Angel or devil? How will Musk's entry into Twitter change?

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reportedly become Twitter's largest shareholder and will join the board. As a "double-edged sword", what kind of changes will Musk bring to Twitter?

In the news industry, many tech billionaires have left their mark by using their wealth to make acquisitions. These include amazon founder Jeff Bezos' acquisition of The Washington Post and Salesforce founder Marc Benioff's acquisition of Time magazine.

But no one is like Elon Musk. As CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Musk has long been one of the "loudest" users on Twitter, becoming Twitter's biggest shareholder this week and will join the board. Twitter is one of the most talked about news sources in the world, which also put Musk in a very influential position.

Jeff Jarvis, an associate professor of journalism at the City University of New York, said that while Twitter is more of a technology platform than a single news product, Musk's unique position is likely to give him some influence associated with traditional "newspaper tycoons."

Musk joined Twitter with an extra "chip." With 80.6 million followers, he has become an important part of driving Twitter's user engagement mechanism, which is key to how Wall Street views Twitter. In return, Musk has also used his position on Twitter to pursue personal grievances, touting his corporate and technological ideas; and pursuing a growing political agenda as his business interests expand.

For Twitter and Musk, this creates a close alliance of interests based on "user engagement." Financial analysts and social media experts say that in the long run, whether this is good for the quality of speech or shareholder wealth is an open question. Investment bank Trust Securitie analyst Joseph Youssef Squali said: "Honestly, both of these scenarios can happen. ”

A filing released Monday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows Musk owns 73,486,938 shares of Twitter stock, or 9.2 percent of the shares, making it Twitter's largest shareholder. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said yesterday that Twitter would appoint Musk as a director of the company.

Twitter's stock price has risen 30% since the announcement. This suggests a knee-jerk hope that Musk's arrival will provide a breakthrough for some of the long-standing problems that have hampered Twitter. These include the slow pace of product development and the inability to reach a larger global audience.

Angel or devil?

Brent Thill, an analyst at investment bank Jefferies, believes that Musk's tech prowess and strong "feelings" about the product, as well as his personal dynamism, could make him a catalyst for change on Twitter.

In fact, Musk may already have had an impact on Twitter. In one sign, Twitter said late Tuesday that it would soon begin testing an "Edit" button that would allow users to change their Tweets (Twitter messages). That's what Musk has been advocating, though Twitter says the idea has been in development for some time.

Moreover, former Twitter employees also said that the issue has been hotly debated within the company for many years, but has not been resolved. Largely for technical and ethical reasons, Twitter executives have been deeply divided.

Analysts say Musk's "aggressive" presence could create additional challenges for new CEO Agravar. Agravar was already working under close scrutiny by activist investor Elliott Management. Another strong investor is Silver Lake Capital's Egon Durban, who joined the board after investing $1 billion two years ago.

Of course, close relationships also help Twitter resolve these issues. Musk had worked closely with Durban and, until three weeks ago, was a director of Endeavour, another company supported by Durban. Musk later stepped down from Endeavour's board to free up time to do other things that weren't specified. Now it seems that it should be to prepare for joining Twitter's board.

But for any of the companies involved, Musk is known for his "disruptive presence." He carries a strong set of technocratic views, which has drawn him a lot of criticism. An ordinary Twitter employee has expressed strong dissatisfaction with Musk, saying that "he is a madman." We don't want him to stay here. ”

Because of Twitter's feud with the government

Musk also sparked a series of controversies over Twitter. Jarvis, an associate professor of journalism at the City University of New York, said: "Musk used Twitter to get him to take revenge on the government; he also used Twitter to attack journalists. ”

Some of Musk's most unwise tweets have led to a settlement with regulators that led to his resignation as Tesla chairman; and a high-profile defamation case in which Musk won a jury verdict.

Musk has also used Twitter to advance the political agenda, including criticism of regulators and governments, especially the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). When California insisted that Tesla close a car factory because of covid-19, Musk denounced the move as "fascist" on Twitter.

Revoke Twitter's lifetime ban on former US President Trump?

Anupam Chander, a professor of global internet regulation at Georgetown University, said traditional news organizations have long had clear rules on how to maintain editorial independence. By contrast, we have no way of knowing "whether Musk or other billionaires will unfairly try to control some of the great speech platforms."

Musk has previously pressed Twitter to ease its content censorship policies and abandon restrictions on people's speech on his services in order to return to the "free speech" ethos that dominated earlier days. That could put him at odds with Twitter's CEO, who has said the core issue with Twitter is how to create a "healthier public conversation" that will determine "whose voice can be heard, rather than focusing on free speech."

Many observers believe Musk, as a board member, largest shareholder and "loudest voice" person on Twitter, could help push Twitter to ease its content policies.

Chander, a professor at Georgetown University, believes that could include lifting Twitter's lifetime ban on former President Donald Trump. He said it had become a "definite possibility" thing. With Musk joining Twitter's board, the "spirit of libertarianism pervasively found on the internet" gained support.

Jarvis, an associate professor of journalism at the City University of New York, said the policy change could be controversial. It could boost user engagement in the short term, but it could also reverse the progress made "in addressing harassment and misinformation," ultimately hurting Twitter as a service.

Analysts such as Brian Wieser, president of global business intelligence at advertising group GroupM, say imposing a more "absolutist" approach to free speech could also be detrimental to Twitter's profit growth. "Big advertisers don't like toxic environments," Wiser said. ”

Source: Sina Technology