The roster comprises of a blend of politicians, pundits, and Twitter handles affiliated with Tesla.
Despite Elon Musk's past remarks advocating equal treatment for all Twitter users, Platformer's investigation has revealed that the platform has been secretly amplifying the visibility of certain users. This diverse cohort encompasses a range of prominent personalities such as President Joe Biden and LeBron James, internet luminaries such as Dril and MrBeast, and political commentators like Ben Shapiro and Matthew Yglesias.
Platformer's coverage also highlights a selection of other noteworthy "VIP" accounts, such as the conservative handle @catturd2, Twitter investor Marc Andreessen, comedian Jaboukie Young-White, the Tesla-centric account @teslaownerssv, menswear writer Derek Guy, and several journalists.
As per Platformer's report, the list comprises approximately 35 individuals who receive preferential treatment on par with Musk. Initially, the list was intended to monitor how adjustments to Twitter's algorithm impacted the visibility of the most popular accounts. However, this changed when Musk observed a decline in his engagement in December, leading him to even dismiss an engineer over the matter.
In an effort to alleviate Musk's concerns, Twitter engineers developed a method to "adjust" the platform's ranking system whenever they observed a decline in engagement from a high-profile user, guaranteeing that "tweets from those accounts were always shown." This is why users may have noticed an abundance of Musk's tweets on their timelines in February, as these accounts essentially receive an exemption from Twitter's algorithm. Nonetheless, Platformer asserts that Musk's boost was distinct from what other users on the list receive.
"Twitter engineers claim that the CEO prioritizes complaints from high-profile users over those of ordinary ones, essentially compelling them to act as a highly paid customer support team for Musk and his favored users," reports Platformer. However, not all of the accounts on the list share Musk's viewpoints, as evidenced by the inclusion of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with whom he has previously clashed.
Despite Elon Musk's past remarks advocating equal treatment for all Twitter users, Platformer's investigation has revealed that the platform has been secretly amplifying the visibility of certain users. This diverse cohort encompasses a range of prominent personalities such as President Joe Biden and LeBron James, internet luminaries such as Dril and MrBeast, and political commentators like Ben Shapiro and Matthew Yglesias.
Platformer's coverage also highlights a selection of other noteworthy "VIP" accounts, such as the conservative handle @catturd2, Twitter investor Marc Andreessen, comedian Jaboukie Young-White, the Tesla-centric account @teslaownerssv, menswear writer Derek Guy, and several journalists.
As per Platformer's report, the list comprises approximately 35 individuals who receive preferential treatment on par with Musk. Initially, the list was intended to monitor how adjustments to Twitter's algorithm impacted the visibility of the most popular accounts. However, this changed when Musk observed a decline in his engagement in December, leading him to even dismiss an engineer over the matter.
In an effort to alleviate Musk's concerns, Twitter engineers developed a method to "adjust" the platform's ranking system whenever they observed a decline in engagement from a high-profile user, guaranteeing that "tweets from those accounts were always shown." This is why users may have noticed an abundance of Musk's tweets on their timelines in February, as these accounts essentially receive an exemption from Twitter's algorithm. Nonetheless, Platformer asserts that Musk's boost was distinct from what other users on the list receive.
"Twitter engineers claim that the CEO prioritizes complaints from high-profile users over those of ordinary ones, essentially compelling them to act as a highly paid customer support team for Musk and his favored users," reports Platformer. However, not all of the accounts on the list share Musk's viewpoints, as evidenced by the inclusion of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with whom he has previously clashed.
According to Platformer, some Twitter employees are questioning why Musk intends to open source the entire ranking system code when they suspect he'll only select a specific portion to share. Alongside the maintenance of a VIP user list, Twitter continues to prioritize verified accounts, giving them precedence in tweet replies. Additionally, Musk disclosed on Monday that Twitter's For You page will exclusively recommend verified accounts starting in April.
Platformer's revelations surface mere days following The New York Times' discovery that Twitter's source code had been leaked on GitHub, with the platform presuming that a former employee was responsible for the breach.
Platformer's revelations surface mere days following The New York Times' discovery that Twitter's source code had been leaked on GitHub, with the platform presuming that a former employee was responsible for the breach.