Dogecoin Developer Flays Elon Musk Over New X Transparency Feature

As a researcher, I understand Mishaboar’s perspective on the removal of the “Like” feature from Elon Musk’s X social media platform. Based on his statement, it appears that he valued this feature as a means to express interests and connect with people beyond the scope of their individual accounts. However, I also acknowledge that privacy concerns have been cited as a reason for its removal.


A number of individuals have expressed displeasure towards the latest transparency update introduced on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, as well as on Dogecoin (DOGE) by its developer, Mishaboar.

“Likes” Gone From the Elon Musk X App

As a researcher studying user experiences on free speech apps, I took it upon myself to express my dissatisfaction to X about an aspect of the platform that was particularly dear to me: the “Like” feature.

For him, this situation held true because he regarded it as a means for users to freely express their interests within others’ accounts. Contrarily, the developer was not convinced that eliminating “Like” counts would enhance privacy. Instead, he felt the existing “bookmark” function adequately addressed those concerns.

I greatly enjoyed receiving likes on X as they enabled users to showcase their diverse interests beyond the scope of their specific accounts, without involving any privacy concerns; we could have used bookmarks instead for that purpose.

Hiding them (with no way of opting out, to boot) just makes the…

— Mishaboar (@mishaboar) June 15, 2024

As a crypto investor, I believe that not disclosing such a crucial feature in the X app undermines transparency. In all honesty, this lack of transparency complicates the process of identifying bot activity within the platform.

As a researcher studying social media trends, I’ve observed Elon Musk and his X team’s ongoing efforts to counteract bot activities on their platform since last year. In an exciting development announced in October 2023, X unveiled plans for a new subscription program called ‘Not A Bot’. Under this program, new users joining from New Zealand and the Philippines were required to pay an annual fee of $1 to post content and engage with other users.

More Attempt to Combat Bots

The X team asserted that their implementation of a subscription model was more about preserving user access and managing unwanted platform activities, rather than solely generating profits. Yet, this change marked a departure from the conventional free social media structure. By April 2024, Musk advocated for a complete overhaul, implying that the initial subscription program didn’t entirely meet its objectives.

He encouraged users to bring to his attention any genuine accounts that might accidentally be suspended during the system cleaning procedure. Users could reach out to @XEng for help. The announcement was met with approval from X users, who viewed it as a commendable action leading to a significant decrease in the presence of fraudulent accounts.

I, as an analyst, have observed that Elon Musk has recently implemented a new policy requiring new users to pay a small fee, stressing its importance in combating bot attacks effectively. He highlighted the limitation of conventional bot-detection methods like CAPTCHA, which advanced AI and troll farms can now effortlessly circumvent.

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2024-06-15 17:54