SHANGHAI, April 26 (Trainee editor Zhou Ziyi) After weeks of back-and-forth, Elon Musk finally finalized a deal to buy Twitter for about $44 billion on Tuesday. Under Musk, one of the world's most outspoken billionaires, where the social platform will go is still unknown.
After Twitter accepted Musk's takeover offer, Musk began to officially enter the social media space. As a new shareholder, he will work to realize his vision for social media platforms and solve what he believes to be a problem.
In mid-April, Musk presented Twitter with the "best and final offer," saying he wanted Twitter to re-emerge as a "global platform for free speech."
Now that the deal is closed and Twitter is about to go private under Musk's control, people are beginning to wonder what Twitter will look like in the future and what changes he plans to push for.
Will there be a greater degree of content moderation?
Musk's biggest complaint about Twitter is its strict censorship of content, which he sees as the equivalent of stifling free speech.
"I think it's very important to have an inclusive free speech arena," Musk said in an interview at the TED conference on the 14th of this month.
"Twitter has become a de facto town square. It's very important that people have both reality here and can feel free to speak within the confines of the law," he added.
The new owner of Twitter has previously publicly opposed the company's outright ban on users who violate the rules, instead suggesting a "pause." He said he would only ban illegal content, and Musk's attitude towards racism, harassment and other objectionable topics was unclear.
It's unclear whether banned users will be allowed to come back, but it's definitely a possibility.
Some Republicans and Trump's family have begun celebrating the former president's return to the Twitter platform. If Trump's account is reactivated, it could also pave the way for the return of other banned users.
Will Twitter have an "Edit" button?
In early April, Musk surveyed his Twitter followers, asking if they thought the platform should add an edit button that lets users fix spelling mistakes in their posts and make other tweaks. Of course, 73.6% of respondents said they wanted the feature.
In an interview on the stage of the TED conference on April 14, Musk subsequently confirmed his support for the edit button.
Twitter has tried an editing feature, but only for paid users of the Blue V Certification, but Musk seems to want to make the editing feature popular.
Will Twitter open source its algorithms?
During the TED interview, Musk also said that Twitter should open source its algorithms. He believes that the practice of having black-box algorithms promote some specific content is quite dangerous.
Open source code will likely be made public on Twitter to decide which Tweets should be promoted and which should be hidden. This change in Twitter's software will also make the role of computer programs in reviewing and policing platform content visible.
For Musk's idea of open source, conservatives in particular suspect it's bias against them. Theoretically, exposing code will make the service more transparent. Musk called it non-existent "behind-the-scenes manipulation."
Will Twitter scams be reduced?
One of Musk's biggest grievances about Twitter is the large number of bots posing as real people posting on the site.
He recently posted on Twitter, "If our application to Twitter is successful, we will beat the spammers until we die!" ”。
Musk has promised to crack down on bots, make it easier for real users to get authenticated, and even eliminate a lot of crypto fraud on the service. He has not yet provided further details on the issue.
Will Twitter focus more on subscription revenue?
Musk has said he didn't buy Twitter for money. He has hinted that he will adjust the company's revenue model to focus less on advertising and possibly put more emphasis on subscriptions.
Musk suggested in a tweet earlier this month that Twitter ads for "Blue V authenticated users" should be removed, and the post has now been removed.
Given that 90 percent of Twitter's profits come from advertising, this would be a significant change in the company's revenue model.