accounts.
• It may have to do with an issue related to legacy verification checkmarks causing problems with the system.

Another month, another Twitter outage. Twitter itself still appears to be live, but you probably can't tweet right now. Why? Because a huge number of Twitter users were apparently forcibly logged out from their accounts, then were unable to log back into their accounts even with the right credentials.

Thousands of users on Downdetector have reported issues with Twitter on Android, iOS, and the site. "Login" is the most common labeled problem.

Most of our staff have replicated this issue, though some can still access and use the site through their apps. In one case, one of our staffers — who had a verification checkmark before Elon Musk removed them in favor of Twitter Blue — was forced out of her account right after changing her bio, which temporarily brought her blue checkmark back before the app kicked her out.

In the video above, you can see an example of how legacy checkmarks are still associated with accounts in the backend, and how you can trick Twitter into temporarily showing it again.

Other staffers without checkmarks have also faced login issues, so it may be unrelated. But it's a clear sign that things with Twitter accounts have been glitchy lately. It's possible that the login issues stem from Twitter engineers trying to fix this loophole. As of publication, the Twitter Support account hasn't tweeted anything to explain the issue.

In March, Twitter went down due to an issue with Twitter's built-in URL shortener and redirect service. And in February, Twitter users faced an unexpected daily tweet limit before engineers fixed the problem.

This story is developing...

Substack, the subscription network platform on which you can pay to follow writers, recently launched Substack Notes: a social media feed that aims to "convert casual readers into paying subscribers" by making interesting newsletters easier to recommend. 

Substack Notes garnered some unexpected attention when Elon Musk had Twitter mark Substack links as unsafe and suppress Substack search results while accusing the company of stealing data from his site for their "Twitter clone." He eventually reversed this policy but unintentionally gave Substack Notes more attention than it might have received otherwise.

The question is, should you pay attention to this new platform, whether or not you regularly use Substack or subscribe to newsletters? We'll break down how to use Substack Notes, to help you decide. 

How does Substack Notes work?

To access Substack Notes, you'll either need to download the Substack Reader app for iOS/Android and check out the Notes tab, or go to Substack Notes in your web browser. 

Your Substack Notes feed has two options: Home and Subscribed. The latter only shows posts from the newsletter writers that you specifically follow (or pay for), while Home shows "restacked" Notes (think retweets) from your followed writers, as well as posts from "recommended" writers. Substack writers will have a third "My Subscribers" feed showing what their followers are talking about. 

Notes show an author's real name, profile picture, and a description like "Writes [Newsletter name]" underneath their name in lieu of a profile name, with a Subscribe button next to it if they have a Substack. You can tap that description to take you to their latest posts feed and see if you'd want to subscribe to them. 

How to use Substack Notes

In the Substack app, go to the Notes Tab and tap the orange + icon. Write out your Note, add any images or links, and then tap the blue upload icon to send it. In the web platform, you simply click into the "What's on your mind" box, type out your Note, and click Post to send it.

You can edit a Note at any time with no apparent time limit like on Twitter; the feature is only available on the web and iOS for now but is "coming soon" to Android. Simply click on your Note, then the "..." ellipsis to find the Edit and Delete options. And edited Notes will have a label indicating this. 

Liking, replying to, or restacking Notes works as you'd expect with recognizable icons. On the flip side, you can choose to remove specific writers from your feed by tapping a post and then the "..." ellipsis icon to find Hide and Block options.

Substack says that it is "considering" making some Notes available to subscribers only, similar to a Twitter Circle. But for now, all Notes are publicly visible to anyone; you can link them out to non-Substack users, though only those with accounts can interact with them. 

You also can't turn off replies in Substack Notes. You can delete replies, but this puts the onus on you to deal with any potential harassment rather than cutting it off preemptively. 

Notes apparently have an extremely high character limit — though most Substack writers will save longer screeds for their actual columns — and let you add up to six images or GIFs, links, @ mentions of specific Substack profiles, or restacked "Quotes" that highlight specific text from a post. 

You can link outside of Substack in Notes, though Notes' emphasis is on insular content and Substack links are designed to "look especially nice" by comparison. 

Substack sends out a push notification to subscribers for your first Note only. Otherwise, readers can sign up for email digests that show Notes they missed from followed writers, or enable push notifications for trending Notes.

Figuring out how to use Substack Notes is much easier than some of the other Twitter alternatives like Mastodon. 

You simply see Notes from writers you follow, who will share content from other writers that might speak to your interests. You can also hold conversations with fellow subscribers, or use Notes to try and raise awareness for your own newsletter. 

In the end, Substack Notes may have more in common with Linkedin than Twitter, in that it seems very professionally focused on the task of sharing content and boosting subscriber revenue than a more traditional, meme-focused social media app. 

We'll have to wait and see if Substack Reader becomes one of our favorite Android apps as a result of this Notes upgrade. We're a little concerned about how the Android app appears to receive features later than the iOS version, which only hurts those who own Android phones.

When you think about social media apps, the first ones that come to mind are likely Facebook and Twitter. Given the ongoing saga with the constant changes being made to Twitter, there are other social media platforms to consider.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter was Mastodon, as the platform saw more than one million new users join. According to The Guardian, Mastodon had about 500,000 active users before Twitter was acquired, and reached a peak of more than "2.5 million in early December."

If you're tired of Twitter's shenanigans and are just looking to see whether the "grass is greener," Mastodon is a good place to start. It definitely doesn't have the same number of users as Twitter, but that might be for the better.

What is Mastodon

In simple terms, Mastodon is a social network comparable to Twitter and Facebook. Established in February 2017, the platform has gained more users since Elon Musk acquired Twitter.

Mastodon's main objective, as stated on its homepage, is to offer a decentralized alternative to Twitter. Unlike Twitter, which acts as a single "hub" where all users can interact, Mastodon operates through instances or servers that users must join or apply to access the platform.

Finding the "right" Mastodon instance (server)

Unlike Twitter, which takes a "melting pot" approach, Mastodon operates as the backbone for different servers or "instances" to operate. This is partially why Mastodon users don't have just a basic username, as it's usually formatted as "@username@server/instance."

If you want to just get up and running quickly, you can join the mastodon.social instance, which is the "original server operated by the Mastodon gGmbH non-profit." However, there are many other servers to choose from, including some that might better fit the community you want to join.

It might be worth doing a bit of research into locating the right server for you, ahead of signing up for Mastodon. Thankfully, there are also a few different websites that offer a way to browse different servers or instances. One such tool is simply named Mastodon instances but walks you through a series of questions in order to try and find your new online home.

How to join Mastodon

1. Open your browser of choice from your computer and navigate to JoinMastodon.org. Alternatively, you can download the official Mastodon app on iOS or Android. Once installed, follow the on-screen steps to sign up for Mastodon.

2. Click the Create account button.

3. Scroll down and locate a server you want to be a part of.

4. Click the Create account button beneath the server description.

5. When the new tab for the server has been loaded, click the Create account button in the right sidebar.

6. If applicable, read the rules of the server and/or instance.

7. Click the Accept button.

8. Enter the following pieces of information:

• Display name
• Username
• E-mail address
• Password
• Confirm password

9. Click the checkbox to agree to the privacy policy.

10. Click the Sign Up button.

Before you can start customizing your profile, you’ll likely receive a confirmation email. So head over to your email client (or web client) and click the appropriate button within the email from Mastodon to confirm your account creation.

Learning the basics

Now that you've signed up for Mastodon and are ready to get started exploring this unique social media platform, we've rounded up a few of the "basics." These include things such as customizing your profile to publishing your first post.

Create and customize your profile

1. Open the Mastodon app on your phone.

2. Log into your account for the Mastodon server you joined. 

3. Tap the Profile image in the bottom right corner.

4. Tap the Edit Profile button.

• Display name
• Bio
• Header image
• Avatar image

Once all the information has been filled out, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Done button. Of course, you can always go back and make any adjustments to your profile that you might want.

Find and follow other Mastodon users

When you first sign up for Mastodon, regardless of which server you select, you'll be presented with some suggestions on who to follow. When it comes to finding other Mastodon users to follow, your best bet is to simply search for them using the services built-in search functionality.

Following Musk's acquisition of Twitter, there were several tools that relied on Twitter's API in an effort to make it easy to try and match up your Twitter following with Mastodon. However, Twitter has made drastic changes to its API, making it more difficult (or expensive) to tie into the service.

All hope is not lost, at least not yet, as there's still one service still working, as it allows you to download a CSV file of who you are following. Then, you can just import the CSV file into your Mastodon account.

There is a catch when using Twitodon, or other third-party services with similar functionality. In order to properly identify those on Twitter who have a Mastodon account, those users will need to "have linked their Twitter account to their Mastodon account." In other words, you might be following 1,500 people, but if their Twitter and Mastodon accounts aren't linked, then they won't be identified by Twitodon.

1. Open a web browser and navigate to twitodon.com.

2. Click the Sign in with Twitter link under the Get Started section.

3. Follow the on-screen steps to link your Twitter account.

4. Copy and paste the Mastodon Host Web Address for your account under Step 2 and click the Sign in button.

5. Wait a few moments for Twitodon to scan your Twitter account.

6. Click the link in Step 3 to download the CSV file.

7. Navigate to the Mastodon instance that you are a part of.

8. If necessary, sign into your Mastodon account.

9. On the right side, click the Preferences button.

10. In the left sidebar, click Import and export.

11. Click the Import button.

12. Select the Import Type. These are your options: Following list, Blocking list, Muting list, Domain blocking list, or Bookmarks.

13. Under the Data section, click the Choose File button.

14. Locate and upload the CSV file that you previously downloaded.

15. Select either Merge or Overwrite.

16. Click the Upload button.

After a few moments, those Twitter accounts that can be identified as having a Mastodon link will be added to your Following list.

Creating your first "toot"

1. Open the Mastodon app on your phone.

2. In the bottom right corner, tap the Pencil button.

3. Enter the content that you want to publish.

4. Tap the Publish button in the top right corner.

Additionally, when publishing a post on Mastodon, you have several different options. Of course, there is the main text box, where you can just throw your thoughts and hit the "Publish" button. However, here are the other options that you have when creating a post:

• Attach a photo
• Create a poll
• Add an emoji
• Add a Content warning
• Post visibility (Public, Followers only, or Only people I mention)

How long can posts be?

After years of the default character limit for a tweet being 140 characters, Twitter increased that to 280 in 2017. Recently, Twitter's character limit has exploded to 4,000 characters, provided that you are a Twitter Blue subscriber.

Many have always felt that tweets should be short and to the point, but sometimes you want to share a bit more. Mastodon understands this and takes a different approach, offering a 500-character limit on posts. However, considering that Mastodon is simply a server within the "Fediverse," there are other servers and versions of Mastodon which allow for much higher character limits

Add captions to your pictures

1. Open the Mastodon app on your phone.

2. Tap the Pencil button in the bottom right corner.

3. In the toolbar above your keyboard, tap the Gallery icon.

4. Select an image that you want to add.

5. Wait for the image to be uploaded to the post.

6. Tap the Add image description... text box.

7. Add the alt text for your picture(s).

8. Tap the Save button in the top right corner.

9. Once you're finished, tap the Publish button to share your picture.

Edit or delete your posts

1. Open the Mastodon app on your phone.

2. In the bottom right corner of the toolbar, tap your profile image.

3. Locate the post that you want to edit or delete.

4. Tap the three horizontal dots in the top right corner of the post.

5. From the drop-down menu, tap Edit or Delete.

6. If editing, make any necessary changes, then tap the Save button.

7. If deleting, tap the Delete button to confirm.

Boosts, Favorites, and Bookmarks

When it comes to interacting with other users on Mastodon, there are two key ways for you to do so. The first of which is "Boosts," which essentially operate similarly to a traditional "retweet" without being able to add commentary. Then, you have Favorites, which is just what you would expect it to be, while Bookmarks offers a way to save Mastodon posts for you to check out on your Android phone later. 

Create a Poll on Mastodon

1. Open the Mastodon app on your phone.

2. Tap the Pencil button in the bottom right corner.

3. In the toolbar above your keyboard, tap the Poll icon.

4. Fill out the question for the Poll and the various answers.

5. Select a duration. By default, polls last for one day.

6. Once complete, tap the Publish button in the top right corner.

Can you cross-post between Mastodon and Twitter?

Given the changes to Twitter's API, this has removed the ability for automation services such as IFTTT or Zapier to automatically cross-post between Twitter and Mastodon. This isn't the case across the board, as you might have some luck using something like Buffer, but that is designed with professional publications in mind and isn't as user-friendly as IFTTT.

Tune your notifications

It's no secret that we already have to deal with too many notifications on a daily basis, with all of our devices buzzing or dinging, in an attempt to garner our attention. As is the case with pretty much any other app and social media platform, we recommend fine-tuning your Mastodon notifications.

The method for doing so may differ depending on which Mastodon client app you are using. But here are the steps for changing your notification preferences within the official Mastodon for Android app:

1. Open the Mastodon app.

2. Tap the Settings icon in the top right corner.

3. Scroll down to the Notifications section.

4. Toggle notifications for Favorites my post, Follows me, Boosts my post, or Mentions me.

Something you might notice in the screenshots above is that the word anyone is highlighted. If you tap that, a drop-down menu will appear, allowing you to further customize your notifications. These include options for anyone, a follower, someone I follow, or no one.

Mastodon apps for Android

Another advantage that Mastodon now has over Twitter is the ability to use third-party apps to interact with the social media platform. This is something that was abruptly removed from Twitter, as you can only rely on the official mobile app, the web client, or a Progressive Web App. Thankfully, there are a few pretty great Mastodon apps on Android for you to check out and consider.

Mastodon isn't perfect, but that's okay

Twitter has been around for so long that we can't really see a world where it doesn't exist in some form. However, the platform has changed so much, just in the last few months, that it might not be an enjoyable experience for you.

Mastodon doesn't have the same number of users but arguably has a better feature set. And in my opinion, using Mastodon has left me feeling the same excitement I did when Twitter first hit the scene. With any luck, the platform will continue to grow, but even if things stay as they are, a more tightknit community is rather comforting.

What you need to know

• Twitter Blue now supports tweets of up to 10,000 characters in length.
• As part of its subscription tier, the service has also added support for bold and italic text formatting.
• Twitter's "Super Follows" feature will be renamed "Subscriptions" as well.

In Musk’s Twitter-verse, it seems like the sky is the limit when it comes to post length, as the micro-blogging platform has introduced support for up to 10,000-character tweets for Blue subscribers.

Twitter Blue began experimenting with 4,000-character tweets in February as a way to give subscribers in the United States a decent space for their lengthy tweets. Previously, users were forced to break tweets into multiple threads if they intended to write a post that exceeded the platform's character limit. The latest change more than doubles the recent increase and allows for tweets that are more than 35 times longer than the longstanding 280-character limit.

The new post format isn't entirely unexpected, seeing as Elon Musk has been flirting with plans to extend the Twitter character limit in recent months. In response to a Twitter user's question about whether the service could add code blocks to tweets, Musk stated that the character limit would be increased to 10,000 in the near future.

While unsurprising, the latest extension marks a major shift in Twitter’s longtime micro-blogging format. This brevity is what distinguishes Twitter from rivals, such as Tumblr, Reddit, and other similar rivals.

It is presumably meant to allow Blue subscribers to make money off longer tweets. The increase in character limit coincides with Twitter's rebranding of its "Super Follows" feature as "Subscriptions," which charges users up to $10 per month for exclusive content from their favorite influencers. The feature is currently only available to users in the United States.

Musk promised not to take a cut of the revenue generated by this type of subscription, at least for the first year.

Twitter's latest move is seen as a heightened effort to challenge newsletter platform Substack, which earlier this month launched a Twitter-inspired feature known as Notes. Musk has also directed the platform to block tweets containing links to Substack in recent weeks.

In addition to the increased character limit and Subscriptions, Twitter has added support for bold and italic text formatting. 

However, it remains to be seen whether these new Blue perks will be enough to persuade those on the fence about the subscription service to sign up. After all, Blue hasn't quite attracted a substantial portion of Twitter's user base, representing only 0.2% of its monthly active users in the U.S., or around 180,000 people, according to a leaked document seen by The Information.

What you need to know

• Twitter Inc. is being merged into X Holdings Corp., and no longer exists.
• X Holdings Corp. is owned by Elon Musk, and was created as part of the Twitter acquisition.
•  This came to light in a recent court filing as the company is being sued for "violating federal racketeering laws."

It seems that the Twitter saga has no end in sight, or does it? Technically speaking, it appears as though Twitter Inc., the parent company of the social media platform, no longer exists. 

Recent court filings, as detailed by Slate, seem to confirm that Twitter Inc. has been merged into a company named "X Corp." This is one of three entities created by Elon Musk when going through with the purchase of Twitter in April 2022. 

The three entities, X Holdings I, II, and III, were registered by Musk, with the terms of the deal being described as follows:

"According to that deal, Twitter would merge with X Holdings II, but keep its name and general corporate structure while continuing to operate under Delaware law. X Holdings I, controlled by Musk, would then serve as the merged entity’s parent company, while X Holdings III would take on the $13 billion loan that a group of big banks provided Musk to help cover the $44 billion purchase."

All of this seems to be part of a "cat and mouse" game with "right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer." It's said that Loomer is suing Twitter Inc. for banning their account in 2019. But with the ongoing lawsuit, Twitter is forced to "submit corporate disclosure statements to the court." However, with Twitter Inc. being merged with X Corp., this is one way to circumvent those requirements until a decision in the lawsuit is rendered.

While Twitter Inc. may no longer be a company, Twitter the social media platform continues to struggle, and it doesn't appear as though there's any specific direction that the platform is heading. This is especially true following the massive number of layoffs, along with various restrictions surrounding Substack and its often confusing push for Twitter Blue.

What you need to know

• Elon Musk has announced new changes to the Twitter Blue subscription.
• Only verified users will be able to participate in polls and appear in the For You tab as recommendations.
• Musk says the changes are to help combat AI bots on the platform.

New changes are coming to the Twitter app as Elon Musk prepares to put more features behind a paywall. In a tweet on Monday, the billionaire announced that users would need to be verified in order to vote in polls. He also stated that only verified users would show up in the For You tab as recommendations and that these changes would occur starting on April 15.

Of course, this means you must be subscribed to Twitter Blue to access these features. It's a curious move to put such a basic and widely-used feature like polls behind a paywall, which will soon join other features like editing Tweets, an expanded character limit, and more. However, Musk states that the move, along with only allowing verified users in the For You timeline, will help combat bots on the platform.

Musk stated in a Tweet that this is "the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over."

The For You tab is what Twitter calls its algorithmic timeline that shows tweets both from accounts users follow and those the app recommends, meaning you'll likely see Tweets from accounts you don't follow. With the change, it seems these recommended accounts will soon only be from those that are verified.

Twitter bots were a big motivation behind Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter in 2022. Musk believed that the platform had more bots than it was leading on in earnings reports and was determined to address it as he believed they "make the product much worse."

However, his follow-up to Monday's Tweet suggests he's not completely against the idea of bots on the platform, so long as they are verified and adhere to Twitter's terms of service.

It's likely that these moves are meant to encourage more users to subscribe to Twitter Blue. The change comes just after Twitter announced that it would phase out legacy verified checkmarks starting April 1. Users that want to keep their checkmarks would have to subscribe to the Blue subscription, which is also now available globally.

What you need to know

• Twitter Blue is now available globally for users to sign up.
• The subscription gives users a blue checkmark and access to additional features in the app on the web.
• Government agencies are now able to sign up for grey checkmarks.
• Twitter will retire legacy blue checkmarks starting on April 1.

After a confusing relaunch of Twitter Blue in late 2022, the social media platform announced on Thursday that subscription has now expanded globally, allowing anyone users around the world access to exclusive features.

When Twitter Blue was relaunched, access was initially limited to iOS users in select regions before expanding to the web and eventually Android. Access to the subscription has also gradually expanded to more regions, and now, anyone interested in the extra perks can sign up. In the United States, the subscription costs $8 on the web and $11 on Android and iOS. You can view Twitter's FAQ for details on pricing by country.

Those perks include early access to features in testing, longer videos, higher quality uploads, longer tweets (up to 4,000 characters), and the ability to edit tweets. Some promised features have not yet arrived, such as priority in conversations and half the amount of ads as non-subscribers. For now, those features are listed as "coming soon."

While access to Twitter Blue grants users a blue checkmark next to their names, the company announced on Thursday that it plans to retire the legacy blue checks that were given to previously verified users (before the subscription added that mark). Elon Musk has previously called these marks "truly corrupt," which was essentially his motivation for rushing to add them to the Twitter Blue subscription. For users with this mark, clicking it would present users with a notice indicating that it's a legacy verified account and that it "may or may not be notable."

These will start disappearing on April 1, although previously verified businesses can receive a golden checkmark.

Lastly, Twitter announced that "eligible government and multilateral accounts" are now able to apply for grey checkmarks to further differentiate themselves and their officials.

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Update (Mar 6, 1:20 pm ET): After about an hour of being down, Twitter should be working normally again.

What you need to know

• Twitter was suffering from a variety of issues on Monday morning.
• Users were unable to post images, and opening links returned an odd API error.
• It seems the cause was related to Twitter's URL shortener service. 

If you've been waiting for your chance to start tweeting out pictures or sharing links, you're in luck. It appears as though Twitter is "working as normal", which has been confirmed by the official Twitter Support account. 

If you tried to log onto Twitter on Monday, chances were you noticed that the social media network was not only slow, but viewing or sharing any links or photos was practically impossible. As we learned, when tapping a link from Twitter, an error code would appear, stating that "Your current API plan does not include access to this endpoint."

After reports of the outage surfaced, Twitter Support eventually published a response stating that it was aware of the issues and that they were due to an "internal change that had some unintended consequences."

According to Ben Collins at NBC News, this outage could have been due to an issue with Twitter's built-in URL shortener and redirect service. Attempting to navigate to the t.co service results in the same error message, including the same error code. 

This is the latest in the recent series of issues plaguing Twitter, as we have seen various outages and an odd "daily limit" error message when sending a Tweet. Additionally, it's not limited to just those on the desktop or using either iOS or Android, as it's affecting all of Twitter.

Fortunately, the outage didn't appear to last for too long, and Twitter was quickly able to get things back on track.

What you need to know

• Twitter's SMS-based two-factor authentication will now cost you a monthly subscription fee.
• The security feature will be restricted only to Twitter Blue subscribers starting March 20.
• Accounts with SMS 2FA still enabled will automatically lose this feature after that date.

After locking some of its longstanding features, such as the blue check mark, behind a monthly subscription, Twitter will now charge you for SMS-based two-factor authentication.

The social networking platform surprised users by announcing that only Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to secure their accounts using this security option after March 20. After that date, the feature will automatically be disabled, assuming you haven't done so by then.

It should be noted that disabling SMS 2FA does not automatically remove your phone number from your account.

Twitter is shutting down the SMS-based 2FA option for free users because it has seen "phone-number based 2FA be used - and abused - by bad actors." This form of authentication is widely regarded as the least secure due to the rising cases of SIM swap attacks, which allow hackers to steal your phone number by contacting your carrier and then tricking them into activating a SIM card in their possession. When fraudsters gain control of your phone number, it's all over for the security measures you've put in place for your online accounts.

Security experts have long been promoting authentication apps and security keys as more secure alternatives to SMS. However, text messages remain a popular choice among Twitter users. 

According to the company's transparency report for the period July 2021 to December 2021, almost 75% of users were using SMS for 2FA. Meanwhile, authentication apps account for nearly 29% and physical authentication keys represent a paltry 0.5%.

This makes Twitter's decision to remove that option quite alarming from a security standpoint, unless you're paying $8 a month for Twitter Blue ($11 a month on iOS). Otherwise, now is the time to switch to generator apps or a security key. 

Additionally, it's possible to enable multiple 2FA methods on your account, which is strongly recommended, especially for users in countries where Blue is not available.

What you need to know

• Twitter has announced its second character limit increase.
• Twitter Blue users are now able to post Tweets with up to 4,000 characters.
• The Tweets will be limited to 280 characters in the timeline, with a "See more" button to expand it.

It's no secret that Elon Musk had been planning to increase the character limit of Tweets. On Wednesday, the company revealed that it has implemented its second increase, allowing users to post Tweets with up to 4,000 characters.

While the change sounds visually overwhelming, the company assures in a rather long Tweet that it won't swamp your timeline with lengthy posts. "We know longer Tweets could mean a lot of scrolling, so they'll be capped at 280 characters on your timeline and you'll see a "Show more" prompt to click and read the whole Tweet."

The new feature is now available for Twitter Blue subscribers in the United States, although anyone would be able to view and read these longer Tweets if they so choose. That includes replying, quoting, and retweeting.

This is notably the second increase to the Tweet character limit since 2017 when it was increased from 140 to the current standard of 280. However, there are a few limitations to this expanded character limit for some users. When Tweeting from the web, you won't be able to draft or schedule Tweets longer than 280 characters.

The new limit is just the latest example of drastic changes made to the platform since Elon Musk took over. The most controversial changes were made to the new Twitter Blue subscription, which now costs more and gives users Blue checkmarks. Making the new character limit exclusive to Twitter Blue is likely a way to tempt more users to subscribe.

Twitter took advantage of the new limit by posting a Tweet with "more words" typed over and over again. In response, other accounts responded with similar Tweets, such as the official accounts for Jurassic Park, Minions, Pizza Hut, and more.

Following the launch of the new feature, Twitter is going through something of an outage. At the time of writing, many users are met with erroneous notices informing them that they're "over the daily limit for sending Tweets." It's unclear if the two events are related.

What you need to know

• Twitter users were having trouble sending Tweets or retweeting posts.
• A "daily limit" error was causing the problem with an arbitrary per-day limit.
• The issue seems to have been resolved after a roughly 2-hour outage.

Update 7:00 PM ET 2/8/23: The problem looks to be resolved and users can Tweet again. The original post follows:

If you're like me, you probably Tweet a few times per day. Today, on my seventh Tweet at around 5 PM ET, Twitter told me that I had reached the "daily limit for sending Tweets." I wasn't sure what to make of this but it looks like I'm not alone.

After reaching out to friends and colleagues, it appears that a change has been made at Twitter that's preventing people from sending Tweets. While my limit appears to be 6 Tweets, other users are reporting that they've sent zero Tweets today and still can't make new ones. Twitter's policy states that users are limited to 2,400 Tweets per day, so something isn't adding up.

Twitter has been making lots of changes ever since Elon Musk took over the company but it's not known if this change was intentional or not. More than likely, this was an unintentional error that occurred after today's launch of new 4,000 character limit Tweets for some users.

It seems that while Elon Musk is struggling to make his first payment on the massive deal that netted him Twitter, he's found the time to screw over developers and users of the platform. 

This isn't in reference to the launch of Twitter Blue for Android or the new option that allows you to pay for Blue for a year. Instead, Twitter has changed its "developer agreement," removing the ability for third-party clients to function.

This whole saga began last week after users of popular clients such as Tweetbot on iOS or Fenix on Android opened their apps of choice only to find that they weren't functioning. Little did we know, the show was only getting started.

Surprisingly, for someone who voices their opinion as loudly as Musk, he did a wonderful job at going "radio silent" regarding anything related to third-party apps. This is the same person who has posted multiple polls about whether he should hire a new CEO or whether certain accounts should be unblocked.

There's already a mountain of uncertainty surrounding the platform, and third-party clients not functioning just adds another layer. Well, it seems that we finally have our answer, as Twitter has quietly updated the terms of its "developer agreement," as spotted by Engadget.

It seems that the only change made to the agreement came from the "restrictions" section. Here, you'll now find a clause that says "use or access the Licensed Materials to create or attempt to create a substitute or similar service or product to the Twitter Applications."

So that's it. 

Third-party Twitter apps are practically dead and gone, and things will probably stay that way until Twitter is either acquired by another entity or Musk is out of the driver's seat.

There's definitely an argument to be made that third-party apps should have never become the "norm." You can't download a different app to use Facebook or Instagram, even before the latter was acquired by the former. But frankly, that's a bullshit argument because having the ability to bypass all of Twitter's nonsensical algorithms and app changes over the years, we've been able to continue enjoying the platform.

For the time being, it appears as though the "good days" or Twitter are gone for good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go dive deeper into Mastodon.

What you need to know

• Twitter relaunched its revamped Blue subscription service in December for iOS and web users.
• The subscription is now available for Android users, who can sign up through the app.
• The subscription costs $11 per month on mobile devices, with annual pricing also available for the web.

After a long wait, Twitter has launched its Blue subscription service on Android. Anyone interested in signing up can now do so through the mobile app.

The rollout went a bit under the radar on Thursday, but The Verge pointed out the updated support page for Twitter Blue, mentioning availability on Android. The subscription, like on iOS, will set you back $11 per month, an increase from the previous $8, likely due to app store fees. Web users can still sign up for $8 per month.

In addition, users can opt to pay an annual fee if they sign up through the web, providing a discounted price of $84.

Twitter Blue has gone through a bit of a change over the past few months, giving users access to new features such as the blue checkmark, longer video uploads, the ability to edit Tweets — which can come in handy if you're prone to typos, early access to features being tested in Twitter Blue Labs, and more.

To sign up on your Android phone, open the Twitter app, tap your profile thumbnail at the top left corner to open the side navigation panel, select "Twitter Blue," and tap "Subscribe" at the bottom.

The splash page notes that some features are not yet available, including prioritized tweets in responses and fewer ads.

Twitter Blue has additional limitations, as the subscription is only available in select countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the UK. As noted on the support page, new accounts cannot sign up for the subscription for 90 days.

What you need to know

• Twitter has replaced its "Home" and "Latest" feeds on the home screen with a new TikTok-style interface.
• The redesigned home screen now shows the "For you" and "Following" feeds, with the former being the default feed each time you open the app.
• This new feed serves up tweets from accounts you follow in no particular order along with tweets it thinks you may like.
• Twitter is rolling out the new feed to iOS users first.

Twitter arguably made the right decision when it scrapped a tabbed timeline view a few days after launching it early last year, and for good reason. The algorithmic feed made it difficult to find the most recent tweets from accounts you follow by default, but Twitter is going that route again after all, at least on iOS initially.

Elon Musk's Twitter announced today a new tabbed interface for its home screen, where your feed is split into algorithmic and reverse chronological tabs, with the former being the default view. This means that each time you launch the app, you'll be greeted with tweets both from friends and strangers.

The social networking site appears to mimic a signature moniker from rival TikTok. Twitter's new default feed is called "For you," and as you may have guessed, it shows tweets from people you follow alongside tweets that the service thinks are interesting to you. The other feed is known as "Following," which serves up tweets in reverse chronological order. Previously, these were called "Home" and "Latest," respectively.

The former interface allowed you to set the reverse chronological feed as the default view, and it would stick even after closing and relaunching the app. With the latest update, you'll always see the algorithmically-arranged For you tab first every time you open Twitter regardless of your previous preference.

If history is anything to go by, this hasn't gone down well with users who like to see tweets in order by default. The same move was met with backlash last year, forcing Twitter to suspend the tabbed interface indefinitely. Now, that feature has returned with a different name, and it's probably here to stay.

Twitter has been all over the news lately and not typically for good things. Whether you like the changes Elon Musk has brought to the company since buying it for $44 billion at the end of October, one thing is for certain: a lot of people are looking for alternatives just in case the worst-case scenario comes along.

Enter Birda, a new social networking app that aims to replace some of that mindless chatter that happens on social media with a twitter of a different kind. This social network is focused on helping people to stop looking down at their phones and, instead, look upward at the trees and enjoy the constant beauty nature treats us to each and every day.

Looking to post? You'll start by either posting about a single sighting — that's just one moment where you saw a fun bird or something remarkable that's only in town for a little while — or start a birding session while you go out for a walk or a hike. This last one, in particular, is a ton of fun for folks who enjoy going out on daily walks and makes it easy to pay a little more attention to the world around you.

Either way you post, you'll share your location, either the exact pinpoint spot — probably best for when you're out at a park or another public location — or just a general area where you saw them. If you're someone who enjoys watching the birds at home, you'll probably want to select the more generic location.

Heck, you can keep your individual sightings and sessions completely private if you want to, turning it more into a personal catalog of adventures instead of a social media blitz.

While the main feed shows folks from around the world — not unlike how Twitter works — you can opt to keep things more local by sliding over to the Nearby tab up top or help others identify birds they've seen but don't yet know.

It's a lot of fun to have conversations on this platform and work together toward something wholesome and fun.

Gosh, what a massive difference from other social networks, huh?

Outside of posting your own sightings or commenting on others' sightings, you can also join in one of the many challenges Birda offers its users. Want to set a goal for 2023 to see at least 100 different species of birds? There's a challenge for that!

There's even a fun New Year's Challenge that I'll be joining in that challenges users to log at least 10 different bird species on New Year's Day. Given that I just set my bird feeders up again for the Winter, you'd better believe I'll be seeing plenty of my feathered friends making their way to the easy food source.

Or maybe you're using one of the best Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra or Google Pixel 7 Pro that can zoom way in and still get a clear picture? Join one of the many bird photo challenges and see if you can compete with those folks that use big DSLR cameras and long telephoto lenses.

Seriously, see how good those pictures look? They were all taken from at least a 30x zoom and many of them were taken from further away from that. It's crazy impressive what the Galaxy S22 Ultra's camera can do.

And yeah, you know I had to sneak a picture of my backyard chickens in there for good measure. Hard to resist!

In fact, if you end up getting hooked on using Birda and find that birding is something you love — it is a truly relaxing and remarkable way to enjoy nature, after all — I'd definitely recommend getting a Galaxy S22 Ultra or waiting just a few months for the Galaxy S23 Ultra which will, no doubt, take even better photos than the current model.

What you need to know

• Twitter Blue for Business rolls out to better highlight businesses and those affiliated with them.
• Affiliated companies, brands, support accounts, employees, and more will gain a tiny badge representing the logo of their company once verified.
• Twitter Blue relaunched on web and iOS with the service priced at $8 per month and $11 per month, respectively.

Twitter Blue gains an additional feature for businesses to let everyone know who's affiliated with them.

According to Twitter's official post, the company has rolled out "Twitter Blue for Business." The purpose of this new subscription feature is to allow businesses the opportunity of verifying and distinguish themselves on the platform.

Twitter states that companies can link any number of affiliated individuals, businesses, and brands to their main company account. Once this is done, those that are affiliated with them will gain a small badge bearing the logo of the company they are affiliated with alongside their blue or gold verified checkmark.

The social media platform does mention that it will share new criteria that must be met, along with pricing and its evaluation process as everything updates. For the time being, we do know that a list of affiliated individuals must be submitted to Twitter by the overall company they will be tied to.

Twitter is accepting those in leadership roles with the company, brands, support accounts, employees, and teams. Additionally, journalists and professional sports players also qualify for this affiliation branding. Lastly, the company does mention in an incredible size one font size that "not all features available on all platforms. Twitter Blue for Business features may change periodically as we keep improving the service."

In answering a question pertaining to how available will this feature be to businesses of different sizes, Twitter's Esther Crawford replied saying, "Our goal is to make it accessible to businesses of all sizes — in time it’ll become a self-serve system." Making this subscription even more accessible may come in 2023 as the platform looks to expand its availability.

Twitter Blue reappeared with its relaunch a bit over a week ago. While it's a subscription feature not yet available on Android phones, those on the web will be required to pay $8 per month while iOS settles with a bitter $11 plan. This relaunch provides subscribers with the blue verified checkmark, an edit tweet function, the ability to upload 1080p videos, and some extra goodies.

Also, while Twitter Blue for Business is another layer atop the recent rollout of its subscription feature, some may have noticed the square profile pictures on business accounts. While it may take a little getting used to, this is probably another small tweak to let users know immediately what is a business account and what is not alongside the gold verified tick.

What you need to know

• Twitter temporarily banned all links to third-party social networking sites like Facebook and Mastodon.
• Shortly after announcing the policy, Twitter deleted its tweets and the policy page pertaining to the ban.
• Elon Musk apologized for the abrupt decision and said major policy changes would be put to a vote moving forward.

Twitter immediately removed a tweet announcing the platform's ban on free promotion of rival social networking sites, which could have resulted in the suspension of accounts that link out their handles on rival services.

Elon Musk's Twitter announced on Sunday that users would no longer be able to include links to their profiles on other social media platforms in their bio. Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Post, and Nostr were all affected, as were third-party social media link aggregators like linktr.ee and lnk.bio. The policy came a few weeks after internet giants like Google created an account on Mastodon.

In addition, the short-lived policy prohibited users from posting tweets containing their usernames or handles on the banned platforms, even without the corresponding links. Anyone who violated this policy risked having their account suspended temporarily, or even permanently for repeat offenders.

A few hours after announcing the policy, Twitter deleted the tweets and webpages pertaining to it (you can find the cached version here). Meanwhile, the Twitter Safety account created a poll asking the public if the company should set rules prohibiting the "use of existing accounts for the main purpose of advertising other social media platforms."

In a separate poll, Musk asked users if he should step down as head of Twitter, promising to abide by the results of the voting. The poll is gaining more yays than nays as of this writing. He also tweeted that any major policy changes would be put to a vote moving forward, and then apologized for what seemed like an abrupt decision.

In response to a user who was displeased by the policy, Musk clarified that this will be adjusted to only suspend accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting alternative social networks.

The policy was implemented following a string of account suspensions on several Twitter users, the majority of whom were journalists covering Musk (via TechCrunch). This includes The New York Times' Ryan Mac, who tweeted about @ElonJet, which was suspended presumably for tracking Musk's private jet's location. Mac's account was later restored.

What you need to know

• Instagram Notes is a new feature that lets you jot down quick thoughts.
• Instagram is gaining new Group Profiles where members can post content.
• Candid is a new feature that notifies users when they can post to their story using their phone's cameras.

Instagram is heading into the new year with a host of features that encourage more friendly interactions, whether it's through images, video, or even text.

The company announced on Tuesday that it is launching its new Notes feature. It's a bit different from the app's usual focus on more visual content, allowing users to post small status updates from their inboxes. These can be up to 60 characters in length, and users can include emoji if they want. Only mutually followed accounts can view them, and you can respond directly from your inbox.

It's an interesting move for Instagram, particularly as users question their allegiance to Twitter amid Elon Musk's ownership. Following his purchase of the social media platform, users have been seeking Twitter alternatives like Mastadon, which has seen a surge in use in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Musk has recently teased that Twitter may increase its character limit to 4,000, which could make for a very different site.

In addition to Notes, Instagram is also introducing its own version of BeReal, an app that notifies users at a random point in the day to snap and post a photo of whatever they're doing. The feature is called Candid, and users can post a story using their front and rear cameras after receiving a notification.

For now, Meta says it's testing the feature on Instagram and Facebook, and users are able to opt out if they don't want to participate. Still, it's not surprising Meta would want to copy such a popular app, which users voted as the best app in Google Play's Best of 2022.

Speaking of Facebook, Instagram is borrowing its Groups feature but with its own spin. The upcoming Group Profiles are shared profiles that let participants contribute posts, stories, and more, with content only available for group members. Users can create new groups from the + icon.

Finally, Instagram is encouraging even more collaboration with an update to Add Yours and Collaborative Collections. Now, when you add an image to an Add Yours prompt, it will now allow you to pass it on to your friends so they can add theirs, too. And with Collaborative Collections, users can share a collection of posts with a friend or group based in mutual interests.

Some of these new features, like Notes, have already begun appearing on the Instagram app for iOS and Android phones.