Is Elon Musk Making an attempt To Destroy Twitter?

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

Are Elon Musk and Twitter attempting to take down Twitter?

I’m unsure why the brand new proprietor of the social media app would need to try this. But, if the choices he’s making are any indication, it virtually looks as if that’s the plan.

Musk is simply too targeted on blue examine verification, for starters. If this self-importance image is meant to be a income generator, the “actual” person base will not be shopping for it. Actually.

It has an distinctly 2010 look to it. That was when a few of us cared about verified accounts, which turned a risk round that point (or at the very least that’s when a few of us began serious about it — the blue examine system really launched in 2009).

It’s additionally about when Klout debuted, the self-importance system to let others know the way necessary you’re. 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 reside primarily based on Kim Kardashian’s put up schedule. That is true democracy. It’s when the lots 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 informed that the long run is hard, and that chapter is feasible. Suggestion that Twitter subscriptions should account for 50% of the corporate’s income. (By the way in which, 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 attempting to kill it quite than enabling it. Possibly he doesn’t assume nurturing advertiser relationships is that necessary. Musk, at Tesla, is expert in making merchandise which might be price buying. Twitter is free. It barely even makes a product. We’re the product.

For an organization like Twitter that’s constructed solely on the concept of earning profits if you present advertisements to customers, you’d assume promoting could be somewhat extra of a spotlight.

Elon Musk virtually views Twitter like a democracy zone. It’s a area totally free and open speech, accessible to all. Nonetheless, this additionally holds true for Linux, Wikipedia and your native library.

Twitter is a business firm. It could’t be solely open and free, until it needs to be a non-profit. You can also’t have each worlds: a business enterprise attempting to promote blue examine verifications and a non-profit attempting to assert openness and freedom. They’ll’t co-exist.

Musk posted not too long ago concerning the dumbness of Twitter. Musk not too long ago posted about how Twitter will do plenty of dumb issues. It appears he’s hinting at the potential of a rebuilding. To develop, the corporate should reinvent itself. There’ll possible be collateral injury.

Sadly, I don’t assume social media customers assume that manner. Apps like BeReal are thrilling as a result of it provides one thing totally different and pleasurable. We don’t need or count on 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 is no such thing as a 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 group. 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 attainable.

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

I need to see if Twitter can change 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.