In the event of a takeover by Elon Musk, Twitter should be turned inside out and reach far more users. In a video conference with employees of the online service, the tech billionaire said Twitter had to offer more functionality and be more entertaining – and cited the Chinese apps WeChat and Tiktok as role models. The US short message service could have one billion users. The Twitter workforce was also prepared for possible job cuts. Musk, who only has experience with online networks as a user, also wants to put his stamp on Twitter personally. He assumes that the employees will listen to his suggestions for functions, said Musk, who also likes to go into detail as head of the electric car manufacturer Tesla.
Among the product ideas that Musk mentioned on Thursday was, for example, charging for today’s free user verification. He also confirmed the intention to fight against automated bot accounts. Musk also shared how he once bought a bad product based on an advertisement for it on the video sharing platform YouTube and did a web search and discovered it was a scam. Musk said he wanted to prevent something like that on Twitter.
WeChat is a so-called super app that includes all sorts of functions from messaging to shopping and payment options. Attempts to establish such a universal application in the West have so far failed. With Tiktok, users are suggested one short video after the other. Musk praised Tiktok for ensuring that the clips it selected for users were entertaining.
The one billion user mark was always far from reach for Twitter. According to the latest figures, there were around 230 million daily active users to whom the service can display advertising because they use the in-house app or the web version.
Musk’s previous criticism that Twitter overly restricts free speech had also raised concerns that more false information or offensive tweets could remain on the platform under his direction. Now he admitted that users would leave Twitter if they were attacked or felt uncomfortable. But they should also be allowed to publish “pretty outrageous” things. However, Twitter could throttle the distribution of such tweets.
At Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX, on the other hand, employees were beginning to feel the limits of internal freedom of speech. They had circulated an open letter in the US media in which they criticized his behavior on the Twitter platform, among other things, as embarrassing and a distraction for the company. Several of the letter’s initiators were fired, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing an internal email.
Thanks to Musk’s online activities, SpaceX and Tesla were also targeted in an investor lawsuit on Thursday. A US investor went to court for losses suffered with the crypto speculation object Dogecoin. He accuses Musk and his companies of being part of an illegal Ponzi scheme that drove up the Dogecoin price and then crashed it. Johnson is seeking a class action lawsuit for anyone who gambled money off Dogecoins.
The plaintiff accused Musk of presenting Dogecoin as a legitimate investment when it had no value. He wants Musk and his companies to pay for three times all the alleged losses in value Dogecoin holders have suffered since 2019, putting the total at $258 billion. Dogecoin is a digital currency that was actually intended as a joke. Fueled by celebs like Musk, it became a hot speculation in 2021, hitting a record high at 74 cents. Most recently, it only cost around 5 cents.
Regarding possible job cuts at Twitter, Musk said the service needs to be financially healthy – and right now the costs are exceeding the revenues. However, those who make a significant contribution have nothing to fear. According to Musk, valuable employees would also be more likely to be allowed to continue working from home. The online service had previously promised employees that they would not be forced back into the offices even after the pandemic ended. But Musk only recently prescribed a general attendance requirement for SpaceX and Tesla.
While the conversation with Musk was intended for staff only, Twitter workers shared information so freely that several major US media outlets were able to liveblog it.
It is also unclear whether Musk will eventually become the owner of Twitter. Although he agreed to a takeover with the Twitter board of directors, he is dependent on the approval of the majority of shareholders. At the same time, he declared the deal suspended because he had doubts about the number of fake accounts. Twitter countered that Musk could not unilaterally put the agreement on hold and was determined to enforce it.
While Musk is offering shareholders $54.20 per share, the stock was trading at $38 in premarket trading on Friday. So Musk has an incentive to renegotiate the price, while existing shareholders have an interest in selling at his offer. The appearance in front of the employees was taken as a sign that Musk is still fundamentally interested in buying Twitter. (dpa)