News Analysis India

Tag: blue tick

  • X’s Blue Tick Policy Undergoes Changes; Premium Users Will Soon… |

    New Delhi: Once a symbol of influence and prestige on X (formerly Twitter), the coveted blue checkmark against a user’s name has undergone a significant transformation over time. Initially reserved for celebrities, influencers, politicians, and CEOs, obtaining the blue tick was considered a privilege and required undergoing a verification process.

    Shift In Policy

    However, when Elon Musk assumed control of Twitter in 2022, the significance of the blue tick shifted dramatically. Musk integrated the blue tick as a feature of the X Premium subscription service (formerly known as Twitter Blue), which users could access by paying a monthly fee. (Also Read: Swiggy Delivery Partner Caught Stealing Shoes in Viral Video, Company Reacts: Watch)

    Consequently, the blue tick, once a symbol of influence, became associated with users simply paying for the X Premium service, losing much of its prestige in the process. Previously, users could hide the blue tick, but recent reports indicate impending changes to this policy. (Also Read: Setback For OnePlus? Mobile Retailers’ Body Threatens To Stop Sales From May 1)

    Changes In Hiding Feature For Premium Users

    Several X Premium users have reported receiving pop-up notifications warning them that they will soon lose the ability to hide the blue tick. The notification states, “The hide your checkmark feature of X Premium is going away soon. Tap to manage your X Premium features.”

    Free Premium Features For Verified Users

    Recent developments also include Musk’s announcement that X accounts with over 2,500 verified subscriber followers will receive access to Premium features for free. Additionally, accounts with over 5,000 verified subscribers will enjoy Premium+ features without charge.

    Expansion Of Premium Benefits

    Beyond the blue tick and increased reach, X Premium and Premium+ subscribers gain access to GrokAI, a newly launched AI chatbot. Musk had earlier revealed plans to make Grok AI available to all premium subscribers, extending its availability beyond Premium+ subscribers.

  • Gigi Hadid quits Twitter as it’s not ‘safe place’ after Elon Musk takeover

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: Supermodel Gigi Hadid has announced that she quit Twitter as it’s no longer a “safe place” for anyone after Elon Musk bought the platform for $44 billion.On the heels of Twitter mass layoffs, the 27-year-old supermodel turned to her Instagram Story to let her 76 million followers know that she’s no longer on the micro-blogging platform. She even called the social media site “cesspool of hate & bigotry”, reports aceshowbiz.com.”For a long time, but especially with its new leadership,” Gigi wrote of Elon, “it’s becoming more and more of a cesspool of hate & bigotry, and its (sic) not a place I want to be a part (sic) of.”Gigi added an apology to her fans on the platform, writing that she “loved connecting” with them “for a decade”.”I can’t stay it’s a safe place for anyone, nor a social platform that will do more good than harm,” she added.Alongside her statement, Gigi included Human Rights Counsel Shannon Raj Singh’s tweet about being laid off from the tech giant.Shannon’s post read: “Yesterday was my last day at Twitter: the entire Human Rights team has been cut from the company. I am enormously proud of the work we did to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights, to protect those at-risk in global conflicts & crises including Ethiopia.”Twitter fired roughly half of its workforce on November 4 with an email to staff explaining the cuts were “necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward”.A handful of employees moved quickly to file a class action lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco on behalf of Twitter workers, reports aceshowbiz.com.The paperwork alleged that Twitter is letting go of staff without adequate notice, in violation of California and federal employment law. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification act, or WARN, requires at least a 60-day notice before conducting mass layoffs.Defending his decision, Musk, who announced that he’ll charge $8 a month for verified users who have blue tick, said that “there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day”.The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla further explained that anyone who “exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50 per cent more than legally required”.Aside from Gigi, many famous names have also decided to quit the platform, including Sara Bareilles, Toni Braxton, Mick Foley and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, since Musk officially became the owner and CEO of Twitter on October 27.

    LOS ANGELES: Supermodel Gigi Hadid has announced that she quit Twitter as it’s no longer a “safe place” for anyone after Elon Musk bought the platform for $44 billion.
    On the heels of Twitter mass layoffs, the 27-year-old supermodel turned to her Instagram Story to let her 76 million followers know that she’s no longer on the micro-blogging platform. She even called the social media site “cesspool of hate & bigotry”, reports aceshowbiz.com.
    “For a long time, but especially with its new leadership,” Gigi wrote of Elon, “it’s becoming more and more of a cesspool of hate & bigotry, and its (sic) not a place I want to be a part (sic) of.”
    Gigi added an apology to her fans on the platform, writing that she “loved connecting” with them “for a decade”.
    “I can’t stay it’s a safe place for anyone, nor a social platform that will do more good than harm,” she added.
    Alongside her statement, Gigi included Human Rights Counsel Shannon Raj Singh’s tweet about being laid off from the tech giant.
    Shannon’s post read: “Yesterday was my last day at Twitter: the entire Human Rights team has been cut from the company. I am enormously proud of the work we did to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights, to protect those at-risk in global conflicts & crises including Ethiopia.”Twitter fired roughly half of its workforce on November 4 with an email to staff explaining the cuts were “necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward”.
    A handful of employees moved quickly to file a class action lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco on behalf of Twitter workers, reports aceshowbiz.com.
    The paperwork alleged that Twitter is letting go of staff without adequate notice, in violation of California and federal employment law. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification act, or WARN, requires at least a 60-day notice before conducting mass layoffs.
    Defending his decision, Musk, who announced that he’ll charge $8 a month for verified users who have blue tick, said that “there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day”.
    The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla further explained that anyone who “exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50 per cent more than legally required”.
    Aside from Gigi, many famous names have also decided to quit the platform, including Sara Bareilles, Toni Braxton, Mick Foley and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, since Musk officially became the owner and CEO of Twitter on October 27.

  • Government fighting for blue tick, be self-reliant for Covid vaccine, says Rahul Gandhi; BJP hits back

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took a swipe at the Modi government, saying it is fighting for a blue tick while leaving people to become “aatmanirbhar” (self-reliant) to get Covid vaccines.

    Hitting back at the Congress leader, the BJP said he should get out of social media and work on the ground.

    The party also asked him to speak to chief ministers of Congress-ruled states regarding alleged scams and irregularities in the Covid vaccination programme there.

    Gandhi’s remarks came a day after outrage over the removal of ‘blue tick’ badge from the personal accounts of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and RSS top functionaries, including Mohan Bhagwat, by Twitter, only to restore it later.

    “The Modi government is fighting for the blue tick. If you want a Covid vaccine, then be self-reliant,” he said in a sarcastic tweet in Hindi, using the hashtag “#Priorities”.

    Taking a dig at Gandhi, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said doing politics on Twitter is his (Gandhi’s) “most important subject” and “biggest platform”.

    Patra asserted that the Modi government has done an admirable job in spearheading such a big inoculation programme and providing free ration to the poor.

    Meanwhile, the former Congress president also talked about stopping language discrimination after a Delhi government hospital asked its nurses not to converse in Malayalam.

    The hospital order has been revoked.

    “Malayalam is as Indian as any other Indian language. Stop language discrimination,” Gandhi said in another tweet.

    Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also shared the concern and posted the order of the Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research warning the nursing personnel to use only Hindi and English for communication, else serious action will be taken.

    “This order is a violation of the basic values of our country. It is racist, discriminatory and utterly wrong,” she said in a tweet in Malayalam, saying Malayali nurses are risking their lives in Covid times to save people.

    “This order is also an insult. We owe them a debt of gratitude and respect. It should be withdrawn as soon as possible and an apology should be published,” she demanded.

    In another tweet, Priyanka alleged that the Modi government reduced oxygen beds by 36 per cent, ICU beds by 46 per cent, ventilator beds by 28 per cent between September 2020 and January 2021.

    “Is the health of Indian citizens less important than the Central Vista project?” she asked, alleging that the government has declared the project as an essential service with people working day and night to complete it by 2023.

    “When every expert in the country, the Parliamentary Committee on Health and their own sero-surveys warned them that additional beds would be needed for an inevitable second wave,” she said as part of her ‘ZimmedarKaun’ (Who is responsible) campaign.