Elon’s Twitter Takeover
Alright ya’ll. You know I was going to have some thoughts on Elon’s acquisition of Twitter.
So, if you’ve been following my channel for a while, you may have noticed that I don’t talk a lot about Twitter. Here’s my take on Twitter. It can be a great place to connect with journalists and to establish yourself as a thought leader. The thing about Twitter, is this. The average lifespan of a Tweet is 18 minutes. 18 MINUTES! That means that after that 18 minutes is up, your content is gone from the feed never to be seen again unless someone comes back to your profile. So, to grow a brand presence on Twitter, you have to tweet all. the. time.
The other thing abut Twitter is that showing up there seriously diminished my mental health. There is no more depressing place online than climate change Twitter.
But just when I think Twitter couldn’t get worse, Elon Musk goes and buys it! So, here’s my two cents on this.
Elon is an impulsive bro dude that will destroy the platform. He’s taking on a sinking ship with no clear plan to right itself. Advertisers were jumping ship before this and I’m guessing this latest move won’t encourage them to come back.
He’s also a terrible leader. His Texas factory violated public health orders and the company has been accused by multiple employees of letting racism and sexism run rampant. In fact, the company was ordered to pay $137 million to a former Black employee who said the company ignored repeated complaints that he was called the N-word and that his colleagues had drawn swastikas around the building. Literally. WTF. Who runs a company like this in 2022.
If you’re looking for a complete list of all the shitty things Elon has done, here’s Vanity Fair’s List of Terrible Things Elon’s Said and Done.
If there is anything Elon loves more than stroking his ego, it’s stirring the pot.
That’s really where the danger lies with this acquisition. He’s stated publicly that he wants to “turn Twitter into a haven for free speech.” While on the surface that may sound like a noble goal, what it really means is that more than likely, he will deregulate the platform and potentially even let the Troll-In-Chief #45 back on the site. My prediction, hate speech on the site will flourish and the site and will be a cesspool of vaccine skeptics, white nationalism, and misogyny. In other words, this move will allow Elon to sow chaos on a grand scale.
I’m not the only one who feels like this. In a recent meeting, some Twitter employees were too “shocked" to speak over the billionaire’s plans to promote freedom of speech. The last several days have seen mass numbers of account deactivations. People seem to already know what’s coming and are jumping ship.
The last thing I wanted to say about the Twitter buyout is this. It’s another extremely disturbing example of how those with extreme wealth can control the public narrative. Now more than ever, we need a strong independent media that will speak truth to power and hold ass holes like Musk to task for their recklessness.
If you would like to contribute to the cause of independent media, I suggest you check out International Media Support. IMS pushes for quality journalism, challenges repressive laws and keeps media workers of all genders safe, so that they can do their jobs. Through alliances and innovation, they help free, independent media contribute to positive change and better societies.
