“The Bird is Freed”
João Victor Bousfield
External Relations
João Victor Bousfield
External Relations
“The bird is freed”. That’s how Twitter dawned on October 28, 2022 with the news that billionaire, Elon Musk had acquired the social network through his subsidiary “X Holdings”…I am sure that we all remember when this happened?
After months of legal dispute between the company and the richest man in the world, the transaction of 44 billion dollars was finally concluded.
The negotiation began in April, when the tycoon closed a deal to buy the company at 54.20 dollars per share, after having accumulated positions to the point of becoming the company’s largest shareholder at the beginning of the year; however, amid accusations that Twitter was covering up the number of bots and fake profiles on its platform, Musk said he would withdraw his offer to buy. Consequently, the company opened a lawsuit against the entrepreneur, with the objective of having him comply with his legal obligations with the company. After approximately 3 months of disputes, in and out of the Delaware Court, Musk honored the original agreement and made the purchase of the platform.
Now, holder of one of the largest social networks on the planet and multinational enterprises , Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk finds himself with a powerful empire in his hands. However, the entrepreneur may have difficulties in managing multiple responsibilities, since he has well-defined (and bold) goals for each one. For example, Musk has already stated that he forecasts annual revenue of $26.4 billion and a total of 931 million users by 2028, up 420% and 360% over 2021 annual revenue and number of users, respectively.
To achieve this goal, Elon plans an almost total overhaul of the company: first, the competent bodies have already been informed that the company will become private, meaning, its shares will be withdrawn from the NYSE, New York Stock Exchange, giving more control of the company to the billionaire, as non-listed companies are not required to fulfill so many requirements.
Furthermore, Musk also plans to turn the social platform into a “super application” called X that allows for money transfers, online shopping and other services. Meanwhile, these two principle changes that the billionaire intends to implement have relevance to the platform’s workforce and freedom of expression policy, having relation to the fact that Musk has already fired some of the company’s high-ranking executives, such as CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal.
Musk has further stated that the number of Twitter employees could reduce dramatically; explanation being that Musk plans to change interpretation of freedom of expression within the company and because of that, executive roles may be reshuffled and restructured, replacing current directors with new employees, in the common goal of having the same vision: a new policy with fewer restrictions and reductions in the quantity of employees. Therefore, this reduction of the workforce accompanies the moral and financial goals of the new boss.
Perhaps, a topic that is more anticipated by people of the “new era” of Twitter is how Musk will change the company’s “free speech” policy. Having been a major critic of the way that freedom of expression has been interpreted by the platform, the entrepreneur will now have the autonomy to shape this policy in the way that best fit the company’s needs and guarantees positive development and changes, the way he sees it.
Early May, Elon Musk stated that he would lift Donald Trump’s ban of the platform in case he became the owner of the company, during an interview with the Financial Times newspaper; The former US president had his profile deleted in 2021 after protests against the result of the US elections, but with Musk in control, Trump’s account will most likely be restored, an action that could have drastic consequences on the next US presidential elections coming up in 2024.
This change, being favourable to Republicans and individuals with a more conservative political ideology, is a topic of concern for many advertisers, as the possibility of adverts being linked to publications that do not match advertisers’ values can come across as more intimidating, affecting a large source of revenue stream. The businessman further issued an open letter stating that he doesn’t want the platform to turn into a “free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences” in an attempt to assuage advertisers’ concerns, but the way Musk will shape his new privacy policy expression and its consequences for the platform and its users remain a mystery.
Overall, several changes can be expected with the new owner of the social network, with changes that can impact not only the the company’s direction but will consider opinions and influences of the society as a whole, given the size of the platform.
Only time will tell if Musk sees yet another victory as future owner of yet another multinational giant.
How are things looking now?
Roughly 1 month after Twitter became completely owned by South-African entrepreneur Elon Musk, interesting (and polemic) changes are in its functionalities. As expected, banned accounts were recovered, several workers were fired, people agreed and disagreed vehemently with thread modifications but one thing that continues to fuel this worldwide debate and some pretty tough financial losses too, is “Twitter Blue”, the new account verification mark. It previously indicated Twitter had confirmed an account belonged to the person or organization claiming it, and that it was an authentic and notable account, therefore, serving as an exclusive and trustable sign that the owner of the account was a famous or important company/individual.
However, under Musk’s ownership, the blue checkmark became reinvented and is now a paid functionality that any user can get by just spending 8$/month. This raises concerns about the “blue check” trustworthiness, since any account can have access to the option, without any background check or verification by Twitter, that officially “verifies” the account like before. Even if you can click on the user to check if their “Verified” was paid or previously given by the company – considering accounts that previously had the checkmark and will maintain it with no costs – it stills represents a lightning-fast way of spreading false information and deceiving other users, as has previously happened with Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company based in Indiana, USA. A user who had bought Twitter Blue altered their profile name and photo posing as the firm account and further tweeted: “We are excited to announced insulin is free now”. This caused the business’ stocks to fall by 4.37% and reportedly erased over US$15 billion in market cap, a more-than-considerable damage caused by a stranger, who knows, maybe that person could be buying a coffee next to you at the local Starbucks?
All in all, considering everything that Musk gets involved in, the next steps are unpredictable, but one thing is sure, if nothing changes, the “Verified” legitimacy will forever be put into question.
“The bird is freed”. How Twitter dawned on October 28, 2022 with the news that billionaire, Elon Musk had acquired the social network through his subsidiary “X Holdings”…I am sure that we all remember when this happened?
After months of legal dispute between the company and the richest man in the world, the transaction of 44 billion dollars was finally concluded.
The negotiation began in April, when the tycoon closed a deal to buy the company at 54.20 dollars per share, after having accumulated positions to the point of becoming the company’s largest shareholder at the beginning of the year; however, amid accusations that Twitter was covering up the number of bots and fake profiles on its platform, Musk said he would withdraw his offer to buy. Consequently, the company opened a lawsuit against the entrepreneur, with the objective of having him comply with his legal obligations with the company. After approximately 3 months of disputes, in and out of the Delaware Court, Musk honored the original agreement and made the purchase of the platform.
Now, holder of one of the largest social networks on the planet and multinational enterprises , Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk finds himself with a powerful empire in his hands. However, the entrepreneur may have difficulties in managing multiple responsibilities, since he has well-defined (and bold) goals for each one. For example, Musk has already stated that he forecasts annual revenue of $26.4 billion and a total of 931 million users by 2028, up 420% and 360% over 2021 annual revenue and number of users, respectively.
To achieve this goal, Elon plans an almost total overhaul of the company: first, the competent bodies have already been informed that the company will become private, meaning, its shares will be withdrawn from the NYSE, New York Stock Exchange, giving more control of the company to the billionaire, as non-listed companies are not required to fulfill so many requirements.
Furthermore, Musk also plans to turn the social platform into a “super application” called X that allows for money transfers, online shopping and other services. Meanwhile, these two principle changes that the billionaire intends to implement have relevance to the platform’s workforce and freedom of expression policy, having relation to the fact that Musk has already fired some of the company’s high-ranking executives, such as CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal.
Musk has further stated that the number of Twitter employees could reduce dramatically; explanation being that Musk plans to change interpretation of freedom of expression within the company and because of that, executive roles may be reshuffled and restructured, replacing current directors with new employees, in the common goal of having the same vision: a new policy with fewer restrictions and reductions in the quantity of employees. Therefore, this reduction of the workforce accompanies the moral and financial goals of the new boss.
Perhaps, a topic that is more anticipated by people of the “new era” of Twitter is how Musk will change the company’s “free speech” policy. Having been a major critic of the way that freedom of expression has been interpreted by the platform, the entrepreneur will now have the autonomy to shape this policy in the way that best fit the company’s needs and guarantees positive development and changes, the way he sees it.
Early May, Elon Musk stated that he would lift Donald Trump’s ban of the platform in case he became the owner of the company, during an interview with the Financial Times newspaper; The former US president had his profile deleted in 2021 after protests against the result of the US elections, but with Musk in control, Trump’s account will most likely be restored, an action that could have drastic consequences on the next US presidential elections coming up in 2024.
This change, being favourable to Republicans and individuals with a more conservative political ideology, is a topic of concern for many advertisers, as the possibility of adverts being linked to publications that do not match advertisers’ values can come across as more intimidating, affecting a large source of revenue stream. The businessman further issued an open letter stating that he doesn’t want the platform to turn into a “free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences” in an attempt to assuage advertisers’ concerns, but the way Musk will shape his new privacy policy expression and its consequences for the platform and its users remain a mystery.
Overall, several changes can be expected with the new owner of the social network, with changes that can impact not only the the company’s direction but will consider opinions and influences of the society as a whole, given the size of the platform.
Only time will tell if Musk sees yet another victory as future owner of yet another multinational giant.
How are things looking now?
Roughly 1 month after Twitter became completely owned by South-African entrepreneur Elon Musk, interesting (and polemic) changes are in its functionalities. As expected, banned accounts were recovered, several workers were fired, people agreed and disagreed vehemently with thread modifications but one thing that continues to fuel this worldwide debate and some pretty tough financial losses too, is “Twitter Blue”, the new account verification mark. It previously indicated Twitter had confirmed an account belonged to the person or organization claiming it, and that it was an authentic and notable account, therefore, serving as an exclusive and trustable sign that the owner of the account was a famous or important company/individual.
However, under Musk’s ownership, the blue checkmark became reinvented and is now a paid functionality that any user can get by just spending 8$/month. This raises concerns about the “blue check” trustworthiness, since any account can have access to the option, without any background check or verification by Twitter, that officially “verifies” the account like before. Even if you can click on the user to check if their “Verified” was paid or previously given by the company – considering accounts that previously had the checkmark and will maintain it with no costs – it stills represents a lightning-fast way of spreading false information and deceiving other users, as has previously happened with Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company based in Indiana, USA. A user who had bought Twitter Blue altered their profile name and photo posing as the firm account and further tweeted: “We are excited to announced insulin is free now”. This caused the business’ stocks to fall by 4.37% and reportedly erased over US$15 billion in market cap, a more-than-considerable damage caused by a stranger, who knows, maybe that person could be buying a coffee next to you at the local Starbucks?
All in all, considering everything that Musk gets involved in, the next steps are unpredictable, but one thing is sure, if nothing changes, the “Verified” legitimacy will forever be put into question.
“The bird is freed”. How Twitter dawned on October 28, 2022 with the news that billionaire, Elon Musk had acquired the social network through his subsidiary “X Holdings”…I am sure that we all remember when this happened?
After months of legal dispute between the company and the richest man in the world, the transaction of 44 billion dollars was finally concluded.
The negotiation began in April, when the tycoon closed a deal to buy the company at 54.20 dollars per share, after having accumulated positions to the point of becoming the company’s largest shareholder at the beginning of the year; however, amid accusations that Twitter was covering up the number of bots and fake profiles on its platform, Musk said he would withdraw his offer to buy. Consequently, the company opened a lawsuit against the entrepreneur, with the objective of having him comply with his legal obligations with the company. After approximately 3 months of disputes, in and out of the Delaware Court, Musk honored the original agreement and made the purchase of the platform.
Now, holder of one of the largest social networks on the planet and multinational enterprises , Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk finds himself with a powerful empire in his hands. However, the entrepreneur may have difficulties in managing multiple responsibilities, since he has well-defined (and bold) goals for each one. For example, Musk has already stated that he forecasts annual revenue of $26.4 billion and a total of 931 million users by 2028, up 420% and 360% over 2021 annual revenue and number of users, respectively.
To achieve this goal, Elon plans an almost total overhaul of the company: first, the competent bodies have already been informed that the company will become private, meaning, its shares will be withdrawn from the NYSE, New York Stock Exchange, giving more control of the company to the billionaire, as non-listed companies are not required to fulfill so many requirements.
Furthermore, Musk also plans to turn the social platform into a “super application” called X that allows for money transfers, online shopping and other services. Meanwhile, these two principle changes that the billionaire intends to implement have relevance to the platform’s workforce and freedom of expression policy, having relation to the fact that Musk has already fired some of the company’s high-ranking executives, such as CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal.
Musk has further stated that the number of Twitter employees could reduce dramatically; explanation being that Musk plans to change interpretation of freedom of expression within the company and because of that, executive roles may be reshuffled and restructured, replacing current directors with new employees, in the common goal of having the same vision: a new policy with fewer restrictions and reductions in the quantity of employees. Therefore, this reduction of the workforce accompanies the moral and financial goals of the new boss.
Perhaps, a topic that is more anticipated by people of the “new era” of Twitter is how Musk will change the company’s “free speech” policy. Having been a major critic of the way that freedom of expression has been interpreted by the platform, the entrepreneur will now have the autonomy to shape this policy in the way that best fit the company’s needs and guarantees positive development and changes, the way he sees it.
Early May, Elon Musk stated that he would lift Donald Trump’s ban of the platform in case he became the owner of the company, during an interview with the Financial Times newspaper;
The former US president had his profile deleted in 2021 after protests against the result of the US elections, but with Musk in control, Trump’s account will most likely be restored, an action that could have drastic consequences on the next US presidential elections coming up in 2024.
This change, being favourable to Republicans and individuals with a more conservative political ideology, is a topic of concern for many advertisers, as the possibility of adverts being linked to publications that do not match advertisers’ values can come across as more intimidating, affecting a large source of revenue stream. The businessman further issued an open letter stating that he doesn’t want the platform to turn into a “free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences” in an attempt to assuage advertisers’ concerns, but the way Musk will shape his new privacy policy expression and its consequences for the platform and its users remain a mystery.
Overall, several changes can be expected with the new owner of the social network, with changes that can impact not only the the company’s direction but will consider opinions and influences of the society as a whole, given the size of the platform.
Only time will tell if Musk sees yet another victory as future owner of yet another multinational giant.
How are things looking now?
Roughly 1 month after Twitter became completely owned by South-African entrepreneur Elon Musk, interesting (and polemic) changes are in its functionalities. As expected, banned accounts were recovered, several workers were fired, people agreed and disagreed vehemently with thread modifications but one thing that continues to fuel this worldwide debate and some pretty tough financial losses too, is “Twitter Blue”, the new account verification mark. It previously indicated Twitter had confirmed an account belonged to the person or organization claiming it, and that it was an authentic and notable account, therefore, serving as an exclusive and trustable sign that the owner of the account was a famous or important company/individual.
However, under Musk’s ownership, the blue checkmark became reinvented and is now a paid functionality that any user can get by just spending 8$/month. This raises concerns about the “blue check” trustworthiness, since any account can have access to the option, without any background check or verification by Twitter, that officially “verifies” the account like before. Even if you can click on the user to check if their “Verified” was paid or previously given by the company – considering accounts that previously had the checkmark and will maintain it with no costs – it stills represents a lightning-fast way of spreading false information and deceiving other users, as has previously happened with Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company based in Indiana, USA. A user who had bought Twitter Blue altered their profile name and photo posing as the firm account and further tweeted: “We are excited to announced insulin is free now”. This caused the business’ stocks to fall by 4.37% and reportedly erased over US$15 billion in market cap, a more-than-considerable damage caused by a stranger, who knows, maybe that person could be buying a coffee next to you at the local Starbucks?
All in all, considering everything that Musk gets involved in, the next steps are unpredictable, but one thing is sure, if nothing changes, the “Verified” legitimacy will forever be put into question.
Hi! I just read the article and I loved it! I actually didn’t know all about the topic and I’m glad that I’ve found it here
Hope to hear more from him!