[Software] Live blog: Twitter chaos - Elon Musk might reinstate almost all suspended accounts

[Mark.]

Hard to believe it hasn't been quite a full month since Elon Musk finally purchased Twitter on October 28 for $44 billion. It's been a wild and unpredictable ride ever since.

Since the moment Musk waltzed into Twitter HQ with a bathroom sink (we cannot make this up), it's been fast-paced decisions, layoffs, firings, resignations, reinstatements, big-picture decisions, and sudden reversals.

If you think that's a lot, strap in because the Tweeter-in-Chief shows no signs of slowing down the pace of change or the number of tweets he will post over the course of one day.

It's hard, putting it lightly, to keep up with it all, so we've fired up this live blog to keep you updated with what's happening with Twitter and Elon Musk, putting it all in context for Twitter users around the world.

Twitter chief Elon Musk's newest way of making decisions is via a poll. He did it with Former President Donald Trump's account, asking if he should reinstate the banned President on Twitter (Musk eventually did) and now Musk has a new question for his 118M followers.

On Wednesday afternoon, just hours before Thanksgiving in the US, Musk served up this turkey of a poll:

"Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?"

Okay, the caveat of lawbreakers and spammers being excluded helps, some. But making these decisions was, we thought, supposed to be the job of the Content Moderation Council. "What's that?" you ask. It's a council that Musk promised but has yet to form. It should be an independent body that decides what Tweets and accounts get removed. We'd assume it might also weigh in here.

The problem with mass reinstatement is that it could bring back tens of thousands of accounts. After the January 6th riots, Twitter suspended 70,000 accounts. Yes, some were spammers, but not all. The number of bad actors that could flood back onto the platform is hard to assess, but it could be very high and the impact on the platform could be very bad.

This amnesty will not encourage better behavior, but it will make Twitter's Monthly Active Users (MAUs) look better. On the other hand, advertisers, which may still be fleeing the beleaguered platform, might leave if Musk follows the votes. As of this writing, 73% of Musk's followers like the idea. Musk's latest poll closes tomorrow around noon ET.

The fun never ends, unless, of course, Twitter collapses.

Amidst of flurry of tweets covering topics as wide-ranging as saving the world (yes, he responded(opens in new tab) to one of our tweets), hall monitors(opens in new tab) and other social platforms, fanaticism(opens in new tab), admitting he gets little sleep(opens in new tab), and whether his tweeting counts as work(opens in new tab), Twitter head Elon Musk made some news.

Musk has decided to pause his much-criticized Blue Verified system until "there is high confidence of stopping impersonation." He's also looking to give organizations and people different colored checks.

This is big news because Musk is finally addressing the biggest problem with the pay-for Blue Check system he introduced this month. All it asked was that you pay $8 a month for a Blue Verification check. Previously, the check was given out for free, but not before Twitter verified the identity of the person, organization, or company it was verifying.

As soon as Musk launched his own plan, Twitter was flooded with blue-checked accounts impersonating other individuals. It was a disaster.

Musk previously said he would relaunch the Blue Verified program on November 29, but that clearly wasn't enough time to come up with a viable verification system. Plus, Twitter might be a little low on the requisite engineers after Musk laid off half the staff and then hundreds more walked out after Musk insisted on a more aggressive work culture.

Could this be the moment where Musk stops listening to his echo chamber and starts addressing some of Twitter's structural and fundamental issues?

For more: https://www.techradar.com/news/live/live-blog-twitter-chaos-whats-going-on