That parody account won't fool you again! (maybe)

Twitter has always been fertile ground for parody. Back in the day, you could create a new Twitter account, name yourself "realXYZ", slap a picture, and get to makin' jokes.

Those were the good old days.

Today, dealing with parody accounts is a tad more complicated -- and it seems X are trying to do something about it.

Clearly identifying parody accounts...

...seems to be the goal of an upcoming feature some snooping developers have found in X's codebase.

It looks like parody accounts will now need to identify themselves (something X's terms and conditions already require). After doing so, a 'Parody' tag will appear next to their name, including their tweets.

Seems sensible

Yes, but also a bit of a nightmare to implement.

One of the challenges X will inevitably face is that not every parody account will follow the rules.

If a good chunk of accounts don't disclose they are parodies, the whole system crumbles. In fact, the whole system probably becomes worse as unsuspecting users will be more inclined to believe an account that doesn't display the 'Parody' tag is the real deal.

This is already an issue with Automated accounts, a similar tag for accounts that post solely through an API. This tag launched ~2 years ago, yet plenty of accounts aren't disclosing their automated nature.

User verification is becoming a pressing challenge for social media products. Bluesky recently teased a unique approach. Meta haven't budged. X are still tinkering.