As Elon Musk addressed Twitter staff for the primary time in an all-hands Q&A gathering, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO supplied some extra particulars about his plans for the social platform.
When Musk first introduced his bid to purchase Twitter for $44 billion, he proposed the thought of “authenticating all people” on Twitter. As we’re properly conscious, considered one of his greatest grievances with the platform is its bots and pretend accounts.
At the moment, Musk elaborated on what this plan may entail and clarified that he doesn’t suppose human authentication is a requirement to make use of Twitter. He added that anonymity will be useful for folks to freely specific their political beliefs, which is a precedence for him.
Based on Bloomberg, Musk proposed an concept that customers might pay to be authenticated as human by way of a device just like the subscription product Twitter Blue, and that these customers’ tweets may then be ranked above others.
Relating to content material moderation, Musk stayed true to his earlier statements that individuals ought to be capable of say “fairly outrageous issues” so long as these statements are authorized.
Musk has routinely referred to himself as a “free speech absolutist” (regardless of prematurely endorsing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president, who supported and signed laws limiting discussions about race and LGBTQ points in state public faculties).
However Twitter’s current platform pointers aren’t that stringent. Along with banning unlawful actions, the platform bans hateful conduct (attacking or threatening folks primarily based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, faith, incapacity, and so on.), depictions of graphic violence, and promotion of suicide or self-harm.
On the enterprise aspect, Musk mentioned he desires Twitter to have over a billion customers. As of its final quarterly report, Twitter has 229 million monetizable every day energetic customers.
Person development would instantly assist Musk’s different concepts for Twitter — he desires the corporate to generate more cash by way of promoting, in-app funds and extra creator options. Although Twitter has rolled out some creator merchandise like tremendous follows, ticketed areas and tipping, creators aren’t counting on Twitter for his or her earnings, whereas working a profitable YouTube account generally is a viable profession.
Musk mentioned he desires Twitter to be extra like China’s WeChat, noting that its customers “mainly stay on” the app, because it combines social media, messaging, calling, video games and funds into one app. He additionally complimented TikTok, owned by Chinese language firm ByteDance, for maintaining customers entertained.
It stays unclear how, when or if this deal may shut, as Musk calls for extra info from Twitter about what number of accounts usually are not really actual people. On the identical time, the inventory market has suffered, driving down Twitter and Tesla shares alike, which places Musk in a bind as Twitter expects him to honor his $44 billion supply.
Nonetheless, Musk claims to like Twitter, and is at the very least dedicated sufficient to reply worker questions.
“Some folks use their hair to specific themselves. I take advantage of Twitter,” he mentioned.
