Musk corrects written out Twitter restriction

Shortly after announcing restrictions on the free use of Twitter, owner Elon Musk corrected himself on an important point. It’s about whose tweets are allowed to appear in the “For You” feed curated by the software.

In his original tweet Tuesday night, Musk wrote that posts will only appear in the area of ​​paying subscribers starting April 15. Less than 24 hours later, he made it clear: “Forgot to mention that accounts that are followed will also be in ‘For You’. After all, users specifically wanted to read tweets from these accounts.

Completely banning the free users from the “For You” section could have narrowed the reach of their tweets. However, no figures are known about how many Twitter posts are selected by the algorithm instead of being displayed in chronological order.

Musk’s initial announcement sparked criticism and allegations of money laundering. Now it only seems to concern the tweets of accounts that a user does not follow. The “For You” algorithm adds some posts from profiles you haven’t subscribed to.

The tech billionaire had also announced that participation in Twitter polls should only be reserved for paying subscribers. The subscription costs eight euros per month in Germany.

Musk bought Twitter in October for about $44 billion. After a drop in advertising revenue, he wants to focus more on subscription revenue. (sda/dpa)