Tag: Gail Alfar

Twitter Heads in the Direction of Financial Health under Elon Musk

Gail AlfarLeave a comment

Welcome back to What’s Up Twitter. Thanks for joining me for a moment as we look at how Elon Musk continues to improve Twitter this last week and lead it into a financially healthy place.

Four changes this week involve thoughtful ways for Twitter to generate a revenue stream based on providing value and a good user experience for organizations and individuals.

  • Major advertisers support Twitter over the Super Bowl
  • Twitter Blue expands to 6 more countries
  • Verified Organization plan for Gold checks and Affiliates
  • Enterprise API
Elon Musk frees the Bird. Art courtesy The Rebel Bear.

Major advertisers show support for Twitter

February 2: Elon Musk takes moment to thank the National Football League (NFL) and major advertisers for their support as we approach Super Bowl Sunday. PepsiCo and Anheuser-Busch are just a few companies that welcome the opportunity to make deals with Twitter. 

Paid Twitter Blue expands

February 3: Twitter Blue is available in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Spain.  Maren Kahnert creator of Elon Musk Interviews reported that she signed up for Twitter Blue. Deborah in France thanked Elon Musk, saying “France Loves Twitter!” 

Verified Organizations with Twitter

February 3: Twitter opens early access to its Verified Organization plan.  In a tweet from Matt Navarra, some of the details were revealed. A Gold checkmark for organizations ($1000/month) and affiliation badges for its associates ($50/month) will boost Tweets by that organization. 

My take is this is a great deal for organizations as it is an inexpensive way to advertise. Imagine advertising for only $1000/month? It should encourage engaging and creative ‘marketing’ tweets.

February 7: As suggested by Twitter user Nima Owji, Twitter created a tab for affiliates. The Official Tesla account has 7 affiliates on their tab. 

Enterprise API with Twitter versus “Free API”

February 4: Elon Musk listens to feedback from Twitter users, he states “Responding to feedback, Twitter will enable a light, write-only API for bots providing good content that is free.” *API means Application programming interface and one benign example is the below account for Pepito.

Commenting on a link to a beloved bot account called Pepito the Cat, Elon Musk delighted users by agreeing, “I guess we could give all Verified users access to the API for posts like this.”  You can follow this account at https://twitter.com/PepitoTheCat and here’s the French feline!

Pepito The Cat, and account that uses Twitter’s API

February 8: The Twitter dev team shared information about “Enterprise API” in a series of tweets, 

“We have been busy with some updates to the Twitter API so you can continue to build and innovate with us. 
We’re excited to announce an extension of the current free Twitter API access through February 13. Here’s what we’re shipping then: Paid basic access that offers low level of API usage, and access to Ads API for a $100 monthly fee.  
A new form of free access will be introduced as this is extremely important to our ecosystem – limited to Tweet creation of up to 1,500 Tweets per month for a single authenticated user token, including Login with Twitter.  
Also on February 13, we will deprecate the Premium API. If you’re subscribed to Premium, you can apply for Enterprise to continue using these endpoints.  This is a new chapter for the Twitter API to increase quality, reduce spam, and enable a thriving ecosystem. We appreciate your patience as we implement these changes and we can’t wait to see what you build next! Stay tuned for more information on continued Twitter API access.”  - Twitter devs

Avoiding bankruptcy

February 5: Elon Musk expressed appreciation for all who are supporting Twitter.  Bankruptcy has been avoided under Elon’s leadership even as he spent countless hours at Tesla and SpaceX. Elon Musk would like to see Twitter become financially healthy soon.

“Last 3 months were extremely tough, as had to save Twitter from bankruptcy, while fulfilling essential Tesla & SpaceX duties. Wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone. Twitter still has challenges, but is now trending to breakeven if we keep at it. Public support is much appreciated!” - Elon Musk 

“To be extra clear, Twitter is definitely not financially healthy yet, but is trending to be so. Lots of work still needed to get there.” - Elon Musk

Elon was asked by a Twitter user if it is “Worse than 2008 or production hell?” Elon replied, “Similar.” 

February 5: Elon Musk’s team is called to fix an issue reported by many Twitter users. Elon said, “Daily user count & total user minutes are still strong, but engagement on some accounts is weirdly low.” – Elon Musk

Elon Musk is constantly engaged with Twitter users and this is a big reason why Twitter is able to improve so rapidly.

Twitter Files are appreciated by most Americans

February 6: Most Americans approve of the Twitter Files. A poll conducted  January 31 – February 2, 2023 by Rasmussen Reports found that 63% of American adults approve of Elon Musk’s decision to authorize the publication of the “Twitter files” and 42% strongly approve. 

I think the Twitter Files are Elon Musk’s brilliant way of “disinfecting with sunlight” to clear the decks at Twitter and win the public’s trust.

February 6: T(w)itter Takeover News found an update on the Twitter App designed to give Twitter a seamless and enjoyable experience.  The update allows the user app to default to whichever tab so you will not have to switch back to “For you” or “Following.” 

Twitter as a place for everyone

February 7: Elon Musk tweets, “Going forward, Twitter will be broadly accepting of different values, rather than trying to impose its own specific values on the world.”

My take is this is essential to preserving humanity and it may even serve to extend the window of opportunity for humans to make it to Mars.

Twitter can be a communication tool that can save lives. It is much more than entertainment.

February 8: In the aftermath of the earthquake in Turkey the Turkish government contacted Twitter to say they are restoring Twitter access in the country.  Elon Musk said, “Twitter has been informed by the Turkish government that access will be reenabled shortly.” 

Longform Tweets

February 8: Twitter Blue rolled out an amazing feature where people can now tweet up to 4000 characters instead of just 280.  Here’s the details: 

“need more than 280 characters to express yourself? we know that lots of you do… and while we love a good thread, sometimes you just want to Tweet everything all at once. we get that. so we're introducing longer Tweets! you're gonna want to check this out. 

starting today, if you’re subscribed to Twitter Blue in the US you can create longer Tweets. most standard functions of Tweeting still apply, whether you want to post a picture, use a hashtag, or create a poll. but now you can type all the way up to 4,000 characters. for now, longer Tweets on web can't be saved as drafts or scheduled to send later. but don’t worry, Twitter is still Twitter. 
we know longer Tweets could mean a lot of scrolling, so they’ll be capped at 280 characters on your timeline and you’ll see a “Show more” prompt to click and read the whole Tweet. while only Blue subscribers can post longer Tweets, anyone and everyone can read them. you can reply to, retweet, and quote Tweet a longer Tweet, no matter if you’re a Twitter Blue subscriber or not. 

subscribers will be able to reply and QT with up to 4,000 characters. let us know what you think. we’re excited to see how you use the extra space! if you’ve got more to say, you can subscribe to Twitter Blue by clicking the link in our bio.” - Twitter Blue

CONCLUSION

The tide is turning slowly in society and I am starting to hear some people speak up about how thankful they are that Elon Musk bought Twitter. And for Twitter to be a platform for free speech it must also be financially successful and I believe it is heading in that direction under Elon Musk.

  • Major advertisers like the NFL are showing support for Twitter
  • Users in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Spain can now pay for Twitter Blue
  • The Verified Organization plan is valuable for both Twitter (revenue) and organizations. It provides the Gold Check and can be used by companies for marketing
  • Enterprise API from Twitter and other API features may create revenue
  • Honoring transparency, Elon Musk explained Twitter was being saved from Bankruptcy

Get up to speed with Twitter

Twitter Could Usher in a New Era for Citizen Journalism with Payments | Visibility | Dogecoin This article highlights the news from the week of February 1 at Twitter. The biggest news was Elon Musk utilizing Twitter to encourage citizen journalism through payment sharing.

In my article “Twitter Just Gets Better with Elon Musk at the Helm,” read about how Twitter is on the path to becoming a one-stop shop for people to keep folders with categorized information, a place to come for news, and a place for content creators to earn an income for their efforts.

Photo San Francisco Courtesy Ethan Chang on Unsplash

Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Twitter – February 8, 2023. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support Twitter 2.0 and Elon Musk in both goal as an author is to support Twitter 2.0 and Elon Musk in both making lives better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization.

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Twitter Could Usher in a New Era for Citizen Journalism with Payments | Visibility | Dogecoin

Gail Alfar2 Comments

Welcome back to What’s Up Twitter. There are cool developments coming down the pipeline for you as a Twitter user.

Also, do you think Twitter will accept Dogecoin? Share your ideas.

San Francisco, home of Twitter HQ is a gem at sunset. Used with permission from Romain Briaux from Unplash.

Twitter to open Beta version soon to reward creators!

Hundreds of talented citizen writers will soon have a chance to be financially compensated for their work. Elon Musk announced that co-tweets have ended to make way for a feature that will encourage citizen journalism.  

Writers with subscriptions activated will be able to publish directly on Twitter and get paid for it by adding essays as attachments to tweets.

Elon Musk announces new features for Twitter.
“You’re welcome. Axed them yesterday to focus on enabling writers to add essays as attachments to tweets. Combined with improvements to creator subscriptions (fka superfollow), you will be able to publish directly on Twitter & get paid for it. Beta version launching next week.  We’re also reviewing ad rev share for ads in a creator’s tweet replies – create an interesting thread and get paid for it!”  Elon Musk

Are you familiar with Tweet threads?  Many writers like Marc Andreessen and Trung Phan are known for their interesting threads.  These and others may soon be able to get paid for their threads by sharing ad revenue with Twitter. 

I think this is a great idea!  Did you know many writers are paid less than $20 per article to write what they are TOLD to write by editors?  They need income so they acquiesce and then they are targeted for doing a job to earn a living wage.  Imagine if these talented people could write freely and not have to support an agenda they disagree with.  I am excited to follow this development on Twitter.  This may be part of why Elon Musk purchased Twitter.

Issues with Twitter visibility

Late Tuesday evening on January 31, Elon Musk made his account private. This was to gauge tweet interaction invisibility, which was reported by many users as being limited when accounts were not made private. In one example by Ian Cheong, he had more engagement and visibility when his account was private than when it was public. I will update this article as this situation develops.

Ian Cheong was one of the first to discover visibility issues on Twitter.

The Twitter Files have been ignored by the mainstream media

This was expected and explained well by David Sacks,

“When Elon Musk made necessary business changes at Twitter, the media reacted with hysterical melodrama: he was “starving” employees; the site was facing “imminent collapse.” But when Twitter Files exposed state censorship and Hamilton68 fraud, they react with defeaning silence.”

What are some ideas on Twitter accepting dogecoin?

There is no indication that Twitter has immediate plans to accept Dogecoin and there are clues that Twitter is developing a payment system based on fiat money.  The biggest indicator of this is that Elon Musk shared on Twitter on January 31 that creators would soon receive revenue for their content. People already pay money to creators through monthly subscriptions but that money must go through Stripe. 

Stripe says, “Millions of companies of all sizes—from startups to Fortune 500s—use Stripe’s software and APIs to accept payments, send payouts, and manage their businesses online.”

Elon Musk loves vertically integrating his products on many levels at SpaceX and Tesla.  Will he reduce costs by vertically integrating an in-house payment system instead of paying to utilize Stripe’s software?  

There has been speculation from the dogecoin community in comments on Reddit about Twitter, Bitcoin and Elon Musk.  It is significant that SpaceX, Tesla as well as the Boring Co. have accepted payments in Dogecoin.  People bought Boring Co. Burnt Hair fragrance with Dogecoin in October 2022 and rides in the Boring Company Tunnels in Las Vegas appear to be available in Dogecoin by scanning a QR code to buy tickets.

Many people speculate that Twitter will do the same. In comments on Reddit, people know that Dogecoin has benefited from Elon Musk‘s interest. However, Elon Musk is not part of the Dogecoin Foundation and merely supports the coin because it is fun and has memes and makes more financial sense than other coins. 

I recently searched for current merch to buy with Dogecoin from Tesla and SpaceX and found none as of February 1, 2023.  The Tesla Cyberwhistle costs 1000 Dogecoin and it is out of stock. My take is that Twitter will solidify a financial network in the USA first with traditional fiat money and next year may introduce digital currency in Doge or Bitcoin or both.

The Tesla Cyberwhistle is 1000 DOGE and is OUT OF STOCK

CONCLUSION

The biggest news this week is the prospect of Elon Musk utilizing Twitter to encourage citizen journalism.  This takes incentives (money) so writers can earn their own way instead of answering to mainstream media outlets that dictate how they write or edit their work to promote an agenda. 

There are technical issues this week with Twitter and decreased tweet visibility.  Elon Musk is aware and his team will likely make fixing it a priority.  

Mainstream media continues to ignore and even ridicule the seriousness of the Twitter Files.  If you would like to research the files, check out www.twitterfiles.co 

Rumors are circulating about Twitter payment systems and nothing is verified but we do know that Twitter pays some content creators through Stripe.  We shall watch if Stripe continues to be Twitter’s choice as it is not a vertically integrated aspect of Twitter. 

What we do know is that all of Elon Musk’s companies (with the exception of Neuralink) have accepted Dogecoin thus far.  Many on Twitter would warmly welcome Dogecoin as a payment or integrated tip system on Twitter. 

There is more happening at Twitter

In my article “Twitter Just Gets Better with Elon Musk at the Helm,” read about how Twitter is on the path to becoming a one-stop shop for people to keep folders with categorized information, a place to come for news, and a place for content creators to earn an income for their efforts. There are little tweaks and improvements being made almost daily to Twitter’s features. From improving bookmarks to pinned lists, Elon Musk is making sure most people know what Twitter has to offer. He’s even going to make sure cool tweets in other languages (like Japanese) are translated and recommended to people around the globe.

Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Twitter – February 1, 2023. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support Twitter 2.0 and Elon Musk in both making lives better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization.

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Twitter Just Gets Better with Elon Musk at the Helm

Gail AlfarLeave a comment

Elon Musk is driving change at Twitter at a faster pace than most could imagine. If you know much about Elon, you’ll know he lives every day with a sense of urgency. Things tend to get done faster when he’s in charge. Here’s a few of the changes from the past week that “Mr. Tweet” has made,

  • Elon explains Twitter Lists
  • Community Notes improvements
  • Twitter to change how we see ads and will reward creators
  • Twitter as the source of truth
  • Twitter will become more international!
  • Twitter will pick up where you left off
  • Twitter Blue subscribers and all users get new features

Twitter Lists

There were many people new to Twitter or unaware of Twitter’s List feature. On January 20, Elon explained Lists in simple terms and Elon also said that lists were one of his favorite Twitter features. He added that,

“Creating pinned lists should automatically be offered if you swipe past Following. Also, we need to offer suggested lists by category, so you can use awesome subject matter lists created by others.“

Community Notes Improvements

Elon reassured users that community notes will not push any agenda but instead exist to maximize truth. He stated,

“We are going to great lengths to avoid the Wikipedia left wing editorial control problem. By the same token, Community Notes cannot be biased towards the right either. Maximizing for truth is the goal.”

Elon also explained that,

“Coming soon are notifications if you’ve replied, liked or retweeted something subsequently corrected by community.”

The Official Community Notes Twitter account also shared and image (see below)and an explanation of a new development that will affect all of Twitter. Previously a user could quote tweet to avoid Community Notes from being visible. This new development will change that,

“Community Notes are now also shown on Quote Tweets. This change boosts the impact of contributors’ efforts, and helps ensure context is shown everywhere it can be helpful. Live now in the web app, and coming soon to iOS and Android.”

Elon Musk has plans to have Community Notes operate on a wide scale, on January 19 he explained,

“Twitter is arguably already the least wrong source of truth on the Internet, but we obviously still have a long way to go. Enabling Community Notes to operate at very large scale and providing maximum transparency about how Twitter works are fundamental to building trust.”

Advertising on Twitter and possible rewards for creators

Elon aims to make Twitter a better user experience by reducing how often we see ads, as explained on January 21,

“Ads are too frequent on Twitter and too big. Taking steps to address both in coming weeks. and “Also, there will be a higher priced subscription that allows zero ads.”

Twitter content creators will also be pleased with another new development, which would be a creator fund to incentivize those that put up constant content and bring people on Twitter (suggested by Tyler Todt who is a personal fitness trainer with over 107K followers and produces interesting content on health.

Elon Musk’s Twitter aims to be the source of truth

When a reporter from Rebel News for WEFReports.com ran in to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla at Davos, he asked him some hard questions and then the video was banned on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube (It has since been spotted on Youtube). The video appears freely on Twitter with Elon Musk’s comment,

“Twitter is the source of truth.”

Twitter will become more International!

Elon Musk tweeted on January 20,

In coming months, Twitter will translate & recommend amazing tweets from people in other countries & cultures. There are epic tweets in other countries every day (Japan especially). (Tweets will be translated before being recommended). Interesting & entertaining content from around the world is worth seeing.”

Twitter will pick up where you left off

If you use Twitter, stop, then come back to it hours later, will take you back to where you left off to avoid confusion and allow you a better personal experience. Elon explained this on January 20,

“Next Twitter update will remember whether you were on For You (ie recommended), Following or list you made & stop switching you back to recommended tweets.”

Twitter Blue subscribers and all users get new features

The Official Twitter Blue account explained a new feature on January 20,

“For Twitter Blue subscribers, when you save a new Bookmark, you can still save directly to a folder by holding down the new flag icon. Long press from the Tweet details to access Bookmark folders or individual Tweets after saving a new Bookmark.”

Folders or bookmarks can be accessed on your phone, ipad or laptop. Expect them to undergo a lot of improvements such as the ability to organize them as well as search through them.

For all Twitter users, Elon Musk explained,

“Major Twitter improvement we just released is that you can now bookmark tweets from tweet details page. Importantly, bookmarks are *private*, unlike likes. No one other than you can see your bookmarks.”

Elon Musk encourages Companies to post more content

When Twitter user Mathias Fons shared that, “Tesla started to actively tweet updates & educational content at the start of December. The outcome has been tremendous. I hope that Tesla continues utilizing Twitter like this! Twitter users & companies should take note of this—post interesting content & results will follow.” Elon Musk agreed, saying,

“Exactly! If companies post interesting or entertaining content, they will gain an audience rapidly.”

Hopefully, companies will start to post interesting content!

CONCLUSION

Twitter is on the path to becoming a one stop shop for people to keep folders with categorized information, a place to come for news, and a place for content creators to earn an income for their efforts. There are little tweaks and improvements being made almost daily to Twitter’s features. From improving bookmarks to pinned lists, Elon Musk is making sure most people know what Twitter has to offer. He’s even going to make sure cool tweets in other languages (like Japanese) are translated and recommended to people around the globe.

Photo of Austin, Texas by Carlos Alfonso on Unsplash

Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Twitter – January 24, 2023. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support Twitter 2.0 and Elon Musk in both making lives better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization.

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Get Up to Speed on Twitter (7 Updates) in less than 2 minutes (January Edition)

Gail AlfarLeave a comment

Twitter continues to improve and grow and attract new users as it has quickly become the number one App people choose to download on the Apple app store for news. 

This article will sum up some of the improvements to expect in Twitter mentioned so far in January by official Twitter accounts and Elon Musk. 

  • Twitter said ‘Au revoir’ to Revue! Elon Musk asked his followers if they felt Twitter should keep Revue. The great majority of Twitter users replied that they do not use it, many did not even know what it was. Jan 18 marks the last day for this newsletter/email subscription feature that was rarely used
  • AXIOS reported Dozens of media companies set 2023 content deals with Twitter.  See https://www.axios.com/2023/01/17/twitter-media-sports-content-deals  This is splendid news and should lead to long-term funding for Twitter
  • Elon Musk encouraged corporations to use their free Twitter accounts to tweet. Elon said,

“Companies in general are missing the incredible opportunity

that Twitter provides to reach customers.

Just Tweet interesting things!

That’s all it takes.” – Elon Musk

Elon Musk explains Verified Tweets

  • Elon Musk said in response to a question from Brayden Fox, “Twitter Verified tweets are more likely to be recommended to others, as they are less likely to be bots or troll farms.”
  • Elon also said, “Trashing accounts that you hate will cause our algorithm to show you more of those accounts, as it is keying off of your interactions. Basically saying if you love trashing *that* account, then you will probably also love trashing *this* account. Not actually wrong.

Twitter’s Algorithms will be open sourced

Transparency is important to gain trust and Elon Musk is making good on his commitment to open source Twitter’s recommendation algorithm. Elon said, “The recommendation algorithm will get much better and it will be open source”

Verification for Organizations to launch soon

Twitter Blue for Business is being renamed. The official Twitter account tweeted: “We will soon launch Verification for Organizations, formerly known as Blue for Business. Today, you can apply for early access via our waitlist here.”

Twitter to add Formatting Features

Elon said, “We will also be adding simple formatting features like bold, underline & font size later this quarter. The goal is to allow people to publish long-form natively on Twitter, rather than forcing them to use another website. Twitter will continue to recommend brevity in tweets.”

Blue users can upload 10 minute video content

Twitter users who enjoy the Blue subscription can upload videos that are 10 minutes long. I was able to upload the first episode of my new Twitter-only podcast, “Gail’s Tesla Podcast.”

Read the Twitter Files

Would you like to read the Twitter Files? They are being continuously updated and archived here on The Twitter Files Archive. “This is where you will find the Twitter threads written by independent journalists like Matt Taibbi. These threads are converted into long-form articles for those not on Twitter or who may have a hard time trying to find the threads.”

Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Twitter – January 18, 2023. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support Twitter 2.0 and Elon Musk in both making lives better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization.

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My writing about Twitter strives to be accurate & leave you feeling optimistic and excited about the future. If you’re able, consider a donation to support!

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Enjoying the benefits of Twitter Blue: without the blue check 

Gail AlfarLeave a comment

Do you pay $8 or $11 to have Twitter Blue?  Did you sign up for this monthly because you wanted the blue verification check?    Initially, I wanted the check and that is the main reason I signed up.  

I was going to cancel my monthly Blue payment as I was going on 2 months without being verified.  I asked myself if there was anything else worth keeping Blue active for besides the check.  After some thought, I decided I would keep paying the monthly with or without the blue check.  This article explains why.

  • Only Twitter Blue allows you to set up a hexagonal profile picture
  • Only Twitter Blue allows videos up to 10 minutes
  • Only Twitter Blue allows you to edit tweets
  • Only Twitter Blue allows folders

Twitter Blue allows you to set up a hexagonal profile picture

I waited patiently for the blue check and then asked myself if I thought I was up to the task of setting up a hexagonal profile picture.  It turns out it was a fun project.  I took a picture of myself that I liked and minted it onto the Ethereum blockchain.  After a few weird steps I ended up with the hexagon.  I think it looks cool.  Even cooler was that I learned a lot about NFTs.  The funniest thing I learned was from my 17-year-old kid who knows a lot about crypto.  “Mom, you’re a little late to the NFT party, but I guess Twitter has a deal with the NFT crowd.”  I laughed so hard.  NFTs may not be super popular, but for use on Twitter, I think they will always be cool.

Twitter Blue allows videos up to 10 minutes

Originally I did not care about this perk, but then I started asking myself why I didn’t care when I was busy uploading videos to my Youtube channel.  Yes, I have a pretty lame youtube channel named: Gail Alfar.  Anyway, I decided to use the Twitter video feature to start a weekly podcast called “Gail’s Tesla Podcast.”  After I decided this, I realized that the Blue check was starting to matter less to me.  The video feature mattered far more.  Please pass my podcast on to anyone you know who has a Tesla. (I will include link here after I release the first episode)

Twitter Blue allows you to edit tweets

Edit tweets is a cool function.  You have 30 minutes to do it and being the Austin Texas weirdo that I am, I sometimes edit tweets just because I want to see the little cute edit pen attached to the tweet.  Here’s one example I did, see if you can see the little edit icon. 

Twitter Blue allows folders

Okay so I wrote about folders in another article but I did not mention to you that I have over 20 folders.  They are very useful and detailed. They help me pull up information that I need for articles and save things for me to look at later.

The famed blue verification check is cool to have, and it should not be your only reason for paying the $8/$11.  I encourage you to use these other features.  If you decide not to renew your monthly Blue, I think that’s ok because having a free Twitter account is a great thing too. 

CONCLUSION

I waited approximately 2 months for my account to be verified so that I could have the blue check. But in the meantime of waiting, I discovered some cool things about Twitter blue, which include the hexagon profile pic, 10-minute video uploads, the edit button and expansive use of file folders.

My patience taught me this valuable lesson. I don’t think I would want Twitter blue just for the blue verification check. 

UPDATE: At time of publishing this article, TWITTER GRANTED ME THE BLUE CHECK! OH JOY!

Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Twitter – January 11, 2023. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support the new Twitter 2.0 and Elon Musk in both making lives better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization. My writing about Twitter strives to be accurate & leave you feeling optimistic and excited about the future. If you’re able, consider a donation to support!

Elon Musk is hell bent on changing the status quo. How these 3 books relate to the Twitter Files

Gail Alfar3 Comments

Elon Musk shared an image on Twitter showing the titles of 3 books and the words, “YOU ARE HERE” in the middle. Let’s take a look at these 3 books and discuss how the Twitter files relate.

We’ll also look at Elon’s Twitter poll asking “Elon Musk should” a. Stay out of politics or b. Keep shooting his feet.  57.2% were in favor of “Keep shooting his feet.”

Most people approve of Elon Musk staying political on Twitter.

1. Brave New World, 1932

In a society where the “World Controllers” mastered genetic science to “perfect” the human race, humans are nothing more than ‘Alpha-plus mandarins and epsilon-minus semi-morons’ designed to perform menial tasks and educated to be blissfully content with pre-destined roles. Intellectual curiosity, a sense of history and scientific innovation are frowned upon because they threaten the ruling class’s power over the masses. 

The purpose of all these distractions is to keep people contented so they don’t question the world around them. Society is designed to reject the consumption of old things—like Shakespeare, which is banned. This is another way to promote continuous consumption, because if people value old, outdated things (like old books and higher-quality, longer-lasting items) they won’t have any reason to buy new things.

Things from past eras when society functioned differently often contain deeper meaning and would inspire people to think critically, whereas new forms of entertainment encourage people to focus on the present only. Huxley himself gave advice for resisting this brave new world,

“Perhaps the forces that now menace freedom are too strong to be resisted for very long. It is still our duty to do whatever we can to resist them.” 

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited, 1958

The Twitter Files are Elon Musk’s way of clearing the decks.  Elon explained it this way,

“I think it’s important to, like if you know if we’re going to be trusted in the future to kind of clear the decks for stuff that’s happened in the past so to be totally frank, almost every conspiracy theory that people had about Twitter turned out to be true.(laughter from all) Haha, so … is there a conspiracy theory about Twitter that didn’t turn out to be true?  So far, they all turned out to be true. And if not more true than people thought.” –Elon Musk, All-In Podcast 

Matt Taibbi wrote “Twitter Files: Why Twitter Let the Intelligence Community In” about how once Twitter began rolling over for Congress in 2017, the ending was inevitable: formal surrender to the intelligence community on content moderation.  Matt Taibbi shared,

Matt Taibbi, Twitter Files

2. 1984

When George Orwell published this book in 1949 it was around the same time as Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, House Un-American Activities Committee accused Alger Hiss of spying for the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union sealed off land routes to Berlin. 1984 immerses the reader in a world where a totalitarian government monitors people even in their private lives.  Writing is illegal but main character Winston Smith keeps a diary and desires to beat the system. Everything about Winston’s life is miserable and that includes his job, the food he eats, and the dreary London cityscape he lives in.  In his and all people’s daily lives there are hidden cameras and microphones everywhere, even at home TV screens spewing propaganda must never be turned off.

The signs “Big Brother is watching you” in the book have become synonymous in our culture for the dangers of a government that works to police our thoughts. 

The Twitter Files show just how far our own United States government organizations were willing to go to control the public narrative on elections in the USA and SARS-CoV-2.  Three examples are,

  • By censoring info that was true but inconvenient to U.S. govt. policy 
  • By discrediting doctors and other experts who disagreed 
  • By suppressing ordinary users, including some sharing the CDC’s *own data*

You can read about these in this thread shared by David Zweig, author of Invisibles.

David Zweig, Twitter Files

Stanford’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, an M.D., an economist, and a professor of health policy at Stanford warned about the dangerous impact of lockdowns, especially on children, the working class, and the poor. 

In 2020, he and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, then a professor of medicine at Harvard, and Dr. Sunetra Gupta, a professor of epidemiology at Oxford wrote an open letter arguing for “focused protection” for the most medically vulnerable and a return to normal life for the rest of society.  ​​Twitter put Bhattacharya’s account on the Trends Blacklist, which meant that no matter how many likes or views one of his tweets racked up, it could never “trend”; its visibility to users on the platform would be sharply curtailed. You can read more about that in the article, “Twitter’s Secret Blacklists.”

3. Fahrenheit 451

The sci-fi novel Fahrenheit 451’s title refers to the temperature at which paper burns.  The book explores the dangers of a government that tries to control its people through censorship. Reading is illegal and books are burned any time they are discovered.

The main character, Ray, collects books but is betrayed by his own wife. Written in 1953 when people were just starting to buy cathode-ray TV sets.  The book features Ray’s wife Mildred, who watches TV on three screens the size of an entire wall. The programs displayed on the walls are shallow, absurd and pointless. Mildred refers to the characters in her favorite program as her “family” and the actors talk over each other the entire time.  Eventually Mildred gets tired of Ray and turns him in to the authorities and he is forced to burn his books and his house.  451 ends on a hopeful note when Ray escapes the city before a nuclear war begins and joins a group of intellectuals and academics who live in secrecy and memorize books to preserve them.

Lee Fang released Twitter Files Part 8 and wrote about how Twitter Aided the Pentagon in Its Covert Online Propaganda Campaign in an article in the Intercept. Disturbing revelations are surfacing, as Fang wrote, “This appears to align with a major report published in August by online security researchers affiliated with the Stanford Internet Observatory, which reported on thousands of accounts that they suspected to be part of a state-backed information operation, many of which used photorealistic human faces generated by artificial intelligence, a practice also known as “deep fakes.”

Lee Fang, The Twitter Files

The Twitter Files reveal how the government paid millions of dollars to censor information from the public.  Michael Shellenberger shares, “As of 2020, there were so many former FBI employees — “Bu alumni” — working at Twitter that they had created their own private Slack channel and a crib sheet to onboard new FBI arrivals.” and adds a screenshot of an email.

Michael Shellenberger, Twitter Files

Michael Shellenberger, Twitter Files

CONCLUSION

Brave New World, 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 are all science fiction novels that serve to warn people of what can happen if we give up our freedoms and allow others to control what we read or see. Our perception of reality will be skewed and humanity as a whole will be at risk.

For this reason, even if Elon Musk has to “shoot himself in the feet,” it is good that he will keep releasing Twitter Files. The Twitter files are very political because they are important in exposing what the government has been doing behind the scenes at Twitter for years.

Read the Twitter Files (free) on the Twitter Files Archive by Johnna Crider here.

Photo of Austin Texas by Spencer Davis on Unsplash

Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Twitter – January 5 2022. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support Twitter 2.0 and Elon Musk in both making lives better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization.

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Town Square in Poland. Photo courtesy Malyushev on Unsplash.

Get up to speed on the Square: 5 Quick Updates

Gail AlfarLeave a comment

Expect to see a lot more squares in the Twitter digital town square in 2023. This is the first step by Twitter to offer a new product to organizations and companies called Twitter Blue for Business. Many large businesses are already showing a square profile badge, and they may also choose to subscribe to Twitter Blue for Business in 2023 when it is available. Check out these 5 updates.

UPDATE 12/28/22: Elon Musk commented on Twitter Blue for Business. He called it organizational affiliation during a talk on the All-In Podcast with Jason Calacanis and business partner David Sacks. You can watch that part of the talk here. Elon said,

“Having the organizational affiliation was an idea of David’s.  That was great to have organizational affiliation so that you can know that somebody is an actual professor at Stanford or that this particular handle is actually Disney not someone simply putting 'I work at Disney' in their bio. So I think that’s going to be really helpful, it’s really just having detailed and nuanced verification so of all the things that you say you are, are these things validated by other people and organizations?” - Elon Musk

#1 Who can get a big square? 

Squares are automatically replacing round badging for large businesses.  When Slim Jim’s Twitter operator first saw the square badging, he got 75.6 K likes on a tweet saying “why tf am i a square now?”   

#2 What are the small squares for?

Twitter support has a small blue badge that indicates it is affiliated with Twitter. This is part of the pilot program that Craft Ventures, Pirate Wires, Tesla, Inc. and more are also participating in.
Twitter support has a small blue badge that indicates it is affiliated with Twitter. This is part of the pilot program that Craft Ventures, Pirate Wires, Tesla, Inc. and more are also participating in.

In 2023, small squares will also go to affiliates of businesses that choose to purchase a new product, called Twitter Blue for Business.  Twitter explains,

“Businesses can affiliate their leadership, brands, support handles, employees or teams. Journalists, sports team players or movie characters can all be affiliated. You name it, we got it. Each affiliate will be verified and officially linked to their parent handle based on a list provided by the parent business.” – Twitter

Twitter for business is an opportunity for companies to create networks across the globe within their own organizations. Piloting this is Craft Ventures, Pirate Wires and Tesla, Inc.

#3 When will it be available?

Twitter says that they are piloting Blue for Business, and will roll this out to more companies who wish to subscribe in 2023.

#4 Where can you get updates on it?

The best way to get updates would be to follow Twitter Blue for Business at @TwitterBusiness and set an alert.

#5 Why is Twitter doing this? 

I believe that Twitter is doing this to give businesses power. I believe the exchange of ideas is valuable and knowledge sharing is critical. Twitter Blue for Business might also serve as a recruiting tool for companies to find the best talent for their success. 

Large businesses, such as Target, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, IKEA, and thousands more already have a gold check and the square badging. 

Square badges look good on Target, McDonald's, Home Depot and Coca-Cola
Square badges look good on Target, McDonald’s, Home Depot and Coca-Cola

Twitter plans to  “layer more value into the offering to help businesses and their affiliates get the most from Twitter.” 

CONCLUSION

Twitter Blue for Business has been unveiled.  Elon Musk has a vision for this new development in organizational affiliation.  His vision is designed to help further a better experience for all on Twitter.  It is fitting that he chose SQUARE badging as he purchased Twitter to create a digital Town Square for all. Most if not all town squares are surrounded with businesses such as stores, banks, restaurants, and more. 

Town Square in Poland. Photo courtesy Malyushev on Unsplash.
Town Square in Poland. Photo courtesy Malyushev on Unsplash.

Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Twitter – December 21, 2022. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support Twitter 2.0 and Elon Musk in both making lives better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization.

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Goodbye Legacy Twitter, Twitter 2.0 is Here (5 updates)

Gail AlfarLeave a comment
Twitter HQ in San Francisco. Photo Courtesy Twitter.
Original Twitter HQ in San Francisco. Photo Courtesy Twitter.

Legacy Twitter is gone. Twitter 2.0 is here and rapidly moving forward to encourage everyone to create a free account, and you may be considering a monthly $8 Twitter Blue subscription.  I’ll share 5 new updates and my take on why I think Twitter Blue could be right for you.  

  • Freedom of speech is at the core of Twitter 2.0
  • Twitter will always make removing child sexual exploitation material the #1 priority
  • Community Notes: An excellent way to allow free speech AND correct false information
  • Twitter Blue details:  For the avid Twitter user (decide on your profile pic and username first)
  • Twitter 2.0 has a strict anti-doxxing policy, designed to protect you and your family

1. FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS AT THE CORE OF TWITTER 2.0

Elon Musk’s Twitter will allow you a place for freedom of speech.  You will have the right to express your opinions without being subjected to censorship because of those opinions. Elon Musk said,

“New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.
Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter.
You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet.” – Elon Musk

2. TWITTER WILL ALWAYS MAKE REMOVING CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION MATERIAL THE #1 PRIORITY

Twitter‘s number one priority, since being owned by Elon Musk, is to remove child exploitation material (CSAM). 

Twitter Rules include zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation, Twitter’s website says,

“We have zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation on Twitter. Learn more.”

You may still find these things on Twitter, and the process for reporting them for removal has been made simpler. 

3. COMMUNITY NOTES: AN EXCELLENT WAY TO ALLOW FREE SPEECH AND CORRECT FALSE INFORMATION

You may sign up to participate in Twitter Community Notes.  This is a great way to add context to misleading information on Twitter by leaving notes and/or citing reliable sources.  Twitter states,

“Community Notes aim to create a better informed world by empowering people on Twitter to collaboratively add context to potentially misleading Tweets. Contributors can leave notes on any Tweet and if enough contributors from different points of view rate that note as helpful, the note will be publicly shown on a Tweet.”

Example of Community Notes Rating. Courtesy Johnna Crider.
Example of Community Notes Rating. Courtesy Johnna Crider.

4. TWITTER BLUE:  FOR THE AVID TWITTER USER

Twitter Blue is great if you use Twitter often and want to support the platform.  Most notably with Blue you get a blue check. Blue checks can be temporarily removed if you decide to change any part of your username or update your profile picture.  So be sure you are happy with those things BEFORE you click “Subscribe.”

Blue gives you a handy edit button and allows you time to edit tweets and create Folders (I use this a lot). 

The edit button is one of the best things about Twitter Blue. In the example below, “Edit Tweet” gives you 30 minutes to edit the tweet.   A notation appears on the tweet if it has been edited. 

Twitter Edit Tweet function. Credit, the author.
Twitter Edit Tweet function. Credit, the author.

As soon as I paid for Blue, I created multiple FOLDERS (see below) for favorite videos, recipes, education and more.  These folders are private.  Each folder can hold unlimited bookmarked tweets.  If your Twitter Blue subscription lapses and you renew it later, those folders are still there for you when you come back.  

UNDO TWEETS is a feature I don’t use often, and when I need to I am thankful I have it.  You will set a length of time you want to undo tweets before they go public.  You can choose which type of tweets you want to apply this to. In the example below, I set the timing to 20 seconds, and you may opt for up to 1 minute. 

Twitter Blue legacy feature: “Undo Tweets and Folders.” image credit the author
Twitter Blue legacy feature: “Undo Tweets and Folders.” image credit the author

5. TWITTER 2.0 PROTECTS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

Twitter has a strict anti-doxxing policy, as stated here,

“When someone shares an individual’s live location on Twitter, there is an increased risk of physical harm.
Moving forward, we’ll remove Tweets that share this information, and accounts dedicated to sharing someone else’s live location will be suspended.” – Twitter

Twiiter makes it clear that you can still share your own live location. Any tweets that share someone else’s historical (not same-day) location information are also not prohibited by the policy. It is also clear that sharing location information related to a public engagement or event, such as a concert or political event, is also permitted. You can read Twitter private information and media policy here.

BONUS: WHAT TWITTER BLUE WILL OFFER SOON: 

Twitter 2.0 is committed to offering more features soon.  These include:

  • Rocket to the top of replies, mentions and search with Tweets from verified users being prioritized – helping to fight scams and spam
  • See 50% fewer ads than non-subscribers
  • You’ll finally be able to post longer videos to Twitter
Twitter Subscribe button as of 12/15/22. Image Cortesy Twitter.
Twitter Subscribe button as of 12/15/22. Image Courtesy Twitter.

Twitter Blue $8 is a Limited time offer, as shown in the screenshot above. Be sure to sign up for Blue on the web, or you’ll pay $11.  

Twitter states on its website, “Free Twitter isn’t going away. Twitter Blue simply offers an opt-in layer of customization for your Twitter experience.” 

CONCLUSION

My take is Twitter Blue is fine for anyone who A. Can afford it and B. Wants to support Elon Musk’s efforts to remove CSAM and promote free speech. I think everyone should create a free account, and if you want a challenge, then also apply to participate in Community Notes and report abuses through the Twitter reporting system, especially report any CSAM.

  • Twitter 2.0 is a welcome place for you to express yourself. Your views matter!
  • Twitter 2.0 has zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation, this was not the case with Twitter 1.0
  • Twitter 2.0 has Community Notes, which helps simultaneously encourages free speech, and allows for misinformation to be corrected or challenged.
  • Twitter Blue now includes the famous blue check and an edit button and all of the legacy benefits from Twitter 1.0
  • Twitter 2.0 aims to keep you and your family safe. That’s why it has a strict anti-doxxing policy

I hope you will sign up for your free account and join me on Twitter at @GailAlfarATX

Photo by Megan Bucknall on Unsplash
Photo by Megan Bucknall on Unsplash

Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Twitter – December 16, 2022. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support the new Twitter 2.0 and Elon Musk in both making lives better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization. 

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Elon Musk’s Twitter Files are Great for Free Speech

Gail AlfarLeave a comment

Free speech hangs in the balance, and Elon Musk is doing a lot to rescue it with the Twitter files release.

This is good for both the left and the right and everyone in between. 

Elon Musk believes deeply in free speech, which you have to trust, not something that anybody can come right out and prove. But for those who do believe him, (and he did back up his intentions by purchasing Twitter for $44 billion), Elon Musk believes in the First Amendment. This says Congress and the federal government, and any state or local government, cannot abridge or limit free speech or the press.

Elon Musk is encouraging people to correct misinformation on Twitter, using Community Notes. He even went so far as to note that a meme (above) that he tweeted about CNN, may have communicated the wrong message, and Community Notes corrected that. Of course, most people understood that it was a joke, and Elon stated,

“If Community Notes can correct me, then obviously they can correct anyone.
This is a good example.
They were right to add the label.” – Elon Musk

Trump’s Account Being Reactivated is a Good Thing

Whether you like former President Trump or not, Elon Musk made sure his historical words would always be available to the public on Twitter. This is valuable information, coming from a former President.  His tweets are now available so that many people, now and in the future, can read them.  Many people are of the opinion that Elon Musk was absolutely right in inviting the former President back. Trump remains only communicating on the platform that he created in Oct 2021, called TruthSocial. (I do not use it).

Birdwatch Gets a New Life under Elon Musk

In October 2020 Twitter conceived of a program they called Birdwatch. It was supposed to be a tool to stop the rise of misinformation. In January 2021 a Birdwatch Pilot program quietly began and Few people knew it existed and it was limited on how many people could participate and write notes. When Elon Musk bought Twitter he revived this little-known tool and gave it new life under the name of Community Notes.

Twitter 2.0 Community Notes as a Tool for Free Speech

Community Notes allow people to correct information and back their claims up with documentation and proof. You can go back in time as well, for example, if you disagree with Elon Musk’s tweet from March 2020, which stated, “Maybe worth considering chloroquine for C19” with a link to a document, you can refute that, and provide evidence for your claims. Here’s a screenshot of the tweet, and access into community notes. 

Twitter 2.0 Community Notes Feature.
Twitter 2.0 Community Notes Feature.

A suggestion for mainstream media…

My take is that if mainstream media cares so much about the information on Twitter, about what they consider to be dangerous things that Elon Musk tweets, instead of jumping to their conclusions and writing false headlines just for clicks and to please their advertisers, they could literally go in and anonymously contribute to Community Notes.

Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Twitter – December 7, 2022. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support the new Twitter 2.0 and Elon Musk in both making lives better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization. Updated March 7, 2023.

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Elon Musk carries a sink into Twitter headquarters

Elon Musk Leads New Twitter Team in the biggest change ever: The removal of video content containing child sexual abuse and exploitation (Interview with Eliza Bleu and Johnna Crider)

Gail Alfar1 Comment
Let That Sink In, Elon Musk at Twiiter HQ
Let That Sink In, Elon Musk at Twitter HQ. Photo Courtesy Elon Musk

Welcome to What’s up Twitter, this blog is created to share positive and encouraging aspects of Elon Musk’s new Twitter.

One of the first things Elon Musk put into place right away after acquiring Twitter was a way to protect our most vulnerable people: children.

One of the biggest changes to Twitter since its inception is the reduction and possible elimination of child sexual exploitation/child sexual abuse (CSE/CSAM) videos on Twitter. We will hear from Eliza Bleu, Human Trafficking Survivor Advocate, and Johnna Crider, writer, who has been following this story in detail.

Gail: Eliza, thank you for your effective advocacy to stop human trafficking.  I just heard that there was a large amount of CSE/CSAM Twitter, accessed by certain Hashtags. Elon and his new Twitter team were able to remove a good amount this rapidly, so I wanted to ask you to give me a little background on what you know about that.  How is it that CSE/CSAM videos on Twitter have been allowed to continue for so long? And how was Elon Musk able to remove it so quickly? 

Eliza: Twitter has a history of putting profits over survivors. They did a cost-benefit analysis and the world’s most vulnerable have been ignored. It looks like Elon Musk simply prioritized this issue of detecting and removing child sexual abuse/exploitation material.

“Twitter has a history of putting profits over survivors.
They did a cost-benefit analysis and the world’s most vulnerable have been ignored.
It looks like Elon Musk simply prioritized this issue of detecting and removing
child sexual abuse/exploitation material.” -Eliza Bleu

Gail:  Do you know why Twitter was so silent on removing the material when it seems it was something that Elon Musk and his team were able to do so quickly? 

Eliza: I have no idea why they were silent. It was embarrassing and probably criminal for them amongst other things. Once again I think that the issue simply became a top priority under Elon Musk’s leadership. 

Gail: Could you describe your feelings when Elon Musk shared on Twitter that removing this material was his #1 Priority?

Eliza: I was on the phone with my best friend at the time. I work long hours on the weekends so it was after a long shift. My best friend has been there with me every step along this battle with Twitter. I was looking at Twitter when it happened. I couldn’t get the words out. I cried tears of gratitude for 15 mins. We cried together. It was like seeing a miracle happen right before my eyes. It still seems surreal.

Gail:  I agree, it is surreal.  It’s a huge act of awareness, and kindness and shows how much Elon Musk loves humanity! Thank you for your time, Eliza, and for playing an amazing role in this, it’s giving new life to people and new hope.  

Eliza: Thank you so very much for having me.

Gail: Johnna, thank you for being here! How long have you been following this story? 

Johnna: Since Eliza Bleu shared it with me in 2020/2021. In December 2020, Eliza and I met in person at the Tesla Atlanta Event, where we were raising funds for Our Underground Railroad, a nonprofit that rescues people who are being trafficked. The Tesla community raised over $10,000 for that event to fight human trafficking. I saw Eliza give that very powerful speech, and was humbled yet inspired by her.

Gail: Yes, Eliza does give powerful speeches!  Were you surprised when Elon Musk announced that he was going to make removing CSE/CSAM from Twitter Priority #1? 

“Elon told me one time to believe in the good
and I do believe he is an advocate and a force for good.”
– Johnna Crider

Johnna:  No, not at all. Elon is someone who cares about humanity and he is also a father. A good father would want to protect his children. So, no, I am not at all surprised that he is making this a priority. It’s refreshing to see the new direction Twitter has taken with Elon in charge. 

Elon told me one time to believe in the good and I do believe he is an advocate and a force for good. When I saw his tweet saying he was going to make it priority number one I immediately thought about Eliza in the work that she has been doing. 

Elon Musk with new Twitter Team in a Twiiter Code Review at the HQ in San Francisco. photo courtesy Elon Musk
Elon Musk with new Twitter Team in a Twiiter Code Review at the HQ in San Francisco. photo courtesy Elon Musk

Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Twitter – November 21, 2022. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support the new Twitter and Elon Musk in both making lives better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization. Updated March 7, 2023.

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