Author Topic: The downfall of Twitter/the rise of X  (Read 33072 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Stadler

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 43016
  • Gender: Male
  • Pointing out the "unfunny" since 2014!
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #525 on: March 11, 2023, 10:10:22 AM »
Not going to blow up the funny thread, since it is, well, funny, but since the three examples are all Twitter I'll post here:

It makes me sad how many people are seemingly so insecure they have to troll for compliments from strangers on the interwebs.  Of course that's their prerogative, and it's a better outcome than some of them, but it's still a sign that something is desperately, tragically wrong.

Well, I'll go a bit further and just general trolling on the internet.  It's sad. Like on my youtube channel people sometimes say really mean things.  And I just have to ask, why? And the only thing I can think of is it's for the attention.

I watched a documentary about Hunter Moore the other night.   I mean, it was bad for what it was, and as disgusting and disturbing as it was, I couldn't help thinking throughout that it was such a colossal waste of time and resources. 

Offline ProfessorPeart

  • MP.com Refugee
  • Posts: 3197
  • Gender: Male
  • Lubed In The Face
beul ni teh efac = Lube In The Face / That has to be wrong.  :lol / EDIT: Oh, it's Blue! I'm an idiot.
Pardon the interruption, but I just had to run in and celebrate the majesty of Lube in the Face as highest moment in roulette history

Offline Adami

  • Moderator of awesomeness
  • *
  • Posts: 36093
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #527 on: March 24, 2023, 02:59:08 PM »
https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-automatically-responds-to-press-emails-with-a-poop-emoji-2023-3?

On the one hand, that’s incredibly immature, stupid, unprofessional and bad for Twitter. On the other hand it’s pretty funny.
fanticide.bandcamp.com

Offline XJDenton

  • What a shame
  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 7551
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #528 on: March 24, 2023, 05:03:10 PM »
On the one hand, that’s incredibly immature, stupid, unprofessional and bad for Twitter. On the other hand it’s pretty funny.

Indeed. Might be the first time musk was actually funny.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

Offline Dublagent66

  • Devouring consciousness...
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 9695
  • Gender: Male
  • ...Digesting power
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #529 on: March 27, 2023, 10:08:29 AM »
Saw a headline in some news feed a few days ago about Musk saying that Twitter is worth less than half of what he paid?  Not sure if that's true or not, but can't imagine the richest dude in the world getting screwed out of billions.
"Two things are infinite; the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." -Albert Einstein
"There's not a pill you can take.  There's not a class you can go to.  Stupid is foreva."  -Ron White

Offline cramx3

  • Chillest of the chill
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 34212
  • Gender: Male
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #530 on: March 27, 2023, 11:02:00 AM »
Saw a headline in some news feed a few days ago about Musk saying that Twitter is worth less than half of what he paid?  Not sure if that's true or not, but can't imagine the richest dude in the world getting screwed out of billions.

I don't think this is news though.  I think he knew he over paid going in and actually tried to get out of the deal.  Maybe he didn't realize how much he over paid though.

Offline MinistroRaven

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 3801
  • Gender: Male
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #531 on: March 27, 2023, 12:06:45 PM »
Saw a headline in some news feed a few days ago about Musk saying that Twitter is worth less than half of what he paid?  Not sure if that's true or not, but can't imagine the richest dude in the world getting screwed out of billions.

I saw that headline too and I'm not quite sure what to make of it either. It's hard to imagine someone as wealthy as Elon Musk getting screwed out of billions of dollars, but stranger things have happened.

I think it's important to remember that headlines can be misleading or not tell the whole story. It's possible that Musk's comment was taken out of context or there's more to the story than we know.

Either way, it'll be interesting to see how this develops and what happens with Twitter's value in the future.

Offline hefdaddy42

  • Et in Arcadia Ego
  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 52785
  • Gender: Male
  • Postwhore Emeritus
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #532 on: March 27, 2023, 01:15:40 PM »
Saw a headline in some news feed a few days ago about Musk saying that Twitter is worth less than half of what he paid?  Not sure if that's true or not, but can't imagine the richest dude in the world getting screwed out of billions.

I saw that headline too and I'm not quite sure what to make of it either. It's hard to imagine someone as wealthy as Elon Musk getting screwed out of billions of dollars, but stranger things have happened.
Why?  Who else can get screwed out of billions of dollars?
Hef is right on all things. Except for when I disagree with him. In which case he's probably still right.

Offline Lonk

  • DTF.org Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6012
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #533 on: March 27, 2023, 02:02:37 PM »
Yeah, not hard to believe that it is true.

If he really paid above market value, then surrounding all the drama he lost a bunch of sponsors and advertisement contracts, It's not hard to see that its value decreased. Maybe not by half, but certainly not worth the same it was 5-6 months ago.
Vmadera has evolved into Lonk

Offline Skeever

  • Posts: 2879
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #534 on: March 27, 2023, 02:24:45 PM »
History is full of "emperor wears no clothes" moments.

And anyway, isn't a lot of Musk's net worth kind of theoretical? A lot of it could be, for example, value of TSLA stock, which has tanked since the ridiculous IPO.

Also, if I'm Musk, I'm not necessarily hurt over spinning some of my funds into a company that, while perhaps not worth what I paid for it, still happens to be a real company that now belongs to me, and not just value on a ledger that ebbs and flows with the value of a company I'm no longer directly in control over.

I guess where I stand is that, sure, he could have overpaid for it, but that doesn't mean he's not going to make money from it, or that it was necessarily a bad place to put his money. Time will tell. It does not seem like anyone's giving up twitter anytime soon.   

Offline cramx3

  • Chillest of the chill
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 34212
  • Gender: Male
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #535 on: March 27, 2023, 02:36:59 PM »
History is full of "emperor wears no clothes" moments.

And anyway, isn't a lot of Musk's net worth kind of theoretical? A lot of it could be, for example, value of TSLA stock, which has tanked since the ridiculous IPO.

Also, if I'm Musk, I'm not necessarily hurt over spinning some of my funds into a company that, while perhaps not worth what I paid for it, still happens to be a real company that now belongs to me, and not just value on a ledger that ebbs and flows with the value of a company I'm no longer directly in control over.

I guess where I stand is that, sure, he could have overpaid for it, but that doesn't mean he's not going to make money from it, or that it was necessarily a bad place to put his money. Time will tell. It does not seem like anyone's giving up twitter anytime soon.

Also he can power trip with it.  Definitely some value there for him above the actual price.

And as for the bolded, yeah. I feel like there's been some algorithm changes that I'm not happy about (I feel like I only see a small % of my followers tweets with any regularity) but it's mostly been the same experience for me. When the old blue check marks go, I do wonder if that will have any impact.  Probably not for me, but maybe for some.

Offline jasc15

  • Posts: 5022
  • Gender: Male
  • TTAL: Yeti welcome
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #536 on: April 18, 2023, 08:53:29 PM »
Parachuting into page 16 of this thread.  For a while I've wanted a way to follow a handful of twitter accounts without needing an account of my own.  A few years ago I found a way to create a feed without an account.  There is a twitter "front end" called Nitter, where you replace twitter.com with nitter.net in the URL, like so:

https://twitter.com/mikeportnoy/ becomes https://nitter.net/mikeportnoy/

This strips away the popups asking you to create an account, enable notifications, etc., and removes the scroll limits when viewing on mobile.

There are browser add-ons to automatically redirect you to nitter from twitter, i.e., if you click a link from another page.  I use Privacy Redirect for Firefox.

But the most useful thing for me is the RSS feed, for example:

https://nitter.net/mikeportnoy/rss

If you know what RSS is, and already use an RSS feed for blogs, etc, then you will already know what to do with that link.  There are a bunch of RSS apps for desktop and mobile, and they will all be able to generate a feed from that /rss link.  I have my feed mixed with blogs and news sites, so the twitter posts are just mixed with others.

Here is a bit more about it: https://www.wired.com/story/nitter-twitter-remove-ads-for-you-promoted-tweets/

Offline cramx3

  • Chillest of the chill
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 34212
  • Gender: Male
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #537 on: April 20, 2023, 02:22:14 PM »
So I guess today is the end of the blue check marks as I see lots of the bands I follow no longer have them (and I don't blame them for not buying it).  Seems also like twitter lost some business today from Microsoft because their advertising API is too expensive. Also I read Germany is suing twitter for hate speech that could cost up to 30 billion in fines.  Must be a great day over in the twitter business.

Offline XJDenton

  • What a shame
  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 7551
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #538 on: April 20, 2023, 03:00:26 PM »
At least the SpaceX stuff is going well!
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

Online lonestar

  • DTF Executive Chef
  • Official DTF Tour Guide
  • ****
  • Posts: 29705
  • Gender: Male
  • Silly Hatted Knife Chucker
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #539 on: April 20, 2023, 03:24:06 PM »
 :lol

Offline jasc15

  • Posts: 5022
  • Gender: Male
  • TTAL: Yeti welcome
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #540 on: April 22, 2023, 07:41:01 PM »
And with that example, MP is leaving Twitter.

https://nitter.net/MikePortnoy/status/1649913146692313088

Offline Grappler

  • Posts: 3414
  • Gender: Male
  • Victory, Illinois Varsity
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #541 on: April 22, 2023, 08:23:52 PM »
At least the SpaceX stuff is going well!


Offline XJDenton

  • What a shame
  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 7551
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #542 on: April 23, 2023, 04:37:09 AM »
So apparently people who didnt pay for twitter blue are still getting the mark saying they did. Includes a number of high profile celebrities. Wonder if there's a law against implying someone has paid for/endorsed a product when they haven't...
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

Offline KevShmev

  • EZBoard Elder
  • *****
  • Posts: 41963
  • Gender: Male
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #543 on: April 23, 2023, 06:08:31 AM »
Not really talking about Portnoy, but self-important celebs crying about their blue check mark has been cracking me up for a while.

Offline XeRocks81

  • Posts: 1445
  • Gender: Male
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #544 on: April 23, 2023, 07:23:40 PM »
Not really talking about Portnoy, but self-important celebs crying about their blue check mark has been cracking me up for a while.

self important or not verification serves an important purpose for public figures.   Elon Musk’s twitter has completely messed it up.

Online King Postwhore

  • Couch Potato
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 59294
  • Gender: Male
  • Take that Beethoven, you deaf bastard!!
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #545 on: April 23, 2023, 07:30:47 PM »
If you are dumb enough to not know who you are following,  then maybe you are gullible.   I get hot chick's following me on all media. They all can't be bots. Right?  Lol

Social media isn't that essential to cause this much uproar.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'.” - Bob Newhart
So wait, we're spelling it wrong and king is spelling it right? What is going on here? :lol -- BlobVanDam
"Oh, I am definitely a jackass!" - TAC

Offline TAC

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 74097
  • Gender: Male
  • Arthritic Metal Horns
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #546 on: April 23, 2023, 07:34:22 PM »
If you are dumb enough to not know who you are following,  then maybe you are gullible.   I get hot chick's following me on all media. They all can't be bots. Right?  Lol


They can't all be chicks either.  ;D
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Online King Postwhore

  • Couch Potato
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 59294
  • Gender: Male
  • Take that Beethoven, you deaf bastard!!
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #547 on: April 23, 2023, 07:36:28 PM »
That's my point. Their fake. I know that. I don't need a blue checkmark to figure out some dude is not Portnoy.   

Or a hot Chick that's into a 55 year old, graying, fat man.  :lol
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'.” - Bob Newhart
So wait, we're spelling it wrong and king is spelling it right? What is going on here? :lol -- BlobVanDam
"Oh, I am definitely a jackass!" - TAC

Offline XeRocks81

  • Posts: 1445
  • Gender: Male
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #548 on: April 23, 2023, 07:45:40 PM »
That's my point. Their fake. I know that. I don't need a blue checkmark to figure out some dude is not Portnoy.   

Or a hot Chick that's into a 55 year old, graying, fat man.  :lol

but if anyone can copy paste a public figure’s profile with a slightly different user name no one would notice at first then it’s a problem.

Online King Postwhore

  • Couch Potato
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 59294
  • Gender: Male
  • Take that Beethoven, you deaf bastard!!
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #549 on: April 23, 2023, 07:54:11 PM »
If you all ready follow them you are good.  If you want to follow a star,  most fake people don't post like the stars.

Listen, I understand why it makes it easier but it just takes a little energy on our parts to know who is real or not.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'.” - Bob Newhart
So wait, we're spelling it wrong and king is spelling it right? What is going on here? :lol -- BlobVanDam
"Oh, I am definitely a jackass!" - TAC

Offline Stadler

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 43016
  • Gender: Male
  • Pointing out the "unfunny" since 2014!
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #550 on: April 24, 2023, 06:21:13 AM »
That's my point. Their fake. I know that. I don't need a blue checkmark to figure out some dude is not Portnoy.   

Or a hot Chick that's into a 55 year old, graying, fat man.  :lol

You mean they're not?   :)

Offline KevShmev

  • EZBoard Elder
  • *****
  • Posts: 41963
  • Gender: Male
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #551 on: April 24, 2023, 06:23:47 AM »
Not really talking about Portnoy, but self-important celebs crying about their blue check mark has been cracking me up for a while.

self important or not verification serves an important purpose for public figures.   Elon Musk’s twitter has completely messed it up.

Then let them pay their measly 8 dollars a month.  Or are these self-important people really that upset that a platform that previously allowed them to promote themselves free of charge suddenly comes with a super small purse string?

Note: that question is for almost anyone, as I know Xe is almost never interested in actual dialogue or any pushback to his "pounding my first on the desk" drive-by statements.

Offline XeRocks81

  • Posts: 1445
  • Gender: Male
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #552 on: April 24, 2023, 06:25:19 AM »
Not really talking about Portnoy, but self-important celebs crying about their blue check mark has been cracking me up for a while.

self important or not verification serves an important purpose for public figures.   Elon Musk’s twitter has completely messed it up.

Then let them pay their measly 8 dollars a month.  Or are these self-important people really that upset that a platform that previously allowed them to promote themselves free of charge suddenly comes with a super small purse string?

that’s not how it works, at least imo.  They brought value (eyeballs) to the site.

edit: i messed up the quoting
« Last Edit: April 24, 2023, 08:41:22 AM by XeRocks81 »

Offline cramx3

  • Chillest of the chill
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 34212
  • Gender: Male
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #553 on: April 24, 2023, 08:01:26 AM »
The problem with MP's reason to leave is that Facebook and Instagram still have the same issue with people with fake accounts.  The blue check mark doesn't solve the issue, just helps, because in the end, there's a significant portion of the population that is not like King here and actually falls for the fake traps.

What I do agree with MPs decision, is if twitter as a platform, is no longer trustworthy then he has a right to not use it and not provide it any money. 

I'm curious if Twitter can perform well at actually blocking the fake content as well as the sites that still have a blue check mark though. 

Anyway, it's sad that our social media options have become Zuckerburg (Facebook/Instagram), Elon (Twitter), or China (TikTok).  None of the three are trustworthy anyway.

Offline hefdaddy42

  • Et in Arcadia Ego
  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 52785
  • Gender: Male
  • Postwhore Emeritus
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #554 on: April 24, 2023, 09:46:30 AM »
So apparently people who didnt pay for twitter blue are still getting the mark saying they did. Includes a number of high profile celebrities. Wonder if there's a law against implying someone has paid for/endorsed a product when they haven't...
From what I've seen, it's happening to accounts that have at least 1 million followers.  I've seen multiple say they did nothing to receive the blue check marks, they just appeared.
Hef is right on all things. Except for when I disagree with him. In which case he's probably still right.

Offline XJDenton

  • What a shame
  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 7551
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #555 on: April 24, 2023, 03:33:05 PM »
Not really talking about Portnoy, but self-important celebs crying about their blue check mark has been cracking me up for a while.

self important or not verification serves an important purpose for public figures.   Elon Musk’s twitter has completely messed it up.

Then let them pay their measly 8 dollars a month.  Or are these self-important people really that upset that a platform that previously allowed them to promote themselves free of charge suddenly comes with a super small purse string?

Note: that question is for almost anyone, as I know Xe is almost never interested in actual dialogue or any pushback to his "pounding my first on the desk" drive-by statements.

The payment isn't the issue. The check mark on the past indicated only one thing: this is the official account of the person or organisation in the profile, and we have independently verified that they are exactly who they claim to be. It wasn't about status, it was about trust. Now any bell end can pay $8, get a check mark that used to confer authenticity, do a bit of work replicating a reputable organisation or copy an individual's profile appearance and get out there and spread disinformation in their name. And while I'm sure that many on this forum probably have the critical thinking skillsto distinguish a fraud or an imposter, the fact remains that a significant segment of the population (particularly in population and user base ARE susceptible to such attacks.

Celebs aren't bemoaning their loss of status (Stephen king doesn't need a blue tick to have status), they are bemoaning that Elon took a feature with a well defined and important purpose in making the site a trustworthy source of information and ruined it to give a bunch of nobodies a way to feel like they have some kind of status on the site. So in that respect: why on earth would Celebs or news organisations pay for a product that is literally worthless to them.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2023, 03:47:33 PM by XJDenton »
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

Offline KevShmev

  • EZBoard Elder
  • *****
  • Posts: 41963
  • Gender: Male
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #556 on: April 24, 2023, 05:09:54 PM »
The problem with MP's reason to leave is that Facebook and Instagram still have the same issue with people with fake accounts.  The blue check mark doesn't solve the issue, just helps, because in the end, there's a significant portion of the population that is not like King here and actually falls for the fake traps.

What I do agree with MPs decision, is if twitter as a platform, is no longer trustworthy then he has a right to not use it and not provide it any money. 

I'm curious if Twitter can perform well at actually blocking the fake content as well as the sites that still have a blue check mark though. 

Anyway, it's sad that our social media options have become Zuckerburg (Facebook/Instagram), Elon (Twitter), or China (TikTok).  None of the three are trustworthy anyway.

Totally agree.  If someone doesn't trust Twitter and wants to tell it and Musk to go f themselves, I say go for it. 

I suspect, like many things, this will work itself out and people just have to be patient.  I am sure Musk knows that having many big names on there is good for the site (I agree with Xe on that), so you just have to let the noise die down a little and it will work itself out, but overreacting on Twitter these days is second nature to many these days, so overreacting on Twitter ABOUT Twitter is pretty funny, if you think about it.

Offline Stadler

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 43016
  • Gender: Male
  • Pointing out the "unfunny" since 2014!
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #557 on: April 25, 2023, 07:01:58 AM »
Not really talking about Portnoy, but self-important celebs crying about their blue check mark has been cracking me up for a while.

self important or not verification serves an important purpose for public figures.   Elon Musk’s twitter has completely messed it up.

Then let them pay their measly 8 dollars a month.  Or are these self-important people really that upset that a platform that previously allowed them to promote themselves free of charge suddenly comes with a super small purse string?

Note: that question is for almost anyone, as I know Xe is almost never interested in actual dialogue or any pushback to his "pounding my first on the desk" drive-by statements.

The payment isn't the issue. The check mark on the past indicated only one thing: this is the official account of the person or organisation in the profile, and we have independently verified that they are exactly who they claim to be. It wasn't about status, it was about trust. Now any bell end can pay $8, get a check mark that used to confer authenticity, do a bit of work replicating a reputable organisation or copy an individual's profile appearance and get out there and spread disinformation in their name. And while I'm sure that many on this forum probably have the critical thinking skillsto distinguish a fraud or an imposter, the fact remains that a significant segment of the population (particularly in population and user base ARE susceptible to such attacks.

Celebs aren't bemoaning their loss of status (Stephen king doesn't need a blue tick to have status), they are bemoaning that Elon took a feature with a well defined and important purpose in making the site a trustworthy source of information and ruined it to give a bunch of nobodies a way to feel like they have some kind of status on the site. So in that respect: why on earth would Celebs or news organisations pay for a product that is literally worthless to them.

I'm reading this, and you are, of course, factually correct.   But I'm also reading this and thinking - since I'm not a fan of social media AT ALL, and think at best it's only neutral on a value scale - this IS social media. Social media IS all about having "some kind of status".  You're focusing on the positive aspects, but maybe not Stephen King, but people who are famous for being famous - who count their "likes" - the blue check IS status.   Twitter, except for the most basic of information regarding concert dates and the like, ISN'T trustworthy.   Don't try to tell me that the "Paid Democratic Operatives" and the "MAGA Russian Bots" are furthering any discourse in America at this time.  They are not. 

We can debate whether this is short-sighted or not, and I understand the argument as to why it is, but I reckon that, like El Barto has pointed out a couple times now, Musk is doing this in real time.  He's got better data than you, me or Xe has, by a long shot.  I would venture to say he knows the ratios of "Stephen King's/Mike Portnoy's" (though King has, to my knowledge, only threatened to leave, pulling the social media equivalent of "I'm moving to Canada!") to those that can't afford the blow to their psyche by abdicating their millions of followers. 

Offline cramx3

  • Chillest of the chill
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 34212
  • Gender: Male
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #558 on: April 25, 2023, 08:09:39 AM »
the blue check IS status. 

While I agree with Xe on the positives and maybe the intended point of the blue check mark, if you've been on twitter, you'd know there were an insane amount of nobody accounts with the blue check mark.  It definitely wasn't only for celebrities. The end result was people using it to show some sort of status of "being known" when many of these people certainly are not.  I believe that $8 was meant for the people who would have no issue buying such status.

Offline Skeever

  • Posts: 2879
Re: The downfall of Twitter
« Reply #559 on: April 25, 2023, 09:10:25 AM »
So apparently people who didnt pay for twitter blue are still getting the mark saying they did. Includes a number of high profile celebrities. Wonder if there's a law against implying someone has paid for/endorsed a product when they haven't...
From what I've seen, it's happening to accounts that have at least 1 million followers.  I've seen multiple say they did nothing to receive the blue check marks, they just appeared.

Seems like it's a contingency measure against the "block the blue" campaign, where a bunch of people were just blocking everyone who paid the $8 (overwhelmingly, they seem to be Elon phanatics, crypto-bros, and people with libertarian politics)