X, the social media platform run by Elon Musk which previously went by the name of Twitter, is starting to implement a new function called “About This Account”, which is meant to improve transparency, but has been facing a tremendous backlash from users somewhat early on the new features launch due to inaccuracy.
What the Feature Reveals?
X states that the “About This Account” disclosure includes the following important profile information:
- the date the account was created
- the country or region where that account is now based
- the number of times the username has been changed in addition to when the most recent change took place
- how the user first installed the app (for example, from Google Play or the Apple App Store).
Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, says that this is part of a larger effort to help users determine whether an account is “authentic or if they’re possibly a bot or bad actor” spreading misinformation.
Backlash Over Inaccurate Data
Users quickly noticed issues with their own account settings.
For instance:
- The user known as “Canadian Beaver” said their origin was listed as the United States, even though they live in Canada.
- Another user said their account creation location showed them in Korea, which he thought was an inaccurate assessment.
Bier responded via social media, confirming issues. In one case, he blamed Starlink for the faulty location information, “Starlink threw us off.”
In a different case, Bier attributed the issue to the user setting up the account while on a VPN, which disclosed a location other than their normal one. Bier assured users that he would add some sort of indication for this in the Android/iOS/Web versions in the near future.
Temporary Fixes
Based on customer feedback, X disabled certain elements of the “account creation location” aspect of the feature while making updates to it.
After a short while, the feature has been reintroduced by X with the promise of an update that will provide greater assurance of the reliability of the data.
Why It Matters?
X’s purpose for providing these tools is to help combat bot-generated and fake profiles through increased transparency for users regarding who they are communicating with.
These types of transparency tools are not groundbreaking in the social media space; an example of this is that Instagram has allowed users to see when an account was created, the location where the account was created, and the name changes for the past 30 days.
Though some argue otherwise, critics believe that the new X feature has the potential to backfire if it doesn’t present accurate information. Inaccurate representations of a user’s background could lead to incorrect assumptions or political accusations during heated discussions where users often scrutinize each other’s “origins”.
Furthermore, there are significant privacy issues raised by this new feature, particularly for individuals who live in places where speech is heavily restricted. Many users feel that requiring location information when using this feature could lead to unintentional doxxing.
Recently, social media has faced scrutiny regarding the way misinformation is spread. The launch of the X feature coincides with increased awareness about bots, foreign users and troll farms manipulating the conversation on social media. As with any transparency effort, execution is critical. If the users’ “About This Account” information is faulty, the tool may erode users’ trust of X instead of building it up. That is especially true if the tool is used to dispute the legitimacy of a user based on inaccurate data.
