Twitter Takeover

In this article, Connor talks about the recent events at Twitter under Elon Musk.

THE TWITTER BLACK HOLE

By Connor Upshaw

Social media giant Twitter has been in disarray since late Oct. 2022. Elon Musk buying the website has led to the layoffs of over half the company and the firing of the entire board of directors. Some of this may be standard procedure after a takeover. However, what all this means for the future of Twitter, and how people get their news as a whole, remains to be seen. The social media site is certainly facing difficult times ahead.

Elon Musk has been planning to buy Twitter since January. He started by buying stock in the company, soon rising to be the largest stockholder. After having invested months of effort, Musk made his first major power grab in May and attempted to buy the website. This first attempt failed, leading to his second takeover attempt in late October. This time, he was successful, buying the company for $44 billion. What followed was the removal of the entire board of directors and layoffs of over half the company. While a new CEO firing the board is not too unusual, it is not common to immediately fire half of the employees. Over recent days, Twitter has been hiring some of these back due to realizing their necessity.

Image from a University of Virginia article

The layoffs happened on Friday, Nov. 4. Since then, many changes have been made to Twitter. The company announced that it is to begin selling verification status, something previously reserved for influencers and celebrities, at the price of $8 a month. Musk had also released a gray check mark around the same time to distinguish between Twitter Blue subscribers and actual influencers. This was removed after only a day. Around the same time, many now verified users impersonating Musk and other celebrities began to flood the platform, confusing users with their blue check marks. One of the Musk impersonators, popular comedian Kathy Griffin, used this for satire. She and others were banned from the platform, with Musk stating that “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended.” These recent events raise concerns that, as verification becomes more accessible than ever, it will be used to impersonate and scam users. Monetizing the check mark makes this easier than ever. Additionally, these bannings seem to contradict Musk’s claim of being a free speech absolutist, as he immediately banned these users with very little warning right after releasing the subscription. This feature was soon removed and put on hold due to concerns that fake check marks would interfere with the midterm elections.

Elon Musk has made many claims about the direction Twitter will take. According to a CNN article, these statements include that the platform should be “politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far left and far right equally.” He followed this by recommending independent-minded voters vote republican, and posting many tweets that tend to lean far-right. At one point, he posted a conspiracy theory on the attack of Paul Pelosi, husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, from a New York Times article. He later deleted said tweet. Many users, upset with Twitter’s new direction, began to leave the site, switching to places like Tumblr and Reddit. In practice, however, this exodus of users only empowers extremists and conspiracy theorists by giving them more room to speak.

Image from Independent magazine

Musk has previously promised to make Twitter a haven for absolute free speech, emphasizing that, currently, the company “will neither thrive nor serve this imperative in its current form,” and that he will “unlock its extraordinary potential,” from USA Today. The idea of absolute free speech may seem good on the surface but, with no regulations, it could be used to spread more misinformation to deceive the public. Since Musk bought Twitter, there has already been a large increase in the number of posts by conspiracy theorists and extremist groups, according to Bloomberg. Many are testing the boundaries of this new Twitter. No matter what political affiliations someone may have, allowing all kinds of misinformation on social media is never a good thing. People go to Twitter for news due to its accessibility. If that information is even less regulated than it is already, people could buy into increasing amounts of false information.

With all the controversy around Twitter recently and the number of massive changes so quickly, the social media company is more vulnerable than ever before. According to a CNet article, Musk fears “the economic picture ahead is dire.” This means the company may be headed towards bankruptcy due to a number of factors, many of them involving Musk's decisions as CEO. Twitter is already heaped up billions of dollars worth of debt. This is not the first time Musk has reported bankruptcy in one of his companies, as he has been known to use it as motivation for his employees, according to Ars Technica. Still, the future of the company looks uncertain.

Important events regarding Twitter continue to unfold daily. With all the controversy and numerous unfulfilled promises, it is unknown whether the company will collapse into itself or be remade under Musk’s leadership.

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