Well, howdy there internet people, it's Bow again. So today we are going to talk

about social media and how it's changing. How something that has been the

standard for a long time is beginning to shift at major

social media platforms.

For a while now, Twitter has experimented with paid verifications, and it has definitely had its

ups and downs and there's a whole bunch of commentary on how that was

rolled out that could happen. Facebook now appears to also be planning something

similar where they will trial verified accounts that are basically

the reason they're verified is because somebody paid for it. One of the key features that is being promoted along with this

according to the reporting is increased visibility and reach.

With everything that we talk about on this channel,

that gives me pause. It does appear that increased reach

invisibility. These are two things that people running

information operations would love and they would certainly be willing to pay for.

There's definitely a concern that a coordinated effort by verified accounts that have increased reach and visibility, they might use it to shape

narratives, to promote things or whatever. Now it could be something simple, it could be

advertising a new soft drink and if that's the case that's no big deal.

That's just standard advertising.

But it also creates a situation where the likelihood of bad actors who are attempting to shape an

untrue narrative or promote things that are harmful, they have increased reach and visibility and acting in

concert, they would be able to run an information operation. And this is

something that is has generally for a long

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