Dr Justin Thomas is a chartered health psychologist, author and a columnist for The National
November 15, 2022
Last week, Twitter launched a new pay-for-checkmark scheme. The identity-verifying blue checkmark, once reserved for notable individuals and institutions, is now available to all. Since the update was first announced, the price has changed, and details of the verification process are, at best, uncertain. The current state of play is captured in a tweet by Elon Musk, the company's new owner: "Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months. We will keep what works and change what doesn't."
As it stands, the new scheme is part of an update to "Twitter Blue", the social media platform's premium subscription service. Along with the blue checkmark, anyone willing to pay the fee – $7.99 per month – will also get early access to new functions, such as the ability to edit tweets. For the time being, this is rolled out only in certain geographies. Twitter claims the changes are part of a verification revamp motivated by a desire to reduce fake, untrustworthy accounts.
So far, so bad. Since the launch of the new scheme, the platform has been plagued by fake accounts, many sporting the blue checkmark that once signified account authenticity. For example, there was a fake George W Bush account, tweeting that "I miss killing Iraqis", to which a fake Tony Blair replied, "Same tbh". Similarly, a fraudulent Nintendo account posted a picture of the gaming character Mario making an obscene hand gesture.
Elon Musk said Twitter Blue was 'probably' coming back next week in a Twitter exchange on Sunday. Photo: Twitter
Twitter makes most of its revenue from advertising. So if brands are being brought into disrepute, that is going to be bad for business. At the time of writing, Twitter has, at least temporarily, suspended the new blue checkmark scheme amid a wave of people impersonating notable brands and individuals.
Overlooking the chaos of Twitter's blue checkmark free-for-all, the fact that people will pay to verify their identity reflects our changing attitudes toward technology. In the early days of internet chat rooms, the forerunners to social media platforms, almost nobody used their real names. Service providers actively discouraged users from disclosing too much personal information. Anonymity and pseudonymity (fake names) were internet norms.
Today, many people strive for hyper-authenticity, real-time sharing of the most intimate and traditionally private details of their daily lives. And while most of us are not serial over-disclosers or online exhibitionists, we have become far more willing to share aspects of our identities. For example, many of us share our most recent accolades (LinkedIn) or our opinions (Twitter) or even what we are about to eat for lunch (Instagram).
Along with us being OK about projecting our true identities online, we are also increasingly required to verify that we are who we say we are. Web-based services actively and repetitively encourage us to share additional verifying information with them. For example, an email service might request our mobile phone number to help us regain access to accounts should we forget our password.
This need for online verification, and the protection of our digital identity, will only intensify as more of our daily tasks and social transactions move online. Apple, Microsoft, Google and other tech giants have already committed to greater use of biometrics – Face and Touch ID – to access online accounts. Ultimately this move is designed to do away with time-consuming passwords, which are hackable, sharable and forgettable.
The need for verifiable identities will increase as the internet expands. The next significant phase in the evolution of the internet is being called the metaverse. This term first appears in Neal Stephenson's 1992 novel, Snow Crash. The author uses the word to describe a persistent virtual world, a successor to the internet, populated by millions of people in digital avatar form. Stephenson's virtual reality world features places of work, rest and play where people purposefully interact with each other.
Gigi Hadid has deactivated her Twitter account following Elon Musk's takeover of the platform, saying 'it's becoming more and more of a cesspool of hate and bigotry with the new leadership'. AFP
Whoopi Goldberg said she was getting off Twitter because 'it’s so messy'. AP
Producer Shonda Rhimes quit the platform days after Elon Musk took over. Reuters
Actor and filmmaker Alex Winter's account has also been deactivated. AFP
Grammy-winning singer Sara Bareilles said Twitter was no longer for her. AP
Actor Amber Heard, who once dated Elon Musk, has also deactivated her account. AP
Singer Toni Braxton, who has also quit, said she was not comfortable with 'hate speech under the veil of free speech'. Alamy Stock Photo
Comedian Kathy Griffin's Twitter account was suspended after she changed her name to 'Elon Musk'. GC Images
'Avengers' star Mark Ruffalo has pleaded with Elon Musk to 'get off Twitter and get on with running Tesla and SpaceX'. AP
While the details have yet to be fully agreed and ironed out, the emerging metaverse greatly resembles Stephenson's vision. This computerised universe is widely envisaged as an immersive 3D digital ecosystem, a network of unending and interconnected virtual worlds. In his book, The Metaverse: And How it Will Revolutionise Everything, Matthew Ball describes it as "a parallel plane of existence for millions, if not billions, of people, that sits atop our digital and physical economies".
Today, we are "on" the internet. Tomorrow, we will be "in" the metaverse. The need for verifiable identification in such a digital ecosystem will parallel the need for passports, social security numbers and national identity cards in the physical one.
Twitter's blue checkmark scheme looks like it is having some teething troubles. However, rigorous and robust identity verification will eventually become a prerequisite for participation in many walks of online life. I also suspect that many people want, or wanted, Twitter's blue checkmark as a status symbol, the digital equivalent of a branded T-shirt. The blue check, after all, implies that you are worthy of impersonation. The fact that we are prepared to spend money on our digital identities, enriching them with digital status symbols, also fits with future economic visions of the metaverse. As it is offline, so shall it be on the web.
Dr Peter Glaser was a Czech-born space tech pioneer who moved to the United States in 1948 where he studied mechanical engineering at Columbia.
He is best known as the inventor of the Solar Power Satellite, a concept which he presented in the journal Science in 1968 under the title Power from the Sun: It’s Future.
Five years later, he was granted a US patent to supply power from space, however it was considered too large to launch economically from Earth.
It was suggested it could be constructed in space, using lunar and asteroid materials, by a team permanently based in space, but it was never put into practice.
He was project manager for the Apollo 11 ‘Laser Ranging Retroflecter Array’ which was installed on the moon in 1969.
He served on several Nasa committees and was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame in 1996.
He died in 2014, aged 87
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Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017 Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand Sector: FinTech, wealth management Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021 Current staff: more than 160 employees Stage: series D Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
Picture of Joumblatt and Hariri breaking bread sets Twitter alight
Mr Joumblatt’s pessimism regarding the Lebanese political situation didn’t stop him from enjoying a cheerful dinner on Tuesday with several politicians including Mr Hariri.
Caretaker Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury tweeted a picture of the group sitting around a table at a discrete fish restaurant in Beirut’s upscale Sodeco area.
Mr Joumblatt told The National that the fish served at Kelly’s Fish lounge had been very good.
“They really enjoyed their time”, remembers the restaurant owner. “Mr Hariri was taking selfies with everybody”.
Mr Hariri and Mr Joumblatt often have dinner together to discuss recent political developments.
Mr Joumblatt was a close ally of Mr Hariri’s assassinated father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The pair were leading figures in the political grouping against the 15-year Syrian occupation of Lebanon that ended after mass protests in 2005 in the wake of Rafik Hariri’s murder. After the younger Hariri took over his father’s mantle in 2004, the relationship with Mr Joumblatt endured.
However, the pair have not always been so close. In the run-up to the election last year, Messrs Hariri and Joumblatt went months without speaking over an argument regarding the new proportional electoral law to be used for the first time. Mr Joumblatt worried that a proportional system, which Mr Hariri backed, would see the influence of his small sect diminished.
With so much of Lebanese politics agreed in late-night meetings behind closed doors, the media and pundits put significant weight on how regularly, where and with who senior politicians meet.
In the picture, alongside Messrs Khoury and Hariri were Mr Joumbatt and his wife Nora, PSP politician Wael Abou Faour and Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon Nazih el Nagari.
The picture of the dinner led to a flurry of excitement on Twitter that it signified an imminent government formation. “God willing, white smoke will rise soon and Walid Beik [a nickname for Walid Joumblatt] will accept to give up the minister of industry”, one user replied to the tweet. “Blessings to you…We would like you to form a cabinet”, wrote another.
The next few days will be crucial in determining whether these wishes come true.
Race results:
1. Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi: 46.44 min
2. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team: 0.91sec
3. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team: 31.43sec
How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip:Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
Name: Thndr Started: 2019 Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr Sector: FinTech Headquarters: Egypt UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi Current number of staff: More than 150 Funds raised: $22 million
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
UAE v IRELAND
All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi
