Since Elon Musk took over as CEO of Twitter in late October, the platform has seen dramatic changes. Advertisers have paused their spending on the platform due to concerns about brand safety and a loss of key personnel, resulting in a “massive drop in revenue”. This has caused some to question Musk’s future as CEO.
Elon Musk has reinstated the Twitter accounts of several journalists that were suspended for a day over a controversy on the platform. His suspension of journalists from Twitter was viewed as hostile to free speech, but the media has always had a conflicted relationship with the platform.
The mass exodus of Twitter employees due to Musk’s extreme leadership style has also raised concerns about the platform’s future. Additionally, reports have surfaced that Twitter discussed selling user names under Musk’s leadership. Overall, the current state of Twitter is uncertain and it remains to be seen how these changes will affect the platform’s stability.
The social media platform’s new owner suspended writers from the New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, and more. This incident highlights the potential instability of the platform under Musk’s leadership and raises questions about headcount changes, advertiser withdrawal, and other issues.
Platform Stability of Twitter after Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has raised concerns about the platform’s stability, with Harvard professor emerita calling it ‘fundamentally intolerable’ and a threat to political stability. After the election and the rise of Donald Trump, Disney CEO Bob Iger pulled out of a bid to acquire Twitter due to its ‘nastiness’.
Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover has led to the departure of key executives and raised questions about its ability to protect users from misinformation and abuse. Advertisers have also been wary of the platform, with some pausing their spend on Elon Musk’s Twitter due to its uncertain future.
Professor’s Note:
For SFP clients, we’re on “Pause” on paid Twitter spend.
We’ve been unable to save audiences in setting up new campaigns as well.
Twitter’s platform stability is currently uncertain due to a ‘mass exodus’ of staffers, which has caused experts to urge users to save their tweets in case the platform does not remain the go-to social media site. Additionally, a Twitter engineer has expressed concern that the current staffing isn’t able to sustain the platform.
Headcount Changes
Since Elon Musk took over Twitter in October 2022, the company’s headcount has reduced to about 1,300 active, working employees, including fewer than 550 full-time engineers by title. This is a reduction of around 80% from the 2300 employees reported by Musk shortly after taking over.
In his first week on the job, Musk made a number of product and organizational changes, including reducing headcount and cutting costs. He also announced plans to invest in new technologies and hire more engineers.
Advertiser Withdrawal of Twitter after Elon Musk
Half of the platform’s top 100 advertisers have stopped spending on the platform. At least six major companies have stopped advertising due to concerns about content, this includes companies such as United, Pfizer, and General Mills. Musk paused a plan to relaunch advertising after some users used the service to impersonate brands and famous people.
Reinstatement: Tweetstorm following Elon Musk
One of the most controversial topics of Musk’s takeover of Twitter is that he allowed Donald Trump back on the platform. This decision was made after a poll conducted by Musk showed a slim majority of users in favor of reinstating Trump. Despite this, Trump has yet to return to Twitter.
Elon Musk has allowed Donald Trump back onto Twitter, making it the first mainstream social media platform to reinstate the former president. Trump had been permanently suspended from Twitter after the Capitol Riots on January 6th.
Suspension of Journalists
Elon Musk has faced backlash and accusations of violating press freedom after he abruptly suspended several journalists who cover Twitter. The accounts of at least half a dozen journalists were suspended, with Musk claiming they violated the social media platform’s rules.
Among those suspended was Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell, who wrote about Musk’s ownership of the company. Musk defended the decision to block the journalists in a Twitter Spaces discussion, saying “You doxx, you get suspended, end of story”.
The suspensions stemmed from a fracas over an account that tracked Musk’s private plane. Elon Musk has since started to lift the suspensions of some journalists on Twitter after re-running a poll asking if he should “Unsuspend accounts”.
Twitter reinstated the accounts of the journalists following backlash from users and media outlets.
Conclusion
Although Twitter’s reputation has been on the rocks lately, we’ve all heard of the saying “any press is good press”. Is this the end for Twitter and it’s long-standing reign of the Social Media platforms? I don’t believe it is.
Investing in the platform might not be the best move as of now, but I do believe that Twitter will boom again in the next few years. After all the recent news and scandal, there has been a massive new interest in the platform from people who weren’t originally bothered by it, as well as more commitment from those self-proclaimed OGs.
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