‘The bird is freed’: What comes next for Twitter under the control of Elon Musk?

Elon Musk has taken control of Twitter and fired its top executives. Picture: AFP

After one of the most chaotic, drawn out and public business negotiations in history, Elon Musk finally owns Twitter.

Out are chief executive Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal and head of legal policy Vijaya Gadde – who were reportedly escorted out of the building – and in is Musk, the world’s richest person and now “Chief Twit”, who has promised to shake up the struggling social media giant.

So, what next?

Though Musk is enigmatic and hard to pin down, he has left a trail of tweets and publicly released text messages that give some indication of what he wants to do with his purchase. “Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app,” Musk tweeted earlier this month. An “everything app” is likely a reference to so-called super apps, which are big in Asia but haven’t really been seen yet in the West.

Super apps like WeChat combine social media with other aspects including payments, shopping, gaming, transportation, and more – and Musk likely wants to build “X” into something similar.

the bird is freed

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022

Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2022

The free speech maze

Before he gets to “X”, Musk will likely take Twitter private, and get to work putting his stamp on the platform.

Of what will be a series of tricky tightropes for Musk to navigate, building free speech and allowing a true contest of ideas without having Twitter become a free-for-all hellscape will be one of the trickiest.

Issues of moderation and censorship have plagued social media networks since their inception, and arguably no company has yet struck the right balance.

Musk, who describes himself as a “free speech absolutionist” has called for Twitter to become a “common digital town square”, in which its users can debate a wide range of beliefs and ideas – and it’s a noble cause.

Twitter to date has struggled to grow its user base at the same rate as other social media networks and hasn’t yet proven its relevance beyond journalists, business executives and “insiders”, something Musk wants to fix.

He told podcast provocateur Joe Rogan, who asked Musk if he would “liberate Twitter from the censorship-happy mob” that he would “provide advice, which they may or may not choose to follow”, according to publicly disclosed text messages.

Rival social media networks like Gettr, Parler and Truth Social all claim to be free-speech utopias but have stayed relatively niche, underscoring the challenge facing Musk in wooing users across the political spectrum and keeping users of all political persuasions happy and engaged. Musk has also promised to Fix Twitter’s “bot” issue, which is likely easier said than done. Some experts estimate more than 80 per cent of Twitter accounts are bots.

Expect Twitter under Musk to be more human, and more open … to a point.

Staffing shake-up

Twitter staff are also bracing for what will likely be heavy lay-offs. Musk visited the Twitter offices this week – porcelain sink and all – to meet with the company’s engineers and product leadership.

Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022

It was reported earlier this week that he wants to cut 75 per cent of Twitter’s 7500 staff – something he later denied – although cutting costs would likely be a significant focus.

He reportedly told employees in June that Twitter needs to “get healthy” financially, adding that “right now costs exceed revenue” and “that’s not a great situation”.

Musk’s banking partners who helped finance the expensive deal will be anxious for a plan to grow revenues. The new boss has suggested some methods of building revenue, including charging governments and corporations a “slight cost” to use Twitter, and bolstering the company’s subscription service for power users, dubbed Twitter Blue.

One of Musk’s other companies, Tesla, makes a small fortune from subscriptions and optional add-ons, like driverless functionality for its cars for example, and Twitter will likely follow suit in terms of providing pricey bolt-ons for power users.

No Trump card

Some things will stay the same, if Musk can help it. The executive wrote an open letter to Twitter’s advertisers practically begging them to stick around, promising that the platform has a bright and prosperous future under his watch.

“Advertising, when done right, can delight, entertain, and inform you,” he wrote, adding that Twitter must be “warm and welcoming to all”.

Advertising is responsible for some 89 per cent of Twitter’s revenues, making it a crucial part of any future under Musk.

Former US President Donald Trump will also likely stay away from the platform, having said previously that he wouldn’t rejoin the site even if he were allowed back on.

The overriding sentiment at the dawn of Twitter under Musk’s stewardship is one of uncertainty. Musk is a leader who often shoots from the hip, changes his mind on a dime and is often impossible to predict.

That sort of dynamism often presents its own set of problems but it’s also the sort of leadership that Twitter shareholders will warmly welcome.

Twitter under its former bosses had been marked by slow growth, a lack of identity and ultimately a lack of relevance.

Musk will hope he can grow Twitter into being the place to be online, and it would take a brave soul to bet against him.