Elon Musk’s desire to buy Twitter has dominated tech headlines for weeks. The deal at first seemed impossible (or at least improbable), but now it’s official: Twitter has accepted Musk’s offer of $44 billion to buy the company. Twitter’s shares will be delisted and the company will be taken private when the deal closes later this year. What will the future of Twitter look like for its users? Elon has ideas.
Perhaps the biggest shift he wants is to authenticate all users on the site, saying spam bots are “the single most annoying problem” on Twitter. He tweeted, “If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!”
He’s also said he wants to promote free and open speech on the platform: “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.” This raises a question: What does he mean by “free speech?”
He’s also mentioned adding an edit button, making Twitter’s algorithm open source (and thereby more transparent), and even adding “long-form” tweets.
Elon has repeatedly said that this deal isn’t about making money (“I don’t care about the economics at all”), but instead wants to develop a “maximally trusted and broadly inclusive” platform that is “extremely important to the future of civilization.”
Elon raised the money to make this acquisition, so there are investors and stakeholders who will care about the money. That said, Twitter is a platform with room for improvement. I’m excited to see what Elon does with it.
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it.