Elon Musk has revealed that Twitter is planning to release a new update aimed at addressing the issue of spam and AI bots infiltrating direct messages (DMs) on the platform. In a tweet on Monday, Musk expressed his hopes that the update would be rolled out during the week. The new update will restrict the ability to send DMs to only those who follow the sender, a feature available exclusively to Twitter Blue users.
Responding to a frustrated user who complained about an overwhelming amount of bot-generated DMs, Musk acknowledged the growing difficulty in distinguishing between AI bots and genuine users. He emphasized the importance of verification as a means to combat this problem. Musk stated that social networks that implement robust verification systems would be the ones to survive, with payment systems serving as a form of verification that significantly increases the cost for bots.
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Meanwhile, some users expressed their disappointment with Twitter Blue, which was originally expected to serve as a verification tool but ended up being a paid feature. One user suggested implementing ID scanning as part of the verification process. However, others welcomed the idea of a verification system, expressing their belief that it would help eliminate the bot problem.
By restricting DMs to only those who follow the sender and implementing verification systems, Twitter is eying to create a safer and more reliable environment for its users.
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Furthermore, Musk recently announced that Twitter would soon begin compensating creators for the advertisements displayed in their replies. The company will start paying verified content creators for ads in their replies, with the first payment block of around USD 5 million.
Inputs from IANS
