Tweeting your way into history
News about events and people do become viral over social media. However, seldom do we see a social media platform become a part of the news. Elon Musk has made Twitter even more popular than it was before. But this takeover or changeover, whatever you may call it, did not come for free.
Twitter’s top executives were fired and Twitter’s stock stopped trading on October 28, 2022. Speculations were in the air about possible changes that may occur if Musk took over Twitter. The first change after Musk took control was seen in his Twitter bio. It simply read “Chief Twit”. Musk, who needs no introduction, will not hesitate to create ripples with his statements or his Tweets.
A political angle is also surfacing behind Musk’s decision to control Twitter. He took no time in firing four top Twitter executives. One of them was Vijaya Gadde, a top legal and policy executive at Twitter, who led the team that decided if Donald Trump‘s Twitter account should be banned or not. Other Twitter executives who were shown the door by Musk include Twitter’s CEO, Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and General Counsel Sean Edgett. The executives who were forced to leave Twitter will take USD$88 million in payouts.
Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter is perhaps one of the most popular moments in social media history. The owner and the media, both have a global standing and have been in the news. After becoming the owner, Musk Tweeted, “the bird is freed”. It was followed by another Tweet, “let the good times roll.”
Musk has been vocal about how he views Twitter. He does not want it to become a platform that instigates hate. He tweeted, “Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hell-scape, where anything can be said with no consequences!” Under Musk, Twitter is expected to see various changes.
Some speculate that content moderation will not be scrutinized as much as before while some hinted at unbanning accounts. Twitter can also add an edit feature that will let users edit their Tweets after they share them.
It is most certain that Musk will use Twitter to promote diverse ideas and insights in a manner that may not have been done before. While Tweeting the reason for his acquiring Twitter, Musk wrote, “Because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.”
Musk also shared that twitter may not have reached its true potential. “The long-term potential for Twitter, in my view, is an order of magnitude greater than its current value”, he said.
It is yet to be seen how Musk will reshape Twitter once the limitations in content moderation are no longer as strict as before. Will he create an app that is based around Twitter for instant messaging? With Musk at the helm of affairs of Twitter, anything seems to be a possibility.
