A X, ex-Twitter, started giving users new options to control who can respond to posts made on the social network. Any user will now be able to limit the possibility of responding to their publications, only to verified accounts. The option is available to both premium or paid version customers and free version customers.
As Elon Musk himself explained, in a publication made hours after the launch, the main objective of the new feature is to try to reduce spam content in responses to publications. This new functionality is also seen as another way to highlight verified accounts, with paid subscriptions, which already have other benefits with the same effect on the platform, such as greater prominence on the publication wall or in search results.
This should help a lot with spam bots https://t.co/OYgsYD6QUz
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 10, 2023
To control the number of responses given by bots, and the spam that results, some argue that the measure may be ineffective, because it is difficult to guarantee that verified accounts cannot also create spam. An article from NBC News, published a few days ago, precisely reported the publication of several fake news on X about President Joe Biden, through verified accounts. The news in question was related to alleged humanitarian aid worth 8 billion dollars, authorized by the White House, for Israel.
Still in Twitter mode, X already had some tools in this area. In 2020, the possibility of restricting responses to posts only to followed accounts, or to mentioned accounts, became available. The following year, as TechCrunch recalls, more options were added to allow users to mention publications with limited responses.
