The year 2022 was marked by a series of twists and turns for Twitter. In October, Elon Musk, the famous entrepreneur and founder of Tesla, purchased the social network for the astronomical sum of $44 billion. This acquisition was the culmination of a Hollywood saga, with its share of polemics and controversies.
As soon as he arrived, Elon Musk started a real upheaval within Twitter. He fired the existing management team and furloughed hundreds of employees. The layoffs were so numerous that the company’s workforce fell from 8,000 to less than 1,500 employees. The survivors had to face an ultimatum from the new owner: work “fully, unconditionally” and without the possibility of teleworking.
This new management policy sparked strong criticism from former employees. They describe a climate of “fear” established by Elon Musk within the company. The billionaire has developed a radical approach to freedom of expression, relaxing rules on misinformation and reducing content moderation teams. This situation has led to an increase in misinformation and harassment on the platform.
The problems don’t end there for Twitter. Advertising revenue has fallen by half since the acquisition by Elon Musk, causing the company’s value to drop to $20 billion. To remedy this situation, the new owner launched a new paid subscription called “Blue”, offering subscribers the opportunity to see fewer advertisements and benefit from certain privileges.
Faced with declining advertising revenues, Elon Musk is also considering making the network pay for all users. In some countries like New Zealand and the Philippines, new users already have to pay a dollar a year to post. This measure aims to discourage the creation of automated accounts used for political purposes or the dissemination of false information.
To relaunch the platform, Elon Musk is banking on the development of audio and video formats. He himself organizes interviews with personalities, mainly on the right, and invites conservative commentators to join Twitter. This strategy aims to attract a new audience and generate user interest, but it also draws criticism for the premium placed on radical views.
With all these developments, Twitter has evolved from a social media platform to a true super-app. Only time will tell if these radical changes will bear fruit and allow Twitter to regain its dominant position in the social media market. In the meantime, Elon Musk continues to make headlines and provoke strong reactions within the Twitter community.