The 7-Days Twitter Makeover by Elon Musk
Earlier this year, Elon Musk announced his decision to buy Twitter. Seven months of petty tweets, accusations, and court battles finally led to the world’s richest man closing on a purchase of the 15th most popular social networking site. Shareholders approved the sale of Twitter in September when Elon Musk purchased these shares for $54.20 per share.
From November 8th, Twitter will no longer trade on public markets and no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In essence, Musk benefits from Twitter’s status as a private company. Companies that are not publicly traded are not required to report quarterly financial results and are also easier to control and subject to fewer regulations. Accordingly, Elon Musk can completely reorganize Twitter, changing its economics, objectives, and content standards without worrying about shareholder reaction.
In just one week since Elon Musk took over Twitter, he has proposed several radical changes, including an $8 charge for the blue checkmark of approval.
Read on to find out what’s changed under Elon Musk’s leadership at Twitter and how the company intends to evolve.
Massive Layoffs
Musk has sacked top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and head of policy and legal affairs Vijaya Gadde. According to internal documents by Reuters, layoff plans call for dismissing nearly 3,700 employees.
Elon Musk, Twitter CEO, explained that the company had faced a “major drop in demand,” resulting in a loss of revenue which led the company to cut staff by half as advertisers withdrew their support and activists accused them of “trying to kill free speech in America.”
Twitter Blue @$8
This newly introduced $8 fee includes blue tick verification, priority in replies, mentions, and searches, and the ability to upload longer videos and audio.
He has approved the most recent plan to sell blue ticks to the well-off in multiple tweets. As a result of the membership price, he believes Twitter is “generating income for content producers,” while its success will not depend on attracting advertisers.
Pay Per View
The Washington Publish reports that Elon Musk is exploring the possibility of charging users for viewing video content.
Reuters reports that Twitter is developing a video feature that allows users to upload movies and charge other users for viewing them.
Advertisers
It was reported that several large companies were temporarily suspending their Twitter advertising. Examples include General Motors, General Mills, Audi of America, Mondelez International (the maker of Oreo), Pfizer, Inc., and Ford. Musk told Twitter’s advertising partners he wanted Twitter to be “the most respected advertising platform.”
Some major brands have reduced their advertising investment in Twitter significantly. Businesses are being critical of Twitter and contemplating whether to continue investing in Twitter since Musk took control and instituted significant reforms, including content control.
Content Moderation
There will be a content control committee consisting of people with “widely varied perspectives,” according to Elon Musk. Moreover, he said that no accounts would be reinstated before the council convenes since they would be accountable for any significant content decisions.
A series of tweets posted by the company’s safety and integrity chief indicate that the social media platform’s moderation tools have not been affected. To reassure customers and advertisers following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the firm, Yoel Roth took to Twitter.
Revamp of the Vine Service
Musk is reportedly interested in bringing Vine back, Twitter’s short-form video service that was shut down in 2016. According to Axios, he’s given Twitter programmers the green light to develop a revamped Vine version that could be released by year’s end.
According to Tesla’s CEO, Twitter will begin charging content creators for their work and will allow users to upload longer texts to tweets. Furthermore, the company will stop providing the Revue newsletter service.
Homepage Changes
A Verge report reported Musk requested that logged-out users visit the Explore page for trending news stories and tweets.
In summary
While many of Musk’s suggestions have already been on Twitter’s radar, watching how he plans to refocus the social media site will be fascinating. Only the future will tell whether it will prove to be as successful as Tesla or if it will follow the pattern of many previous ill-fated, very ambitious purchases.
FAQs
- Is Twitter losing users since Elon Musk bought it?
According to research firm Bot Sentinel, Twitter may have lost more than one million users since Musk completed his $44 billion platform acquisition.
- How much money was Twitter losing?
Last year, Twitter lost $221 million of its $5 billion revenue, and Musk’s leveraged takeover resulted in the company paying about $1 billion in interest payments.
- What was the loss per day for Twitter?
Twitter is losing $4 million daily, and Musk says he’s willing to try anything that can make it profitable.
