What A Musk-Owned Twitter Means For Users & Businesses

Go to Google, type Twitter in the search bar, then switch to the News tab. What do you see? News articles upon news articles upon news articles detailing the latest updates since Elon Musk took ownership of the platform on Oct. 27, 2022.?

As I write this, it has been just about two weeks since Musk officially signed the deal and assumed ownership of Twitter.

And.

So.

Much.

Has.

Happened.?

Some questions floating around are:

• What does it all mean for users?
• What about for businesses??
• Is Twitter going to die??

These are all valid questions, and I’m here to answer them for you.

But First: A Disclaimer

As someone who has had an interest in social media for as long as I can remember, I have never taken Twitter very seriously as a personal user. It has always been too fast-paced and overwhelming for me to keep up with. But that's just me.

From a business perspective, however, I have seen great value and return from highly engaged profiles.?

All that to say, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Twitter as a social platform, and that influences my feelings today as Musk takes over, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Ok, let’s dive in …

What Actually Happened With Twitter?

On Oct. 27, 2022, Tesla CEO Elon Musk finalized his purchase of Twitter. At around 9 p.m. that day, he tweeted “the bird is freed” as he took over after weeks of implying he would, according to The Atlantic, “liberate the service from censorship and let free speech reign.”

the bird is freed

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022

The Associated Press officially broke the news and made note that Musk had also fired several C-suite level executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal.

Tons, I mean tons, has happened since this acquisition. Instead of diving into the details of each, here’s a (somewhat) quick breakdown of (some) of what’s gone on at Twitter since Musk took over:

• Independent review committee to be formed. Musk tweets: “No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”
• Three hours later, Musk tweets again: “Anyone suspended for minor & dubious reasons will be freed from Twitter jail.”
• That same day, Musk tweets: “Comedy is now legal on Twitter.”
• On Oct. 30, Musk tweets a response to former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with a link to a homophobic conspiracy theory from a site that’s well-known for publishing false news. (The tweet has since been deleted.) Musk followed up with a sarcastic tweet, taking a jab at The New York Times.
• Musk tweets “Interesting” in response to a Twitter poll from internet entrepreneur and investor Jason Calacanis indicating that a large percentage of respondents would not pay to be verified on Twitter.
• Just two days after seeing that 81.5% of more than 2 million poll respondents “wouldn’t pay” to be verified on the platform, Musk announces there will now be an $8 monthly fee to obtain and maintain a Twitter blue-verified checkmark.
• Musk tweets that any account “engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended.”. He also notes these permanent suspensions will happen without warning.
• After investors are informed that Musk will cut up to 75% of Twitter’s employees, 3,700 people lose their jobs (about 50% of the Twitter workforce).

I’m still watching to see what changes will come next, of course, and there are several other updates not included here.?

What Does All of This Mean For Twitter Users?

Personally, I chose to delete my Twitter account while all of this unfolded. Primarily, the push to paywall the platform coupled with flippant layoffs led me to jump ship.?

But remember: As I said earlier, I was never a huge advocate for Twitter, anyway. I didn’t lose anything and my day-to-day life was far from impacted by no longer engaging or being remotely present on Twitter.?

I know that for others the urge to jump ship might be met with more hesitation as they spend more time and energy on the platform and have communities of folks with whom they want to continue connecting. That’s OK! And to those of you who choose to stay on Twitter? Fantastic! I genuinely hope you enjoy it. Just as it’s OKfor others to leave the platform, you’re entitled to stay.?

Ok … But What Does This Mean For Businesses on Twitter?

As with all of my social media advice: It depends!?

Who is your audience? Are they staying on Twitter? Are they jumping ship? Are they spending more time on other platforms??

Ultimately, you need to know and love your customer and invest in social platforms they’re spending time on.

That might still be Twitter, and that may be shifting in the coming weeks and months as more changes roll out.?

I’d recommend doing continual market research on your audience, regardless of what’s happening with Twitter, but also understand how they’re responding to the changes at Twitter and adjust your social strategy accordingly.?

At the same time, if you’re a business notorious for taking a stand in controversial situations, you can use that to guide your decision, too. Maybe you want to go full-fledged into Twitter now that Musk has taken over. Or maybe you want to leave the platform altogether. Either way, stay true to your why and your audience. In other words: be authentically you.

The Big Question: Is Twitter Going To Die?

Sometime in the future Twitter will phase out of existence, yes.?

But so too will Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, LinkedIn and all of the other social platforms in existence, just as some of the original social platforms like MySpace, Vine, and Friendster have.?

Will Musk’s takeover of Twitter accelerate the platform towards extinction faster? Maybe. But maybe not. Only time, and many, many more changes, will tell.?

So, What Do You Think?

Are you staying on Twitter personally? Professionally?