For a long time, Twitter was an ideal source for the latest news, but now that the platform is called X, it is better to look elsewhere for your current affairs. This is why.
X news: not to be trusted
For years, Twitter was the place to read each other’s messages, get in touch with celebrities, be informed by the government and, above all, to follow the news.
Because Twitter gave everyone in the world the ability to write messages and share photos and videos with the world, you were the first to know about current events. Often even earlier than major news media. In addition, it was easy to follow this news up to the second via hashtags and to see important events from different perspectives.
Over the past year, Twitter has turned into X and many changes have been made. These changes ensure that fake news is given more space, making the platform completely unsuitable for following news.
1. Verification
First of all, the verification system has been overhauled. In the days of Twitter, people and organizations were verified manually. Celebrities, media, governments and other parties of public interest, among others, received a check mark next to their names. Such a check ensured that you knew for sure that you were dealing with the right person or organization.
This verification system wasn’t perfect and of course you still couldn’t be sure that someone with a check mark was telling the truth. Still, it worked a lot better than at X, where everyone can get a checkmark as long as they pay. Verification therefore no longer says anything about the reliability of the information.
2. Users are motivated to make waves
People who subscribe to X and meet specific conditions will have the opportunity to monetize their posts. This means that if your posts are viewed and responded to more often, you get paid more.
The truth is not always what scores best on X, which is more evident than ever during the current war in Gaza. People are tripping over each other to be read with their messages full of misinformation. Even Elon Musk weighed in by promoting accounts for news that have clearly spread misinformation before. Musk quickly deleted this message.
3. Less context
Now when you share an article on X, the headline of the article will no longer be displayed. Suppose you share the article you are currently reading, you will only see the image at the top, ‘iphoned.nl’ and your own text. This adjustment makes it much easier to spread the wrong information, because many people do not click on links before reposting something and thus spreading it further.
4. Less moderation
When Elon Musk swept through Twitter and fired a lot of employees, there were many moderators among them. People who view messages that are unacceptable, delete them and possibly block accounts.
This therefore happens a lot less on X. Elon Musk believes that everyone should be able to have their say, which means that far fewer people will be banned. The owner of Twitter has even said that the option to block people will be removed soon.
Alternative to X?
There is still no real alternative to X, but many users have left for Mastodon, Bluesky and Threads. The latter is still not available in Europe.
In any case, you can contact iPhoned for your iPhone news, via the free iphoned app in the App Store or via our free newsletter.