The most recent episode of the Zuck versus Elon saga has taken a much less savory flip, and curiously, it looks like Elon’s personal modifications to Twitter’s verification system have brought on no less than a part of the misunderstanding on this case.
Pre-warning: This publish offers with some NSFW references made by Elon, so if you happen to’re prone to be offended, greatest to click on away now and keep away from probably dangerous psychological photographs. In truth, that warning applies to all readers – it’s not good areas to be venturing into.
So, following the launch of Threads, Meta’s new Twitter-esque social app, Elon’s been taking delicate jabs at Zuckerberg, persevering with their ongoing public feud. Which nonetheless could or could not lead to a UFC-style cage match between the 2 mega-billionaires – however within the newest growth, Elon has really challenged Zuck to a different type of contest:
I suggest a literal dick measuring contest ????
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2023
Yep, that’s a authentic tweet, from any person whom lots of people think about to be one of many smartest folks on the planet, and who’s doubtless one of many richest.
So the place did Elon give you this notion?
It really appears to have stemmed from this tweet, which Elon responded to shortly earlier than issuing his problem to Zuckerberg, and features a doctored screenshot from Threads referencing one other, separate insult from Elon (that ‘Zuck is a cuck‘).
That’s not an precise remark from Zuck – and as you possibly can see, the screenshot additionally contains a picture of Elon Musk’s profile pic, suggesting that he additionally has a Threads account (or an imposter utilizing his picture). However for no matter purpose, Elon appears to have taken this as considerably legit, or it acquired his thoughts racing both manner, which has then led to his mentally scarring appendage problem.
And as famous, no less than a part of what’s at play right here is confusion round blue tick accounts, which used to solely be allotted to noteworthy customers, and individuals who may usually be trusted to solely share authentic, researched feedback, to a big diploma. There have been some flaws on this system, granted, however amid the continued forwards and backwards, on this case, and in lots of different debates, it’s getting tougher and tougher to know who to belief within the app, as a result of now, the blue checkmark is meaningless on this context. And for some, that’s proving to be a recurring marker that’s tough to shake.
To be clear, I don’t suppose that Elon really believes that Zuckerberg posted this remark. However then once more, he’s taking this info from an account that he does belief, and engages with commonly, which additionally has a blue checkmark. It’s most likely silly to imagine that we’d have any understanding of what’s happening in Elon’s head – however he has repeatedly engaged with content material from blue tick accounts which might be really pretend or parody presences.
Certainly, as T(w)itter Information Each day lately identified (be aware: non-Twitter accounts aren’t allowed to incorporate ‘Twitter’ of their profile title, therefore the odd moniker, however it’s really an excellent supply of Twitter 2.0 information), many parody accounts on Twitter are literally inflicting confusion, as a result of the self-appended ‘parody’ tag is being lower off from the username in-stream.
for instance, lately many Pakistani Twitter customers believed that Elon had tuned in for this area with Imran Khan – it was really the parody account, however the “(Parody)” within the username was lower off within the Areas view. pic.twitter.com/K1TWmw8Xnk
— T(w)itter Each day Information (@TitterDaily) July 8, 2023
Elon responded to this, noting that:
If the phrase “parody” is actually within the account title, then I believe one can’t blame the account
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2023
However it’s a related level – Twitter’s choice to re-structure the verification program has brought on a complete new vector for misunderstanding within the app, which is hurting its worth as a information and data supply.
Which, after all, can be now the identical on Meta, the place customers may purchase a blue tick. The choice to promote verification markers is unnecessary on this regard, and can proceed to trigger confusion – till customers grow to be so skeptical that they query every part that they see, in each social app.
Which, in the long term, could not essentially be a foul factor – however until we get to that stage, there’ll proceed to be misinterpretations and misunderstandings, resulting in folks sharing false experiences, joke tweets, and every part in between, considering that it’s really legit information.
It simply looks like a self-own, that might have been completely prevented – however then once more, as famous, perhaps Elon knew this was pretend all alongside and simply needed an excuse to difficulty such a problem.
I don’t know, however I do know that the tweet stream is turning into much less reliable each day.
