Twitter to tag, block offensive tweets

IT seems Twitter is still in a state of flux with new features – and new issues.

Twitter’s chief executive officer Elon Musk has announced that the microblogging site will start to incorporate mute and block signals as a form of “downvotes” for the new subscribers of Blue Verified. This comes after the CEO suspended and reinstated journalists covering the platform’s issues.

Downvoting a tweet denotes that the tweet content is “irrelevant and offensive.”

In a tweet, the tycoon said that those who have “legacy blue” or users that are verified prior to the launch of the Twitter Blue subscription plan will not be able to get mute and block signals. 

“Twitter will start incorporating mute & block signals from Blue Verified (not Legacy Blue) as downvotes,” said Musk.

Additionally, the CEO noted Twitter will make it simpler to view tweets from only the people that the user follows and other tweet curations.

Just a week ago, Musk relaunched the new Twitter Blue Subscription Service with new features including color coding for verified users. The color coding includes a blue check mark for verified individuals, a gold check mark for business users/accounts, and a gray check mark for government agencies.

The subscription plan remains $8 per member for Twitter accounts using Android devices. However, the revamped subscription plan indicates that Twitter accounts who are using Apple devices will be charged $11 when they subscribe to the Twitter Blue.

With the premium membership, the user will be able to edit and delete their tweets, change the app icon for Twitter, and switch to reader mode, Musk said.

The microblogging site also removed the “Twitter for iPhone” and “Twitter for Android” feature which determines if a user tweeted using an Android or Apple device.