Twitter

Twitter, more than other social media platforms, fosters real-time discussion about events as they unfold. That could change now that Musk has gained ...

Musk’s description of a platform free from content moderation issues is troubling in light of the algorithmic harms caused by social media platforms. In a series of deleted tweets, Musk made several suggestions about how to change Twitter, including adding an edit button for tweets and granting automatic verification marks to premium users. As a researcher of social media platforms, I find that Musk’s ownership of Twitter and his stated reasons for buying the company raise important issues. Social media analysts talk about the half-life of content on a platform, meaning the time it takes for a piece of content to reach 50% of its total lifetime engagement, usually measured in number of views or popularity based metrics. The much shorter half life illustrates the central role Twitter has come to occupy in driving real-time conversations as events unfold. Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, acquired Twitter in a US$44 billion deal on April 25, 2022, 11 days after announcing his bid for the company.

The deal brings arguably the internet's most influential platform under the control of one of the world's richest people.

“He is only offering to buy Twitter because Twitter is the place where Musk is most popular.” During his interview on Thursday, shortly after saying he would want to preserve as much legal speech as possible and would be hesitant to remove users from the platform, Musk said another one of his major priorities would be to limit “the spam and scam bots, and the bot armies that are [on] Twitter”, accounts which, while certainly a nuisance, are nonetheless legal speech. “Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter is a desperate attempt for Musk to garner attention,” David Trainer, CEO of research firm New Constructs, said in an investment note on Thursday. “My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilisation.” Musk has repeatedly stressed in recent days that his goal is to bolster free speech on the platform and work to “unlock” Twitter’s “extraordinary potential”. “This is not a way to make money,” Musk said at the TED conference. The “pill,” known as a shareholder rights plan, would have prevented Musk from purchasing more than 15 per cent of Twitter shares on the open market by triggering a provision to allow Twitter to sell more shares, diluting the value of Musk’s holdings. Since then, Musk and the company had engaged in something of a corporate battle over the future of the company, with Musk briefly agreeing to join the board, later announcing an acquisition offer, and Twitter looking to stop Musk’s acquisition with a corporate maneuver known as a “poison pill”, which is meant to block takeover efforts. “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a statement. “I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth,” Trump said. “The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing,” said Twitter board chair Bret Taylor in a statement. “Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”