Twitter after Elon Musk 

Last October 27th, the South African tycoon Elon Musk bought the microblogging social network, after a long dispute to set the terms of the sale. From day one in charge of Twitter, the changes were more than surprising.  

Elon Musk has been in charge of Twitter for a little over a month, enough time to show us that the social network will never be the same. Today we want to recap for you all the changes that have been implemented and more importantly answer the question of what will happen to Twitter. 

Twitter and the fight against disinformation  

The Covid-19 pandemic and the sudden wave of false information that flooded the internet during the first days, forced networks and even Google itself to fight disinformation and fake news. Twitter and other networks began to block the accounts of users who shared false information. Then this measure was extended to combat hate speech, conspiracy, or incitement to violence.  

The measure even reached the President of the United States himself, Donald Trump. On January 7, 2021, Twitter closed the president’s account permanently due to the risk of further incitement to violence, after the storming of the parliament.  

This action did not go unnoticed and aroused mixed opinions, for many the measure was timely and fair, as it helps to prevent the proliferation of hate messages on the social network. For others, the measure and Twitter’s new policies bordered on oppression, as it was clear that they limited users’ freedom of expression.  

Elon Musk and a long buyout 

In April of this year Elon Musk, who was already a majority shareholder of the company and participated in the board of directors, raised the possibility of buying Twitter, advocating a series of modifications to the platform, to make it more profitable and with greater freedom for users. 

At first he offered $44 billion to buy Twitter with everything included, at that time it was a take it or leave it offer, the company initially rejected it, but there was a change of heart and on April 25 Twitter announced that it accepted the offer. 

Already from his position on Twitter’s board of directors, Elon Musk claimed that the social network had often restricted free speech and that this social network needed to put free speech above all else.  

After both parties accepted the offer, several months passed in which the social network’s stock went down and down. Many began to wonder if Twitter was worth what Elon Musk was going to pay. As the entrepreneur began to ask himself a new question: how many bot accounts were there on Twitter? The question was not an idle one, since the purchase would depend on this data. 

Elon Musk announced that he was pulling out of the deal, however the purchase contract was legally binding, so undoing the deal was no longer an option.  

It seemed that the matter would go to court with a million-dollar lawsuit, where Elon Musk had everything to lose, but practically out of the blue the tycoon announced his interest in completing the purchase, so on October 27th Twitter passed into Musk’s hands. 

First days of chaos 

After finalizing the deal to buy Twitter, Elliot Musk’s first moves at the helm of the company included the dismissal of CEO Parag Agrawal, but the wave of layoffs at Twitter was just beginning, also CFO Ned Segal, Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde and General Counsel Sean Edgett were fired. 

The top management layoffs were only the beginning of the avalanche, because during the first week the tycoon reportedly asked managers to draw up a list of employees to be fired. 

In the first week, with a new management that promised to revolutionize the company, half of the 7,500 employees were laid off, even the employees of Twitter Mexico were affected. 

 

Verification  

Elion Musk’s reforms on Twitter seemed to be more than clear, since the announcement of the purchase intention, the tycoon was interested in transforming Twitter into the champion of freedom of expression and put an end to bots. It was therefore surprising that one of the first measures to reform the social network had more to do with raising money. 

At first it was announced that the platform would charge $8 dollars to users who wanted to have a verified account, i.e. with the little blue checkmark. However, initial reports set the fee at $20.  

After realizing what a mistake it was to verify, with the only requirement of sticking $8, an extra control was added, a check mark followed by the word official. Users were just getting used to this new checkmark when it was removed, only to return shortly thereafter.  

Just a few days ago, Twitter announced its manual verification system, to avoid the large number of fake accounts that emerged when the company opened the verification credentials. The most interesting thing is that now we will have 3 colors in the verification system. 

The blue checkmark will be exclusive for verified accounts of individuals, whether celebrities or not; while, verified accounts of companies will be in gold color and the gray checkmark will be exclusive for verified government accounts. 

Transparency 

Although most of the actions so far feel arbitrary, one of them stands out and that is the transparency of the algorithms, this would allow us to understand the technology that allows to personalize the content. 

For some analysts this transparency is a double-edged sword, as it means that anyone with sufficient technical knowledge will be able to understand how it works, it could also help a person learn how to circumvent the rules and start a disinformation campaign. 

Content moderation 

When Elon Musk bought Twitter he said it would be for the good of humanity, on other occasions he has said he invested in Twitter because he believes in its potential, as the platform for free speech for everyone. This generates great expectation and it is expected that the platform’s content moderation mechanisms will be more lax. Some experts are quite concerned, as they claim that this release of rules may lead to the proliferation of hate speech, false information or extremists. 

Monetization 

One of the great unknowns after the tycoon acquired Twitter is what would be the monetization methods and the social network of the little bird has been the most delayed on this issue.  

We can see Elon Musk’s interest in monetizing content at the beginning with the appearance of Twitter Blue, because in addition to placing the little blue checkmark, users willing to pay $8 would have the right to a greater diffusion and recommendation of their content. 

What is the future of Twitter? 

No doubt this month under Elon Musk’s leadership, Twitter will never be the same again. Undoubtedly, these changes have generated doubts about whether it will be able to resist them and what else is coming for the network. 

Despite all the doubts and concerns about the future of Twitter, Elon Musk must be doing something right, since Apple and Amazon have returned their advertising to the social network. 

Tell us, do you use this social network a lot, do you think Elon Musk really has the key to renewing it and transforming it into an example of freedom of expression or are you one of those who have already switched to Mastodon.