Elon Musk has become the most-followed on Twitter barely few months after he bought the micro-blogging site for $44 billion.
Musk dethroned former US president, Barack Obama who was the highest followed on the social media platform.
He took over the title of most-followed Twitter account on Monday.
The Twitter CEO surpassed Barack Obama as the most followed Twitter user – with 133.08 million followers compared to Obama’s 133.04 million.
While Barack Obama is now the second most-followed Twitter account, Justin Bieber is the third most followed person on the platform with 113.31 million followers.
How Elon Musk Became Most-followed account on Twitter:
Although many say Elon Musk clinched the position after ordering Twitter Engineers to put in place a system that promotes his tweets, others believe the Twitter CEO achieved the feat through hard work.
While Elon Musk tweets daily, Barack Obama only tweets a couple of tweets weekly.
On the other hand, Justin Bieber has not even tweeted since December last year.
Controversial Changes Elon Brought To Twitter:
As part of his efforts to boost the platform’s revenue, Musk has introduced Twitter Blue, a monthly subscription service that allows accounts to keep their verification status.
READ: Only Verified Accounts Can Vote In Twitter Polls From April 15 – Elon Musk
The blue check mark that accompanies many accounts started about 14 years ago as a free service provided to verify politicians, journalists, businesses, activists, and people who swiftly rose in popularity.
However, Musk has now tied the service to a monthly payment, causing frustration among those who were verified for free.
William Shatner tweeted his frustration, saying he had been giving his witty thoughts for 15 years for free.
He also said that now he has to pay for something he was given for free.
Monica Lewinsky also expressed concern that losing her verification status could lead people to believe other accounts.
Musk has defended his decision to charge for verification.
He said that celebrities and members of the media should not get special favors again.
“It’s more about treating everyone equally,” he tweeted on Sunday. The free verification is set to expire on Saturday, which also coincides with April Fool’s Day.
When a user pointed this out to Musk, he tweeted: “It will be glorious”.
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