Twitter's Blue Check: Is It Worth It?

On Twitter, if you don't have the blue checkmark, you no longer exist.

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) July 20, 2023

Twitter Blue: What does paying for Twitter actually get you, and should you do it? Are the additional features worth your $8? .

Should You Pay for a Checkmark on Twitter, for Yourself or Your Business?
Twitter’s Blue Check Apocalypse Is Upon Us. Here’s What to Know. Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner, is changing the platform’s longstanding practice of verifying accounts. That has implications for a range of users. .

How To Get Verified on Twitter in 2023: The Essential Guide Twitter's verification process has changed in the past year. Learn how to get verified on Twitter in 2023 with our simple guide. .

Half of Twitter Blue subscribers have less than 1,000 followers And Elon Musk now says he wants to force these users all into your feed. ...... starting April 15, the platform apparently will no longer promote non-paying Twitter Blue subscribers via its recommendation algorithm on the For You feed. ....... around half of all users subscribed to Twitter Blue have less than 1,000 followers. That's approximately 220,132 paying subscribers. ........ 78,059 paying Twitter Blue subscribers have less than 100 users following their account. That's 17.6 percent of all Twitter Blue subscribers. ......... there are 2,270 paying Twitter Blue subscribers who have zero followers. ....... Twitter Blue currently has a total of 444,435 paying subscribers. ......... less than 0.2 percent of Twitter's 254 million daily active users, a metric previously shared by Musk, are paying for Twitter Blue. ....... only 6,482 legacy verified accounts have paid to subscribe to Twitter Blue. ....... There are approximately 420,000 legacy verified accounts in total, which are mostly celebrities, pro athletes, journalists, influencers, and other notable users that received the checkmark badge for free under Twitter's old verification system. .......... Musk shared that in a few weeks only Twitter Blue subscribers would be recommended to users in the platform's For You feed. (Hours later, Musk "clarified" that this will also include people users directly follow.) ............ The reason so many celebrities chose to stay active on Twitter over other social media platforms was originally due to the legacy verification system. Alexander said he doesn't plan on even staying on Twitter after the legacy verification badges are removed.......... Many Twitter power users who have interacted with Twitter Blue subscribers note that they are most often far right wing accounts, cryptocurrency scammers, and hardcore Elon Musk supporters. We will soon find out if filling users' feeds with some of the least influential accounts on the platform, as Musk plans to do, is a good business strategy. .

Why Elon Musk’s cull of Twitter ‘verified’ blue ticks could prove costly Twitter’s aristocracy is no more. Last year, Elon Musk described the verification process as a “lords & peasants system” and on Thursday he deployed the guillotine. Feudalism has now given way to capitalism: money gets you status....... The change has stripped the blue tick from about 400,000 legacy verified accounts. ....... Subscribers to the new service will get boosted rankings in conversations and search, while their replies will also receive greater prominence. Tweets that they interact with will also benefit. ......... maintaining influence or presence on the platform will cost money from now on, whereas it was free under the previous system ........ users will still be able to see unverified accounts that they follow on the platform’s default For You feed. .......... Musk’s move is largely rooted in financial motivations, despite the anti-feudal rhetoric. ......... He said in his 1 November Twitter thread that giving paid-for verified accounts priority in replies, mentions and search was “essential to defeat spam/scam”, presumably under the logic that a bot account would not pay for a tick and would thus be less prominent. ........ In its last published set of accounts, advertising represented 90% of Twitter’s $5bn (£4bn) in annual revenue. According to Musk recently, revenue is due to drop to less than $3bn this year. Costs have also been slashed sharply, with staff numbers cut by about 75% to 1,500 people, which Musk says has seen off the threat of bankruptcy. But if advertisers do not return in force he will need more than the 600,000-635,000 Blue subscribers the platform is estimated to have, which equates to about $5m+ a month in revenue. .

Twitter Blue for Business 2023: How much does a Twitter checkmark cost? Twitter Blue is worth it if you want to access the prestigious checkmarks, skyrocket your brand awareness, and receive 50% fewer ads....... Users with a Twitter Blue subscription will have their tweets prioritized, which could give you more engagement on the app.

How Elon Musk transformed Twitter’s blue check from status symbol into a badge of shame

Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.

Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

Price adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

You will also get:
- Priority in replies, mentions & search, which is essential to defeat spam/scam
- Ability to post long video & audio
- Half as many ads

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

And paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

Give 1,000+ people a phone, computer, & internet connection.

Check back in a month.

Some will have brands, businesses, and products, while others will have arguments, drama, and hatred.

Build or destroy.

It's literally your choice.

— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) July 19, 2023

Yesterday, I moved to Costa Rica.

This is the setup I've dreamed of since high school:

• Internet money
• Airbnb in the rainforest
• Living with my entrepreneurial brother
• 4-min walk to an epic beach & surf break

And to think I started just 9 months ago.

I love Twitter. pic.twitter.com/OUnlUD2sXc

— Matt Mic (@themattmic) July 20, 2023

Happy birthday to my amazing daughter @ToscaMusk Thank you for 49 years of joy🩷🩷
How did she manage to be smarter, stronger and funnier than me?🤨🤣
Tosca, have a wonderful celebration today 🥳🎂 pic.twitter.com/eXWnRjxKh6

— Maye Musk (@mayemusk) July 20, 2023

"If your business depends on you, you don't own a business—you have a job.

And it's the worst job in the world because you're working for a lunatic."

- Michael Gerber, The E Myth

— Andrew Wilkinson (@awilkinson) July 19, 2023

Pent-up energy from the pandemic xlows.

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) July 20, 2023

The trial of Alexey Navalny and Daniel Kholodny is over. The prosecution demands a cumulative sentence of 20 years in a maximum-security penal colony for Navalny and 10 years in a general regime penal colony for Kholodny. The verdict will be announced on August 4 at 16.00.

— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) July 20, 2023

A generation of young people are asking ahead of this weekend, "What's a movie theater?"

— Danny Groner (@DannyGroner) July 20, 2023

Trees make towns look rich, and towns that look rich become rich. https://t.co/PzwiNGtEUK

— Paul Graham (@paulg) July 20, 2023

Extending the supported lifetime for our initial GPT-3.5 Turbo & GPT-4 models in the API: https://t.co/QSs4pBkyYp

— Greg Brockman (@gdb) July 20, 2023

While I was in the UK on a brief vacation, I managed to eat for the first time a cheeseburger inside a paratha. And, yes, it was glorious. #chaiandchapati pic.twitter.com/SRtUCSDyWX

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) July 20, 2023

While I was in the UK on a brief vacation, I managed to eat for the first time a cheeseburger inside a paratha. And, yes, it was glorious. #chaiandchapati pic.twitter.com/SRtUCSDyWX

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) July 20, 2023

LinkedIn: May 14

Discovering LinkedIn In 2019

I discovered Twitter in 2009, and JP Rangaswami was a big reason why. His blog Confused Of Calcutta that a friend pointed out to had many posts where he shared his enthusiasm for Twitter. I got infected. Within a year I became a top followed in NYC on Twitter. And I was no Ashton Kutcher. I worked hard at it.

It is not like I had not heard of Twitter. I had. But at first, I thought it was ridiculous. (I was also in attendance at the NY Tech MeetUp where FourSquare first presented, and I was unimpressed with what the two Founders called "check-in") I had been an avid blogger for years. And I thought Twitter was for people who can compose full sentences, but full paragraphs are beyond their reach. I was not going to stoop down.

LinkedIn I signed up for not long after it was launched. I have been a keen reader of tech news since the late 1990s, and so I seldom missed developments. But until this year, I never really used LinkedIn. I updated my profile and kept it current, but that was just because.

This year LinkedIn has become my favorite social network. I have become an avid user. I have been using it for hours a day. It keeps running in the background. It has become more like an Operating System.

When I was living in the city (now I live 90 minutes out, more depending on your mode of transportation) I went to numerous tech events. And often you exchanged business cards. The idea would be to try and connect with those people online.

Now I realize I was doing it in reverse and wasting a lot of precious time. You meet people online. You try to connect with them. They might, they might not reciprocate. Which begs the question, did you have a good enough reason to connect, did you write a relevant enough first email?

After you connect, you can have so much communication online. LinkedIn messaging might not be the best messaging out there, but it works fine. And if you connect with someone enough, you might even want to meet. But that is a rather high threshold. What will you talk in person that you can not over email and voice chat? Especially when a meeting is so hard to arrange. For both parties.

I continue to use Twitter and Facebook, pretty much daily. And although I don't blog as regularly as I used to, my blogs are still active. Now I also blog on LinkedIn itself. But that is deliberately few and far between. If people decide to read my articles, let them be few enough that they might actually read them. That is what I have thought.

The LinkedIn profile is an excellent format. If you have only a few minutes to get to know me, reading my LinkedIn profile might be how you ought to spend your time. The kind of work people have done over the years gives you a pretty good picture of who someone is as a person. Even if your interest in them might not be work-related.

And so I have been networking on LinkedIn like crazy. I don't miss the city. I quite like the clean air around where I live. And I don't much miss the networking tech events either. LinkedIn is far superior an experience.

It feels like for the first time I am building a company (two, actually) in earnest. And LinkedIn is the Operating System I am happily using.

LinkedIn trending topics has also become my favorite place online to go for news. Although I go many places on a daily basis.

And to say I have actually seen Reid Hoffman in person. Mike Bloomberg threw a party. I don't know how I got invited. But that is where I got to meet and know Arianna Huffington also. Hoffman was the featured speaker.

Discovering #LinkedIn In #2019 https://t.co/Ly3PnZh0C3 #2009 #adamcarson #facebook #jprangaswami #networking #nyc @jobsworth @adamkcarson @reidhoffman @MikeBloomberg @ariannahuff @Twitter @LinkedIn

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) February 14, 2019

Facebook's Hello Just Might Have Killed Brewster

I don't get the impression Facebook was even gunning for it, it was just trying to get a more meaningful presence on your phone, but Brewster now might be dead. (I gave it a try, multiple times, but it sent me one email too many.)

Hello is a great app. An app I have been needing but was not out there. Not only do people make less phone calls these days, but you also want to receive fewer phone calls. And so, for that small time quota you have for phone calls, it is amazingly offensive that that time might get taken by phone calls that are strictly in the unwelcome category. This app solves that huge problem. If Facebook does not know who you are, you are suspect. That is a fair assessment. Much of the world does not have ID, no Social Security number, no credit history, nothing. A Facebook ID is a good start.

Knowing who is calling you is much welcome information. You can run from Facebook, but you can not hide.

Hello is an awesome app. I read about it in the news and installed it not long after. Heck, that is how I signed up for LinkedIn. I read about it in the news. And then I did not use it much for almost a decade. But Hello I am using.

My Klout Score

I just got an email from Klout that says my Klout score went up. Is 50 good? I signed up for Klout like I signed up for LinkedIn. I signed up because it showed up in the news. I signed up and forgot about it. I have rediscovered LinkedIn in the recent years. But Klout I have not dusted off yet.

I guess I am in the top 20% with a score of 50. But that's not good, is it? Top 5% would be nice.

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Finding Software Projects

Image via CrunchBase

Places to find free software projects who need developers/project managers?

It's absolutely true that FOSS projects also need tasks completed that normally fall under the category of 'Project Managment', but I'm aware of no FOSS project actively looking for a person to fill specifically and only that roll. I think the perception of it being a separate beast from coding is largely a paradigm of the corporate world, which doesn't hold as true for FOSS.

How to find leads for outsourced software development projects?

There's also contracting web sites (my preferred as an employer is ODesk), but the competition is very high on those..... Aside from basic lead generation such as websites, blogs, and social media, I would try monitoring developer and tech communities for individuals/companies who may be looking for a developer. It always seems to me that there's someone "looking for a developer" to help them build an application, or at least give advice. .... The competition is large. Sites like Odesk, Elance and Guru have thousands similar to you. .... I would look for a way to make friendships or partnerships with western companies. .... Hanging around at answers.onstartup.com and helping others with useful answers might be one good strategy. Go where your potential customers are and make yourself useful. Get a reputation and leads will follow.

How do I get software development projects?

Sites like guru.com focus mostly on small websites ..... joining the local user groups, meeting the other nerds in your area, and making a significant effort to find local folks with interesting development projects in your area .... local nerd meetup, linux meetup, etc, will help you network. Check out meetup.com for your area. ..... you need to anticipate being extremely busy (sometimes) and extremely worried about the mortgage (pretty often). .... you might need some of those small projects to build your client base. If you do a good job on a small projects, they're more likely to call you back for help with a bigger project ..... I've found all my clients but one through word-of-mouth. The one not through word of mouth was through craigslist. Craigslist has been pretty good for me, though ..... Most of my contracts come from former co-workers who have moved on or word of mouth from those folks, so maybe you need more time to network (as suggested above) but also to have a larger pool of colleagues to call upon. At points I've had way more work than I could do (and have passed on to other former colleagues) all from work contacts. ..... Make sure you have a well-tended profile on sites like linkedin.com. Linkedin is the professional side of facebook-type networking ......... In my own freelancing career I've found that a lot of companies like to outsource work to people in their local area with whom they can meet face-to-face. It's worth researching the businesses of all sizes within easy travelling distance that do the kind of work you'd be interested in pursuing. Call them for a chat if you can, and arrange to visit when they're not too busy. Explain that you can bring in additional expertise if necessary. A face-to-face meeting is your chance to impress these people with your professionalism. Leave them with a comprehensive resumé/CV and follow any meeting up with a call a week later. A lot of businesses seem very reluctant to farm out work to unknown individuals on the internet - that fear can be used to your advantage. ........ Make sure you have a professional-looking web presence - not necessarily to bring in work, but to add to the overall appearance that you're a serious, professional freelancer/contractor. ..... the briefest glance at the going rates on bottom-scraper sites like elance, rent-a-coder, etc should instantly confirm that they're a waste of your time. ..... the vast majority of my work still -- even a decade after I went freelance -- comes at least indirectly via people I worked with back when I worked in an office. This is by far your best bet, especially if you want to be working on larger projects than are commonly available on job boards. ....... enterprise-level work tends to go more to contractor agencies than to lone freelancers. (And IMHO working for a contractor agency is not dissimilar from just working directly for the corporation.)

AuthenticJobs
Projects2Bid
Outsource Software Projects
How to Get a Software Development Job

Seek available software development jobs on company websites

How to Get Freelance Software Development Jobs

The easiest way to find software development jobs is to search freelance jobs websites. Most of the major job boards include a category for software development that you should bookmark and check every day.
Softdevjobs (www.softdevjobs.com)
IFreelance (www.ifreelance.com/Freelance-Jobs/Software-Design-Freelance-Jobs/)
GoFreelance (www.gofreelance.com/software/)
Flexjobs (www.flexjobs.com/jobs/web-software-development-programming)
Indeed (www.indeed.com/g-software-developmepnt-&-Design-jobs.html)
Freelance BBS (www.freelancebbs.com)
You'll also be more competitive if you can include a link to your online portfolio for employers to view. Don't procrastinate with submitting an application when you find jobs, because your competitors may get jobs for being among the first qualified job candidates to apply. ...... Make and establish contacts at large corporations, and ask for work. It's easier said than done ... Use social media to engage in conversations with those who outsource work
Attend a local seminar or lecture put on by the corporation and network with employers
Send a letter of introduction and a business card and ask for a telephone meeting ...... Don't expect them to give you work the first time you ask, but you'll be top of mind if you stay in contact, when there's a need for your skills.

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Platform Agnostic Is The Way To Go

Fred Wilson (Photo credit: Lachlan Hardy)

Fred Wilson has revisited his blog post Mobile First, Web Second that was inspired by a blog post of mine.

I think Mobile First, Web Second made perfect sense at the time, but that was an aggression needed to balance out the over emphasis on the Old Web we had seen to that point.

But the truth is it is not web first or mobile first. It is neither. It is user first. And the best applications going forward will be platform agnostic. As long as you use it, it does not matter what platform you use it on. And your behavior, your interactions will be collected in the Big Data world to glean insights on you - not necessarily to serve ads in sneaky ways - that can have huge commercial values. LinkedIn is a great example on that monetization strategy. LinkedIn does not make money because you visit it several times a day. You don't. How many times are you going to look at your own resume? Unless you are unemployed and are anal about that condition.

Mobile First, Web Second - Fred Wilson's most popular and most quoted blog post of 2010 - was right on for 2010. But with hindsight we have to see it was there to counterbalance Web And Web Alone, the thesis that had been ruling the space for more than a decade to that point, more like a decade and a half.

The app of today and tomorrow has to exist on all platforms - the laptop, the tablet, the smartphone - and more platforms than are in vogue today. Think wristwatch, think TV screen, think movie screen. Think platforms made possible by the gesture - NUI, Natural User Interface - going mainstream.

It is not about the platform, it is about the user.

Vibhu Norby misses the point. Although what he has said are points worth considering by those who are thinking monetization in the short run.

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Sales And Marketing Are Important

English: Red Pinterest logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

LinkedIn has taught us sales is really important. Pinterest is saying marketing is key. I believe.

The Secret Behind Pinterest’s Growth Was Marketing, Not Engineering, Says CEO Ben Silbermann

now the third-largest source of referral traffic on the Internet .... The way Pinterest grew had little to do with Silicon Valley wisdom. It was about marketing — mostly grassroots marketing — not better algorithms. ..... In 2010, three months after Pinterest launched, the site had only 3,000 users. ..... So Pinterest started to have meet-ups at local boutiques, and to take fun pictures of people who attended them, and to engage with bloggers to do invitation campaigns like “Pin It Forward,” where bloggers got more invites to the site by spreading the world. ....... Fundamentally, the future is unwritten ..... he himself thought for a while that the secret to Pinterest’s growth woes would be finding some undiscovered Stanford grad student to build a better algorithm.

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