Is Elon Musk Attempting To Destroy Twitter?

Right here’s a query I’ve been questioning about:

Are Elon Musk and Twitter making an attempt to take down Twitter?

I’m unsure why the brand new proprietor of the social media app would wish to do this. But, if the selections he’s making are any indication, it virtually looks like that’s the plan.

Musk is simply too centered on blue test verification, for starters. If this self-importance image is meant to be a income generator, the “actual” consumer base just isn’t shopping for it. Actually.

It has an distinctly 2010 look to it. That was when a few of us cared about verified accounts, which grew to become a chance round that point (or a minimum of that’s when a few of us began fascinated by it — the blue test system truly launched in 2009).

It’s additionally about when Klout debuted, the self-importance system to let others know the way essential you might be. I’m unsure once we stopped caring about it, however the development went one thing like this: First, we thought verification and Klout scores meant one thing. Then we began monitoring our social media accounts and posting usually to extend our following. A few of us, together with me, realized that it was all a waste.

It was additionally clear that Twitter has two sorts of customers. There are well-known folks after which there’s the remainder of us. Everyone knows that apps don’t die or stay primarily based on Kim Kardashian’s put up schedule. That is true democracy. It’s when the plenty flock to an app and it turns into a part of the tradition. That’s when actual progress occurs. Twitter has caught round, and so has Kim, however I’m beginning to doubt whether or not it has any actual cultural cachet anymore.

Musk did what else? Distant work was banned. Half of the workers had been fired, together with a handful of executives and the CEO. Everybody was advised that the longer term is hard, and that chapter is feasible. Suggestion that Twitter subscriptions should account for 50% of the corporate’s income. (By the best way, that’s like saying half your income ought to come from folks paying for unsolicited mail.)

After which there’s the failed promoting mannequin. Musk could also be making an attempt to kill it quite than enabling it. Possibly he doesn’t suppose nurturing advertiser relationships is that essential. Musk, at Tesla, is expert in making merchandise which are value buying. Twitter is free. It barely even makes a product. We’re the product.

For an organization like Twitter that’s constructed completely on the thought of getting cash while you present adverts to customers, you’d suppose promoting can be somewhat extra of a spotlight.

Elon Musk virtually views Twitter like a democracy zone. It’s a area without cost and open speech, accessible to all. Nonetheless, this additionally holds true for Linux, Wikipedia and your native library.

Twitter is a industrial firm. It could actually’t be completely open and free, until it needs to be a non-profit. You can also’t have each worlds: a industrial enterprise making an attempt to promote blue test verifications and a non-profit making an attempt to assert openness and freedom. They will’t co-exist.

Musk posted not too long ago in regards to the dumbness of Twitter. Musk not too long ago posted about how Twitter will do a variety of dumb issues. It appears he’s hinting at the opportunity of a rebuilding. To develop, the corporate should reinvent itself. There’ll doubtless be collateral injury.

Sadly, I don’t suppose social media customers suppose that means. Apps like BeReal are thrilling as a result of it presents one thing totally different and pleasing. We don’t need or anticipate anybody to do a foundational realignment or work on the structure. If there’s work to do on an app it’s already too late. We additionally don’t care how the corporate makes cash. Both the product is worth it, or it has outlived its usefulness. There isn’t any center floor.

So, what’s Elon Musk as much as?

It’s a query I usually marvel about. Maybe he bought the corporate to fireplace his govt crew. Maybe he thinks that the open supply software program mannequin continues to be viable, regardless of its low income potential. Maybe he merely likes creating memes, and needed to make sure that it was potential.

I’ll say: I’m fascinated by the dumpster hearth.

I wish to see if Twitter can turn into the Tesla of social media, however I’m additionally curious if that is simply one other apocalypse of expertise. This isn’t simply Fb.