Will the new ownership of twitter affect how you use the app?
In a $44 billion mega-deal, Elon Musk announced that he had officially acquired control of Twitter, one of the most prominent social media networks, by tweeting “the bird is freed” to his 112.4M followers on October 28.
Changes to the social media platform became instantly clear; several chief executives were fired from their positions, trading in twitter stock stopped and many anonymous trolls took the opportunity to spew racial slurs and abuse across the site in the name of “free speech.”
Musk’s grand plans for twitter do not stop there, as he has said he will revoke the ban on controversial Twitter users, such as former US president Donald Trump and far-right political commentator Katie Hopkins. Alongside this, subscription services will be introduced to the platform to give users the option to pay a fee to remove adverts from their feeds and verified users may have to pay up to $20 (£17.30) a month to keep their blue tick.
Musk’s changes have been met with diverse opinions. Hundreds of thousands of users have already deactivated their accounts in protest; at the same time, many are championing his avante garde background and are signing up hoping he will bring his pioneering ethos in to shake twitter up and offer many new features and improvements.
Here at Ewe Agency, twitter is an important part of both our personal and professional lives. Therefore, I wanted to know from the team and their loved ones:
Will the new ownership of twitter affect how you use the app?
“Aside from work, twitter is a big part of my daily routine. I’ve seen a lot of the people I follow saying they’re ready to quit twitter. Since Musk has a reputation for being a king troll himself, it’s hard to believe any community standards will be taken seriously. I’m definitely hanging around to see how the changes announced filter down to the user experience. If it starts to affect my own timeline in a negative way, then I may need to go. By then, hopefully, there will be an appealing alternative in its place!”
Liz Noli-Roberts, Social Media Account Manager
“If one of Elon's ideas is to eventually delete all ads from Twitter feeds (which I also hate), then it will have to make cash somehow - the answer must be a monthly subscription - a'la Amazon Prime, Audible, Netflix etc. For me to pay for Twitter it would have to offer me a lot more than just funny memes and free-speech gossip. Is Twitter Prime on the cards?”
Mike Barber, Creative Director
“I only really use twitter to follow breaking news quickly because there's almost too many voices and it can be hard to verify the motives of the tweeters. I'd be inclined to be more concerned about the control of controversial accounts, dissemination of problematic topics and fake news with Musk at the helm but it won’t affect my usage for now.
“It’s interesting to look at it in a wider context too - for a long time now, there have been doom-mongers predicting the downfall of twitter saying that it had become a victim of its own format or outmoded in comparison to other social platforms, but it continued a steady growth trajectory regardless... I'm waiting to see if the predicted doomsday will now arrive because of these changes, or if the new features and a renewed assault on bots that are on the horizon inject new life and new users into the platform at a faster rate.”
Jodie Soulsby, Digital Project Manager
“Musk is an interesting character and just because he’s not easy to pigeonhole doesn’t make him all bad. He’s a businessman and clearly a good one - he’s also young, loaded and having fun. I think a lot of criticism just comes down to plain old jealousy. I’m fascinated to see how he makes it worth buying Twitter for $44bn! One thing’s for sure it won’t stay free, but nothing stays the same for ever - and I’m sure we all agree nobody wants to hear that creep Trump tweeting ever again! 😱”
Family member of Kate Fawcett, Senior Account Manager
We have lots of different opinions about the new ownership here at the Ewe office Have you experienced a difference experience when using twitter, or do you have a different perspective? We’d love to know your opinion!