It was April 25, 2022, and then the surprise was huge. Elon Musk explained in a press release that he is going to lead Twitter. However, everything took longer than expected, and after a lot of media and legal frills, the Tesla CEO delivered main online social in October last year. Within a year, the platform as we knew it was turned upside down. Let’s go back to the 5 main facts.
Mass layoffs
Once it’s accepted main Elon Musk did not drag on Twitter. He put in place a plan for mass layoffs and partings with a large number of employees. These layoffs are quite brutal, and in order to avoid unpleasant surprises, the passes of some employees are cut off. OUR total difficult to assess but on close to 4,000 people (perhaps more), by total out of 7500 employees. If the fully intended purpose of the new direction is to reduce costs, it is not without consequences for the operation of Twitter. This concerns the moderation team, which has suffered from layoffs. As for the press service, it automatically responds to requests from journalists with emoji poop.
Leaked advertisers
Limited content moderation and a maximalist view of freedom of expression have scared advertisers away. The latter fear that being on the platform will damage their brand image. In March last year, Elon Musk informed shareholders of a 40% drop in advertising revenue. Worse, over 70% of the top 100 advertisers stopped including Twitter in their strategy in December 2022. social, which had never been very profitable, was in deep trouble.
Changes in Twitter Blue
Faced with an advertising slump, Elon Musk is looking for new recipes and launches Twitter Blue. This paid offer (€9.60 per month) gives users access to exclusive features: tweet editing, longer posts, algorithm highlighting, certification). However, the undertakings are very timid and will be far from the stated goals. Worse, having a blue check mark on all paid subscribers creates a phenomenon of shame, and they are singled out or even ridiculed by other Internet users.
Return of blocked accounts
Elon Musk promised, he did. Accounts blocked for various reasons are restored online social. So Donald Trump is back, but he’s not tweeting because of an exclusivity agreement signed for publication on son own website: Pravda sots. Among the big winners of this policy, on also finds many conspirators, “anti-vaxxers” and racist far-right activists who didn’t ask for that much. This choice is likely in conflict with the new Digital Services Law recently passed by the European Union. Once the latter is introduced place, the platform will have to be held accountable, as Elon Musk has also committed to doing so.
Certification
This is the last event. In April, Twitter changed its certification rules. In theory, the blue badge is only available to Twitter Blue subscribers. Certification of organizations also becomes paid. In addition, a gray badge with the words “official” is given to certain public figures, as well as governments and other bodies. The launch of this certification system is not without problems. The criteria for awarding badges remains very opaque and sometimes looks like fait du Prince. Worse, the rules seem to be constantly changing, which does not reassure Internet users. For your part, what do you think of Twitter since the takeover main from Elon Musk? Write to us in the comments.
