TWITTER BLUE: Is It Worth It?

Read the full commentary at: https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/twitter-blue-is-it-worth-it/

Let me start by saying that since joining Twitter back in February of 2011, I have been a very active user. In fact, to date — April 21, 2023 — I have posted over 43,000 tweets, and I continue to be very active to this day. One would think that given my amount of time on Twitter, plus the number of tweets I have made, and my normal level of engagement, by this time, I would have quite a following, and many of my tweets would have received thousands of views and thousands of likes, comments and retweets, right?

Sadly, such is not the case whatsoever, and has never been the case. Prior to the arrival of Elon Musk, and due to the fact that Twitter was controlled by liberals who have a clear bias against Conservatives and Christians, my tweets didn’t stand a chance for getting any real exposure. In other words, it was very obvious that I was shadow banned. So, not surprisingly, most, if not all, of my tweets received 0 to 5 views, and very rarely, if ever, a like, comment or retweet.

Then along came Elon Musk with his vision of liberating Twitter from the hands of those nasty liberals, right? I wish. Other than paying for a few boosted posts on Facebook quite some time ago — which proved to be a total waste of money insofar as improved outreach was concerned — I have never paid for boosted posts, sponsored ads, or whatever you wish to call it.

But, here’s the thing. Until recently, I have admired Elon Musk to a certain degree due to his obvious accomplishments in the technological, scientific and automotive fields. Thus, contrary to my normal modus operandi, I decided to subscribe to the new Twitter Blue verification system. In fact, to show good faith, I spent $84.00 for a full year of Twitter Blue on March 29, 2023.

While the new Twitter Blue offers subscribers certain perks — such as longer tweets and editable tweets for the first thirty minutes, which I do like — my primary interest in subscribing to the service was the hope that my tweets would receive a lot more exposure, thus resulting in more likes, comments and retweets. So after being admitted and receiving my Twitter Blue badge, I watched and waited for the “miracle” to begin …. and I waited …. and I waited.

Folks, what a total disappointment! It didn’t take me long to figure out that my dream of better exposure and more user interaction was a pipe dream and a dud. Not only have I been very disappointed, but I have also felt cheated, used, suckered and scammed. In short, the returns I have been getting since signing up with Twitter Blue — insofar as my personal objectives are concerned — have been basically zilch! In other words, except for a few rare tweets which might get up to perhaps 15 views, all of my tweets continue to receive 0 to 5 views on average, and for the most part, no comments, no likes, and no retweets. So what was the point of even subscribing to Twitter Blue?

In fact, I have felt so cheated, that on four different occasions, I have contacted Twitter via regular email, and via their online contact form. In each of my messages to them, I have clearly spelled out my disappointment and frustration. One would think that because I had paid for the service, I would at least receive a decent human response from Twitter, right?

Again, not so! Each time that I have written to them, I have received the very same automated response. I mean the exact same wording. The only difference is that they add a different name at the end to make it appear as if the response is coming from a human. The fact that I am not even worthy of a real human response after paying the required $84.00 aggravates me even further. Following is a copy of the email I have received from Twitter’s automated system three times between April 1, 2023 and April 4, 2023:

—– Begin Quote —–

Hello Bill,

We’ve determined that your request is not related to Twitter paid features and encourage you to search the Twitter Help Center for further information related to your request.

If you need assistance with one of the following topics, please refile your case with the appropriate option below:

Locked or suspended account

Issues logging in

Privacy on Twitter

Safety (harassment, threats, possible rule violations)

Impersonation (platform manipulation, spam)

Intellectual property (trademark and copyright infringement)

If you have another issue or feedback you’d like to share, please submit it using this form.

Thanks,

[Bogus human name here]
Twitter

—– End Quote —–

If anyone doubts what I am saying here, you can easily visit my Twitter account at https://twitter.com/bill_kochman and look at some of my tweets yourself. Other than the tweet which I have pinned at the top of my account page — which has a higher number of views due to trains I have joined — all other tweets have zero to just a few views, and rarely any interactions.

To further prove my point, I used the Twitter Engagement Calculator which is found at https://mention.com/en/twitter-engagement-calculator/. The calculator proves what I already knew. The new Twitter Blue is basically a scam, and a complete waste of money, insofar as increased exposure and increased user interaction is concerned. To reiterate, I feel seriously cheated. Here are the results:

—– Begin Quote —–

We analyzed the last 10 tweets of Bill Kochman.

The average engagement rate is 0.0%.

? Need improvement

On average Bill Kochman get’s:

* 0.0 likes per tweet
* 0.0 replies per tweet
* 0.0 retweets per tweet.

—– End Quote —–

For all intents and purposes, despite being subscribed to Twitter Blue, it appears that I am still being shadow banned, just like prior to Elon Musk’s arrival at Twitter. So let me ask you a question. What is the point of being able to make longer tweets if nobody ever sees them? Unless Musk fixes this, and I see much improved results in the form of better exposure and more user interactions, I most definitely will NOT be renewing my Twitter Blue subscription a year from now. As they say, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!”