Twitter quietly makes a HUGE change to the platform in a desperate attempt to encourage users to pay £11/month for Twitter Blue – here’s how it will affect you

October 27: Musk officially became the new owner of Twitter, tweeting “The bird is freed.”

November 1: Musk confirms plans to change Twitter’s “Blue Tick” verification system, for a discounted subscription fee of $8 per month.

November 4: Musk is laying off half of Twitter’s workforce as an alleged cost-cutting measure, claiming he has “no choice.”

November 9: Musk launched “Twitter Blue” subscription service that verifies accounts for a monthly fee.

November 11Twitter Blue has been temporarily suspended due to accounts purchasing verification and using it to impersonate brands and public figures.

November 12: Musk fires 80% of Twitter contractors without warning.

November 15: Musk fires employees who posted negative comments about him on business messaging app Slack. The lawsuit between Musk and Twitter was dismissed.

November 16: Twitter employees were told they needed to sign a pledge so they could stay in their roles where they “work long hours at high intensity” or receive three months of severance pay, triggering a mass exodus.

November 18: A news feed played on Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters calls Musk a “space Karen,” a “middle child,” and a “bankruptcy child.”

November 23: A Twitter user reported 5.4 million phone numbers and email addresses were leaked on the dark web, before his account was suspended.

November 26: The Financial Times revealed that 50 of the top 100 advertisers on the platform have paused their advertising.

November 29: Curriculum Twitter is in the process of reinstating about 62,000 banned accounts, each with more than 10,000 followers, Twitter said.

December 12Twitter Blue has been relaunched with a new Blue Tick review process.

January 11: Twitter will start automatically redirecting users to the “For You” tab — its algorithmic tweet feed — every time they open the app.

February 8: Twitter is expanding the character limit to 4,000 for Twitter Blue subscribers in the US. Shortly after, the site experienced technical difficulties.

February 12: Musk ordered employees to revamp Twitter’s tweet promotion algorithm after a Super Bowl tweet didn’t get enough impressions.

February 15: Twitter announced that it will remove two-factor SMS authentication (2FA) from the free version of Twitter — a decision that a security expert described as “ridiculous” that will lead to “many accounts getting hacked.”

February 25: Twitter unveils a new round of layoffs that has reduced its workforce to fewer than 2,000 people — a sharp decline from 7,500 employees when the billionaire first took office in October.

March 28: Musk announces that he will prevent people from voting in Twitter polls or having their tweets appear in the For You tab if they don’t pay for Twitter Blue.

April 11Musk gave an interview to the BBC at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, where he said he was sleeping on the floor of the company’s offices. Musk also accused the interviewer of lying because he was unable to support the accusations of hate speech on the platform.

June 21: Musk says he’s ready for a cage match with rival tech company CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

July 1: Musk announced limits on the number of tweets users can see per day — 600 for people who haven’t signed up for Twitter Blue, and 6,000 for Twitter Blue subscribers.

July 23: Twitter has officially rebranded as X.com, with the classic blue bird logo replaced by an X

August 18: Musk announces that the word “block” will be removed as a feature except for direct messages

August 31: Musk reveals that voice and video calling will soon be offered on the platform