After constant denials and a trial in order, Elon Musk agreed to finalize the “Twitter deal” on 27 October 2022 and decided to “set the bluebird free”.
As the new owner, Elon Musk bestowed the opportunity of “free speech” to all Twitter users. And the outcome? Several racist and objectionable comments bombarded Twitter within 24 hours of his ownership.
What is his Idea of “Free Speech”?
On the very same day, he wrote an open letter to the advertisers where he shared his views on his previous statement of making Twitter a “free speech” platform. In his letter, he wrote that he wants the platform to be a place,” where a wide range of beliefs can be debated healthily, without resorting to violence”.
He also claimed to cease the ban on various controversial figures (like former President Donald Trump) and bring them back to Twitter. However, this has caused a conflict in the minds of thousands of advertisers since they do not want to promote their brands alongside controversial content.
This decision might negatively impact Twitter’s revenue as 90% of its revenue is generated by paid advertisements. But according to Nature.com Elon Musk met with the civil rights leader and decided to establish policies that would regulate the content of hate speech and harassment.
According to Elon Musk, controlling the hate comments and sensitive content on smaller platforms would prevent escalating the fire to bigger platforms like Twitter.
His idea of free speech does not involve the right to spread negativity but to give the chance to sensitive topics like Covid-19 to reach a larger audience.
Yet many social media experts believe that these changes would put Twitter’s safeguard policies on thin ice.
Is Twitter in debt?
The general Twitter audience and social media nerds found Elon Musk’s decision to liberate 75% of its workforce- preposterous. But on his visit to Twitter’s headquarters on 5 October 2022, he claimed that there was no such plan in force.
Maybe it was a part of his cost-cutting plan since Twitter is in debt of $13 billion after Elon Musk became the new opener. And that is a thing to worry about since the company generated a negative ROI of $124 million.
Although he did dismiss CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO- Ned Segal, and Vijaya Gadde- head of legal policy and safety.
Many million-dollar companies like General Motors are skeptical to continue paid advertisements on Twitter and would evaluate the new insights first. In an article, CNN discussed that Toyota quoted in their email,” in discussions with key stakeholders and monitoring the situation.”
Implementing New Strategies
Increasing the revenue
To pay off the debt and make Twitter the leading social media platform, he is contemplating some revenue-raising proposals.
According to the New York Times, Elon Musk is adamant about increasing the annual revenue to $24.6 billion by 2028.
His ideas involve making Twitter ad-free and increasing the number of premium subscriptions.
He further believes that charging verified users like commercial brands and government officials will put no hole in their pockets but significantly increase Twitter’s revenue.
In June, Elon Musk shared his idea of transporting Twitter into something like Wechat. He wants to add the feature of instant messaging, sharing posts and views, and mobile payment.
He quoted,” You basically live on WeChat in China. If we can recreate that with Twitter, we’ll be a great success.”
Reducing the Spam Accounts
Elon musk states that the main reason for his denying the Twitter deal in July was the actual number of spam accounts which is more than what the company discloses.
Spam accounts reduce the possibility of monetization from the daily active users. So Elon Musk has decided to incorporate a human authentication system.
Security Issues in Twitter?
The audience and the stakeholders are concerned about Twitter’s security and legitimacy after the new owner- Elon Musk fired about half of the workforce in the first week of November.
The chief information security officer, Lea Kissner handed over his resignation and tweeted the same day,” I’ve made the hard decision to leave Twitter. I’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing people and I’m so proud of the privacy, security, and IT teams and the work we’ve done.”
Twitter does not have an end-to-end encrypted message system which makes it vulnerable and all the more possible of leaking sensitive information.
Not only Lea Kissner, but Ian Brown (former senior engineering manager) stated that Twitter’s security issues will cause a hindrance in the functioning of the website. He also mentioned security vulnerabilities in the Twitter spaces event.
Twitter also tried to eliminate the blue tick verification and let users pay $8 for a verification badge which backfired since many people started impersonating famous personalities.
What Should be the Next Step?
Although there is a big question about the company’s security and Elon Musk’s capabilities, there is no choice but to wait for the coming months.
He has some great claims and proposals to transform revenue generation and make Twitter the best version to date.
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