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The most recent episode of the Zuck versus Elon saga has taken a less savory turn, and interestingly, it looks as if Elon\u2019s own changes to Twitter\u2019s verification system have caused at the least a part of the misunderstanding on this case.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Pre-warning: This post deals with some NSFW references made by Elon, so if you happen to\u2019re more likely to be offended, best to click away now and avoid potentially harmful mental images. In reality, that warning applies to all readers – it\u2019s not good areas to be venturing into.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n So, following the launch of Threads<\/a>, Meta\u2019s recent Twitter-esque social app, Elon\u2019s been taking subtle jabs at Zuckerberg, continuing their ongoing public feud. Which still may or may not end in a UFC-style cage match<\/a> between the 2 mega-billionaires \u2013 but in the most recent development, Elon has actually challenged Zuck to a different type of contest:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I propose a literal dick measuring contest ????<\/p>\n \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Yep, that\u2019s a legitimate tweet, from anyone whom a number of people consider to be one in every of the neatest people on the planet, and who\u2019s no doubt one in every of the richest. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n So where did Elon provide you with this notion?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It actually seems to have stemmed from this tweet, which Elon responded to shortly before issuing his challenge to Zuckerberg, and features a doctored screenshot from Threads referencing one other, separate insult from Elon (that ‘Zuck is a cuck<\/a>‘).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s not an actual comment from Zuck \u2013 and as you possibly can see, the screenshot also includes a picture of Elon Musk\u2019s profile pic, suggesting that he also has a Threads account (or an imposter using his image). But for whatever reason, Elon seems to have taken this as somewhat legit, or it got his mind racing either way, which has then led to his mentally scarring appendage challenge.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n And as noted, at the least a part of what\u2019s at play here is confusion around blue tick accounts, which used to only be allocated to noteworthy users, and other people who could generally be trusted to only share legitimate, researched comments, to a big degree. There have been some flaws in this technique, granted, but amid the continued backwards and forwards, on this case, and in lots of other debates, it\u2019s getting harder and harder to know who to trust within the app, because now, the blue checkmark is meaningless on this context. And for some, that\u2019s proving to be a habitual marker that\u2019s difficult to shake.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n To be clear, I don\u2019t think that Elon actually believes that Zuckerberg posted this comment. But nevertheless, he\u2019s taking this information from an account that he does trust, and engages with frequently, which also has a blue checkmark. It\u2019s probably silly to assume that we may need any understanding of what\u2019s happening in Elon\u2019s head \u2013 but he has repeatedly engaged with content from blue tick accounts which can be actually fake or parody presences.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, as T(w)itter News Every day<\/a> recently identified (note: non-Twitter accounts aren\u2019t allowed to incorporate \u2018Twitter\u2019 of their profile name, hence the odd moniker, but it surely\u2019s actually a great source of Twitter 2.0 news), many parody accounts on Twitter are literally causing confusion, since the self-appended \u2018parody\u2019 tag is being cut off from the username in-stream.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n for instance, recently many Pakistani Twitter users believed that Elon had tuned in for this space with Imran Khan – it was actually the parody account, however the “(Parody)” within the username was cut off within the Spaces view. pic.twitter.com\/K1TWmw8Xnk<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 T(w)itter Every day News \uea00 (@TitterDaily) July 8, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Elon responded to this, noting that:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n If the word \u201cparody\u201d is literally within the account name, then I feel one cannot blame the account<\/p>\n\n
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