(Austin, Texas) While brewing hot coffee in the morning, I have an old habit of listening to newsradio.  Today, NPR (haha, I’m not endorsing NPR) proudly announced that “Elon Musk, American Billionaire” would interview Ron DeSantis today and DeSantis would announce his run for presidency on Twitter.  NPR bantered back and forth a bit, in the expected way, but there was no denying that they are intensely curious how this will go. I am confident that it will go great! 

In this article, I’ll highlight a range of Twitter improvements already here and on the way, from content quality and verification measures to exciting future developments in audio/video. Twitter continues to get better, offering you a unique space to engage and express yourself, whether you’re a gardener or a politician. 

PREVENTING AI MANIPULATION

This week, talking in an interview with the WSJ, Elon Musk underscored the importance of Subscriber Verification in combating AI-driven manipulation of public opinion on social media. 

He outlined the requirements to create a verified account, including a credible phone number from a reputable carrier, a credit card, and a small monthly payment. These safeguards aim to prevent the proliferation of fake accounts and ensure the integrity of information shared on the platform. Elon stressed that social media companies that fail to implement such verification measures would be overwhelmed by bots, undermining trust in their platforms.

MIKE SOLANA’S ENGAGING AUDIO INTERVIEW AND TWITTER’S VIDEO CONTROLS

Mike Solana’s captivating audio interview with artist Grimes, shared on Twitter, demonstrated the platform’s potential for podcast-style content. 

I listened to the interview and loved the integration of soundwaves and easy-to-read captions by Solana. Twitter’s ongoing rapid deployment of quality features continues to amaze me. 

ALGORITHMIC PREFERENCE AND THE RISE OF SUBSCRIPTIONS

Twitter’s algorithm prioritizes posts with the highest cumulative user-seconds, placing native content at the forefront and favoring it over external links. This makes sense, as you may notice, people rarely like to click on links that take them off the Twitter App.  

Author Tim Urban shared what he likes about subscriptions.  For Urban, they create a more casual and authentic space reminiscent of texting among friends. Tim (as of 5/24/23) subscribes to a great mix of people! Among them Liv Boree, Mike Solana, Billy Markus, Rainmaker, and A. James McKarthy.  

As of now, you can see who others subscribe to, which I find to be very helpful when looking for accounts I might also subscribe to. 

THIRST PICS AND VOICE TWEETS 

Twitter designer Andrea Conway urged users to share thirst pictures which are delightful gems often found on Instagram, to enhance visual appeal on the platform. Additionally, Conway encouraged the use of voice tweets, and did one of her own to showcase their potential to add a personal touch to interactions. I created a short voice tweet and was pleasantly surprised when Conway herself commented on my voice, saying “you have the most wonderful voice!!!!” Maybe we should all voice tweet more?

ENGINEERING UPDATE: PUSHSERVICE AND TWEETYPIE ENHANCEMENTS

Twitter’s engineering team highlights Pushservice as the primary recommendation service for surfacing relevant content through notifications. This service fetches candidates from multiple sources, ranks them based on relevance, and applies filters to deliver the best recommendations to users. 

Twitter also focuses on Tweetypie, the core tweet service responsible for handling the reading and writing of tweet data, ensuring a seamless user experience.

HOW WILL TWITTER EXPAND AND IMPROVE?

Twitter is the best place today for an electronic digital town square with maximum free speech,  expression, engagement, and the exchange of diverse perspectives. 

As the Bird App continues to thrive, it invites talented individuals to join the team and contribute to its success. Twitter’s no-nonsense careers page is simply a textured white background with the careers email address: careers@twitter.com. If you are interested in working for the bird app, that is the email to reach out to. 

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Article by @GailAlfarATX please credit accordingly. Thank you for reading, sharing & subscribing if you can!  Image credit Dedorah. Referenced in this article are Elon Musk, Twitter Engineering, Tim Urban, Liv Boree, Mike Solana, Billy Markus, Rainmaker, and A. James McCarthy.