Tag: Twitter

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Mobile Syrup

Elden Ring expansion ‘Shadow of the Erdtree’ is in development: Are you excited?

FromSoftware officially revealed the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion for Elden Ring this week, and I’m incredibly excited.

The news was confirmed via tweets from both the Elden Ring and FromSoftware Twitter accounts, offering a glimpse at artwork from the expansion.

The image seems to show Miquella riding on Torrent, the Spectral Steed, and a dying Erdtree in the background.

We don’t know much, but YouTuber VaatiVidya outlines what to expect from the DLC with many of his speculations.

Even though we know little about the DLC so far, I’m hyped. I’m hoping this expansion is massive, though I also want FromSoftware to take its time with it. At The Game Awards, CD Projekt Red was able to win RPG of the year two years in a row (first with The Witcher 3 and then its Blood and Wine expansion), so I’m hoping Elden Ring can take the double crown as well.

Are you excited about the reveal of Elden Ring‘s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us on Twitter @MobileSyrup.

Image credit: FromSoftware

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Mobile Syrup

Jack Dorsey’s Bluesky is now invite-only on the App Store

The co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, new Twitter alternative, Bluesky, is now in the App Store, but you must be invited to be a tester. Even though the app is still in an invite-only beta, now that it’s in the App Store, it definitely means its public launch could be on the way.

Bluesky is invite-only, but users can join the waitlist. According to TechCrunch, the app is pretty similar to Twitter but includes a simpler way to create posts to which you can add photos to by selecting a plus button. It also has features for searching and following users and seeing them on your Home timeline, just like Twitter. You can only have posts with 256 characters, and don’t prompt alt text for accessibility.

There are no direct messages; it includes likes, reposts, follows and replies, which is also similar to Twitter.

Bluesky was founded back in 2019 and started as a Twitter side project. Then in 2021, Bluesky started its own company. Back in 2022, the Bluesky blog detailed the status of its new Twitter-like app, also called Bluesky.

The app currently has more than 2000 installs, which are probably only newly added beta testers.

Bluesky will have to compete with the likes of Elon Musk’s Twitter and Mastodon.

Source: TechCrunch

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter’s new violent content policy leaves questions on enforcement measures

Twitter has made changes to its rules on violent content under a new strategy.

The Violent Speech policy bans violent threats, wishes of harm, glorification of violence, and incitement of violence, the company announced through its @TwitterSafety page.

“Twitter has a zero-tolerance approach towards Violent Speech, and in most cases, we will suspend any account violating this policy,” the company tweeted. “For less severe violations, we may require you to delete the content before you can access your account again.”

The platform encourages users to report tweets that violate the policy but says users can petition the process if they believe Twitter made a mistake.

But the guidelines are a little murky.

In an explainer posted on its website, Twitter said users are allowed to express violent speech as long as they don’t include “abusive or violent context.” For example, “consensual speech” in discussions about video games or sports is allowed.

The policy also outlines satire is allowed as long as it’s “expressing a viewpoint.”

It’s unclear how exactly this will be judged, given Elon Musk’s treatment of people expressing their personal views. Late last year, he banned several journalists critical of him from accessing the platform.

The policy says accounts violating the measures will be suspended in most cases. However, it gives grace to activity that might “prompt outrage.”

“We also recognize that conversations regarding certain individuals credibly accused of severe violence may prompt outrage and associated violent speech. In these limited cases, we may take less punitive measures.”

Source: Twitter

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Mobile Syrup

Musk fires Twitter Blue head Esther Crawford, promises rewards for those who remain

Esther Crawford was responsible for various projects at Twitter after Elon Musk took over the company. But under Musk’s rule, no one is safe.

According to Zoë Schiffer, the managing editor at Platformer, Crawford lost her job at the company over the weekend. She was responsible for Twitter Blue and, as The Verge reports, oversaw the platform’s upcoming payments platform.

The publication also reports that other members of the product team were also let go, and there’s speculation Musk is getting ready to hire an entirely new team. Schiffer tweeted the latest round of layoffs impacted roughly 50 employees and follow several dismissals from a week prior.

Martijn de Kuijper, a senior product manager and founder of Revue, is among those laid off. Revue is a newsletter tool Twitter acquired in 2021.

More recently, Musk has reportedly announced the company will give remaining employees “performance-based stock and compensation awards,” Schiffer tweeted.

“He acknowledged that the recent round of layoffs were difficult and said Twitter employees who are still at the company are highly regarded by those around them.”

Source: @ZoëSchiffer Via: The Verge 

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Mobile Syrup

Meta begins rolling out paid verification, following in the steps of Twitter

Meta is introducing its own paid verification system, similar to Twitter. Across Facebook and Instagram, users will soon be able to purchase their own blue verification checkmark. 

Following months of Twitter’s paid verification debacle, Meta is now following suit. CEO Mark Zuckerberg reveals its Meta Verified service. Meta will begin rolling out its service in Australia and New Zealand this week, with other countries to soon follow.

Much like Twitter, Meta will be launching a platform-specific monthly subscription. On the web, users will be able to purchase a monthly subscription for $11.99 USD (roughly $16.13 CAD). However, to combat Apple and Google’s in-app purchase tax, Meta Verified will be available for $14.99 USD (around $20.17) each month on iOS and Android. In order to purchase a blue verification checkmark, users must be 18 years of age, provide government ID and “meet minimum activity requirements.”

The company claims that with its Meta Verified subscription, users will receive more protection from impersonation. The blue verification checkmark has historically been used to protect the identity of government officials, celebrities, journalists, and content creators. In addition, Meta states subscribers will have “access to a real person for common account issues.” Other perks include increased visibility as well as “exclusive features.”

In December of last year, Twitter launched its revamped Twitter Blue subscription, which includes paid verification. The service is available for $10 CAD/month on the web and $15/month CAD on iOS and Android. 

Following Musk’s ownership of Twitter, which cost $44 billion, he began looking at new avenues of monetization. Musk is bullish in believing that the paid checkmark is “the great leveler” the platform needs. It appears as though he’s opened Pandora’s Box as other platforms are following in Twitter’s footsteps. 

Musk claims those with a legacy blue checkmark will lose verification status in the near future unless they subscribe to Twitter Blue. Unlike Twitter, Meta states, “As we test and learn, there will be no changes to accounts on Instagram and Facebook that are already verified based on prior requirements, including authenticity and notability.” 

Source: Meta

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter will charge for text-based account two-factor authentication

Twitter users will soon need to switch to using an authenticator app or a security key to use two-factor authentication because text-based two-factor authentication (2FA) is becoming a ‘Blue’ exclusive feature.

If you’re not currently a Twitter Blue subscriber, you can no longer activate 2FA through text, and those still using the feature have until March 20th to disable it and switch to a different method. Twitter says it made this decision after observing “phone-number based 2FA be used — and abused — by bad actors.”

The social media platform’s real intention is likely to offer more exclusive features through its Blue subscription beyond the coveted Blue checkmark that has lost all meaning now that any user can purchase it. This move has likely been in the works for weeks. Earlier this week, I encountered an issue where text message 2FA suddenly stopped working, and I was locked out of my Twitter account. The only way to reaccess my account was to add my phone number again through Twitter’s mobile app, which I, thankfully, still had logged in.

Twitter users currently using 2FA with text messages are already receiving notifications that they need to switch their authentication method or shell out for a Blue subscription.

Twitter Blue in Canada costs $9.99 per month.

Source: Twitter

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Mobile Syrup

Musk made Twitter boost his tweets after getting fewer Super Bowl views than Biden

Following reports that Twitter users’ For You feeds were flooded with Elon Musk posts, we now know why the platform suddenly started pushing its owner to so many people: Musk’s Super Bowl tweet got fewer impressions than U.S. President Joe Biden.

Zoë Schiffer and Casey Newton detailed Twitter’s new Musk-oriented algorithm in the latest Platformer newsletter based on interviews with people familiar with the events, as well as through documents obtained by Platformer. It started early Monday morning — 2:36am, specifically. Musk’s cousin, James Musk, posted a message in Twitter’s Slack with an ‘@here’ tag to notify everyone. The message sought help debugging an “issue with engagement across the platform” that was “high urgency.”

Except, the so-called emergency was a quintessentially Elon Musk problem. Musk tweeted support for the Philadelphia Eagles in the big game, generating some 9.1 million impressions before Musk deleted the tweet (apparently out of frustration for the low view count, not because the Eagles lost, as some previously surmised).

Biden’s tweet, also in support of the Eagles, generated 29 million impressions.

Platformer reports that Musk flew back to the San Francisco Bay Area Sunday night in his private jet to demand answers about the low impressions. This, ultimately, led to the changes that put Musk’s tweets at the forefront of Twitter users’ feeds.

It’s worth noting as well that it was the latest event in an ongoing saga of Musk obsessing with engagement on his tweets. Previously, Musk reportedly fired an engineer who offered a potential explanation for his declining impressions. Platformer reports that Musk’s deputies told the rest of the engineering team over the weekend that they would also lose their jobs if the engagement issues wasn’t “fixed.”

The fix involved changing Twitter’s systems to boost Musk’s tweets

Musk addressed his team late Sunday, with some 80 people pulled in to work on the project. Fixing Musk’s engagement had become priority number one, and employees worked through the night investigating the issue (if only Musk had put as much effort into the other top priorities he’s claimed to have).

Per Platformer, engineers suggested that Musk’s reach could have been reduced because a large number of users have blocked or muted him in recent months. They also found a technical reason for the issue. Twitter typically promotes tweets from users whose posts perform well to both followers and non-followers in the For You feed — engineers estimated that Musk’s tweets should have fit that model but were only showing up about half as often as they should.

The problem was fixed by Monday afternoon, and Twitter deployed code to automatically “greenlight” all of Musk’s tweets, according to Platformer. This meant Musk’s tweets would bypass Twitter filters that were designed to show people the best content possible and that the algorithm artificially boosted Musk’s tweets by a factor of 1,000 — that score ensured his tweets ranked higher than others in the feed.

Moreover, the change allowed Musk’s account to bypass Twitter heuristics that would otherwise prevent a single account from flooding the For You feed.

This all explains the deluge of Musk’s tweets filling up people’s For You pages over the last couple of days. An internal estimate said that over 90 percent of Musk’s followers now see his tweets. It also resulted in an uproar from users, leading Musk to tweet about making adjustments to the algorithm. Platformer reports that the artificial boost is still in place, but the factor has been reduced from 1,000.

Additionally, Platformer notes that views for Musk’s tweets still fluctuate significantly, at least as counted by Twitter. (There are many reasons to doubt the accuracy of Twitter’s view counts, but there isn’t better information to work with.) But rather than contend with the fact that some of his tweets aren’t good, Musk pressured Twitter to show his tweets to almost everyone to keep view counts up. Faced with the threat of losing their jobs, Twitter employees made it happen.

Source: Platformer.

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter flooding For You feeds with Elon Musk’s tweets

Several Twitter users are noticing significantly more Elon Musk in their ‘For You’ feed just days after he fired a Twitter engineer during a meeting about his plummeting view counts.

As detailed by The Verge, Twitter’s For You page is full of tweets from Musk and Musk’s replies to other tweets. The publication’s senior editor, Tom Warren, shared a clip of his For You feed showing seven Musk tweets and replies in a row. Not everyone appears to be afflicted with the Musk feed — my Twitter For You remains blissfully Musk-free — but even some people who don’t follow Twitter’s CEO have encountered the new feed.

Musk acknowledged the issue early Tuesday morning, tweeting that Twitter will “make adjustments to the uh… ‘algorithm.’”

As mentioned up top, the For You change comes just days after reports emerged that Musk fired a Twitter engineer after the engineer tried to explain to Musk why his tweets received less engagement than before (the reason being that Musk’s popularity had waned, which Musk clearly didn’t take well.)

The Verge notes that Twitter rolled out a change to fix Musk’s “visibility” issue over the weekend after Musk tweeted that the problem resulted in “up to 95 percent of my tweets not getting delivered at all.”

Chances are that change and the flood of Musk in people’s feeds are connected. It remains to be seen what impact, if any, Musk’s “adjustments” have on the number of his tweets on the For You page. For the time being, it serves as another reason to avoid the For You page.

Source: Elon Musk Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Elon Musk fired a Twitter engineer after his engagement fell

The latest peak at the internal workings of Twitter is bleak, to say the least.

According to a detailed report from Zoe Schiffer and Casey Newton in the Platformer newsletter (as republished by The Verge), it’s chaos inside Twitter under Elon Musk and employees are worried.

First, the report opens with a quintessential Musk event — Twitter’s owner and CEO reportedly gathered a group of the company’s engineers and advisors and asked them why his engagement numbers were tanking.

“This is ridiculous. I have more than 100 million followers, and I’m only getting tens of thousands of impressions,” Musk said, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the meeting told Platformer.

One of Twitter’s two remaining principal engineers suggested to Musk that interest in his antics was wearing out, and employees reportedly showed him a Google Trends chart depicting Musk’s declining popularity in search rankings. Musk fired the engineer.

Beyond that, the Platformer reported on several other problems within Twitter based on interviews with current employees. Employees spoke about a lack of a long-term vision for Twitter, with some telling Platformer they “mostly move from dumpster fire to dumpster fire.”

They also said they spent time chasing down outlier issues at the request of Musk based on replies he gets from users who claim to have issues.

Moreover, employees report the Twitter officers have a melancholy feel, with people asking each other where they’re interviewing. The eighth floor reportedly is stocked with beds that employees must reserve in advance to use — they’re fully booked most weeknights.

Perks that used to make Twitter an attractive place to work have been removed or destroyed. For example, employees talked about how the food at the office sucks now, and worse, employees need to pay for it.

Finally, Platformer highlighted employee concerns about regulators. Twitter previously commmitted to following steps like creating project proposals and conducting security and privacy reviews before making changes, part of an agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Platformer reports an FTC audit is coming this quarter and employees doubt the company has the necessary documentation in place to pass inspection.

If you want to learn more about how bleak Twitter is from the people who still work there, check out the full Platformer report here.

Source: Platformer Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter still isn’t doing enough to combat CSAM: report

Despite Elon Musk’s repeated claims that cracking down on child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on Twitter is “priority #1,” evidence continues to show that CSAM persists on Twitter.

According to a new report from The New York Times in conjunction with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, not only was it easy to find CSAM on Twitter, but Twitter actually promotes some of the images through its recommendation algorithm.

The Times worked with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to help match abusive images to the centre’s CSAM database. The publication uncovered content on Twitter that had previously been flagged as exploitative. It also found accounts offering to sell more CSAM.

During the search, the Times said it found images containing ten child abuse victims in 150 instances “across multiple accounts.” The Canadian Centre for Child Protection, on the other hand, ran a scan against the most explicit videos in its database and found over 260 hits, with more than 174,000 likes and 63,000 retweets.

“The volume we’re able to find with a minimal amount of effort is quite significant. It shouldn’t be the job of external people to find this sort of content sitting on their system,” Lloyd Richardson, technology director at the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, told the Times.

Meanwhile, Twitter laid off a significant number of its employees and contract workers in November 2022, including 15 percent of its trust and safety team — which handles content moderation. At the time, Twitter claimed the changes wouldn’t impact its moderation.

Later that same month, Musk granted a “general amnesty” to banned Twitter accounts, allowing some 62,000 accounts to return to the platform (which included white supremacist accounts). At the same time, reporting revealed that Twitter’s CSAM removal team was decimated in the layoffs, leaving just one member for the entire Asia Pacific region.

In December 2022, Twitter abruptly disbanded its Trust and Safety Council after some members resigned. Musk accused the council of “refusing to take action on child exploitation” even though it was an advisory council that had no decision-making power. Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey chimed in to say that Musk’s claim was false, but Musk only doubled down on claims that child safety was a “top priority.”

In February, Twitter said that it was limiting the reach of CSAM content and working to “suspend the bad actor(s) involved.” The company then claimed that it suspended over 400,000 accounts “that created, distributed, or engaged with this content,” which the company says is a 112 percent increase since November.

Despite this, the Times reported that data from the U.S. National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children shows Twitter only made about 8,000 reports monthly — tech companies are legally required to report users even if they only claim to sell or solicit CSAM.

You can reach the Times report in full here.

Source: The New York Times Via: The Verge