It’s been simply over 50 days since Elon Musk lugged a sink into Twitter HQ for his first day in his new function as proprietor of the platform, and since then, we’ve seen varied coverage adjustments, employees cuts, exposes of inside paperwork, and extra.
However now, we could also be on the finish of the Elon as ‘Chief Twit’ experiment, with Musk tweeting out this ballot on Sunday afternoon:
Ought to I step down as head of Twitter? I’ll abide by the outcomes of this ballot.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
The outcomes haven’t gone in Musk’s favor, and he has, to date, caught to his phrase on abiding by ballot outcomes.
Which begs the query, ‘what has Elon truly performed, in a coverage sense, at Twitter?’
Elon’s been very eager to tout his view on ‘free speech’, and the way the platform, beneath his possession, will enable extra forms of feedback and content material.
However will it? Has he truly modified something to make Twitter extra open?
Right here’s a glance again at all the main bulletins and coverage updates which were applied to date by Elon and his Twitter 2.0 crew.
1. Paid verification
Musk’s first large announcement, after all, was his paid verification plan, by way of which individuals will be capable to pay $8 per 30 days to get a blue checkmark, to allow them to digitally cosplay as celebrities within the app.
Musk initially needed to cost $20 per 30 days, earlier than realizing that was too excessive for regular folks who don’t have billions of {dollars} in discretionary spend. So he lowered it to $8, or $96 each year to maintain your blue tick – although iOS subscribers need to pay $11 per 30 days as a result of Elon doesn’t wish to pay Apple’s 30% in-app buy tax out of his personal pocket.
Look, this can be a pretty flawed, self-serving scheme, which gives little of worth for customers, and a whole lot of worth for Twitter, by way of direct income, and as some technique of verifying human customers (as a result of, no less than in idea, bots can’t pay). Musk has needed to revise this system to counter impersonation scams, which took off as quickly because it was launched, however even now, there’s not a whole lot of purpose for individuals to pay up – particularly when most customers don’t ever tweet, so the advantages, for almost all, actually aren’t definitely worth the cash.
However some individuals pays, and Elon’s engaged on extra incentives, like precedence itemizing of replies and in search (once more, irrelevant if you happen to don’t tweet), whereas he’s additionally flagged a brand new system by way of which paying subscribers will be capable to downvote different accounts, with the intention to decrease their tweet publicity.
Once more, Elon’s greatest followers pays, as will those that’ve been determined for a blue checkmark since endlessly.
Will that be sufficient to generate vital earnings or worth from this system?
Truthfully, I doubt it, and Twitter’s most up-to-date makes an attempt to limit customers from posting hyperlinks to their Mastodon accounts seemingly counsel that Twitter Blue take-up hasn’t been what Elon anticipated or hoped.
However we’ll quickly discover out, with Twitter Blue within the strategy of being rolled out to extra areas.
2. Account reinstatements
An enormous sign of his intentions to make Twitter extra free and open was Musk’s announcement that he would reinstate the profiles of customers that had been beforehand banned from the app. Properly, it was much less an announcement, and truly a ballot amongst customers, which has develop into Musk’s go-to circuit-breaker for giant choices.
During the last month, Twitter has gone about re-instating some 60,000 accounts, belonging to those that had beforehand damaged the platform’s guidelines – as a result of Musk desires to start out off new, with a clear slate.
All of those profiles nonetheless need to play by the platform guidelines, however a number of the app’s greatest offenders of instances previous are actually again and tweeting once more.
And about these guidelines…
3. Updating Twitter’s Guidelines and Laws
Right here’s the factor – for all of Musk’s speak of updating Twitter’s strategy, and making the platform extra open to extra sorts of speech, Twitter itself has repeatedly instructed advert companions that its insurance policies haven’t modified.
As Twitter shared in weblog submit on November thirtieth:
“None of our insurance policies have modified. Our strategy to coverage enforcement will rely extra closely on de-amplification of violative content material: freedom of speech, however not freedom of attain.”
Once more, Twitter has not modified any of its insurance policies as but, and whereas Musk retains speaking about permitting extra speech, and pointing the finger at previous administration for his or her perceived bias, Twitter’s guidelines round content material, and what’s and isn’t allowed within the app, are precisely the identical.
Some have instructed that Musk has taken stronger motion in opposition to little one sexual abuse materials, although consultants say that these modified haven’t had a lot impression, whereas Twitter has additionally stopped implementing its COVID misinformation coverage, an space the place Musk has sturdy opinions.
However functionally, the Twitter you’re utilizing proper now could be no extra free or open than the one managed by Parag Agrawal on the identical time final 12 months.
Twitter is relying extra on automation, as a result of Musk reduce an enormous quantity of its moderation employees, so there are seemingly extra errors in enforcement. However once more, as the foundations are written, because the insurance policies are set, Elon Musk has performed nothing to replace Twitter’s strategy to what’s and isn’t allowed within the app.
Or he hadn’t, till final weekend.
4. No Doxxing
Elon Musk has, nonetheless, introduced one vital coverage shift:
“When somebody shares a person’s dwell location on Twitter, there may be an elevated threat of bodily hurt. Transferring ahead, we’ll take away Tweets that share this data, and accounts devoted to sharing another person’s dwell location might be suspended.”
After an incident by which his younger son was confronted by a stalker, Elon determined to take decisive motion in opposition to any Twitter account that shares dwell location data, with the intention to keep away from potential hurt.
Twitter’s new guidelines state that customers can not share live location data of any sort, ‘together with data shared on Twitter straight or hyperlinks to Third-party URL(s) of journey routes’. Which, technically, guidelines out just about all live-streams, as you’d be sharing the dwell location of anyone featured within the video.
Which might develop into an issue within the case of civil unrest, and governments desirous to get rid of unfavorable protection resulting from such. Say, for instance, a consumer is sharing footage of protests in Hong Kong, and the Chinese language Authorities calls on Twitter to close the stream down resulting from this rule.
It’s not precisely what the replace is meant for, but it surely could possibly be used on this method.
What’s most fascinating right here is the truth that Musk has drawn the road at private security. In Musk’s view, dwell location data shouldn’t be shared, as a result of it might result in actual world hurt. Which most would agree with, and with that being the parameter, it’ll be fascinating to see if future coverage choices on the app are made with this in thoughts.
That, at core, is the important thing logic that Twitter’s moderation crew has at all times labored from – ‘what are the probabilities of this tweet inflicting precise hurt in the actual world?’
Musk and Co. wish to demonize Twitter’s previous choices, and body them as politically biased, but it surely’s fascinating to see that Musk is now coming round to seeing that base logic.
Possibly that may shade his future adjustments. Most likely not.
5. Banning Hyperlinks to Different Social Apps
Twitter additionally banned hyperlinks to chose competing social platforms for a couple of hours on Sunday, earlier than reversing course fairly rapidly resulting from large backlash.
This was dumb coverage, which Twitter seemingly acknowledged by eradicating all references to it fairly quick. Primarily, Twitter sought to ban all hyperlinks to Fb, Instagram, Mastodon, Reality Social, Tribel, Nostr and Submit.
Why these apps? Why not YouTube, or TikTok?
I am guessing its as a result of Elon noticed customers tweeting hyperlinks to those different platforms the place customers might comply with them, as they appeared to leap ship from Twitter. Mastodon is the obvious offender right here, however I am additionally guessing that Elon has been in touch with Meta, and that that assembly didn’t go nicely, therefore the inclusion of IG and Fb.
Nostr is a favourite of former Twitter chief Jack Dorsey, and Submit is just about a carbon copy of Twitter.
Why not YouTube? Properly, YouTube’s guardian firm, Google, might return hearth by refusing to index tweets in Google Search, which might be a giant downside for Musk and Co.
Why not TikTok? Elon’s different firm, Tesla, is fairly reliant on the Chinese language market.
Like Elon’s different adjustments, this one appeared fairly shaded by private bias. And provided that it was seemingly in violation of EU rules, and will have led to antitrust and different penalties, it is smart for Twitter to maneuver on and fake that it by no means occurred.
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And regardless of all of the noise, that’s truly it. Twitter hasn’t truly applied many adjustments in any respect – which is smart once you additionally take into account the employees cuts, and the impression these have had on the platform’s capability to function.
Twitter has hinted at ad-reduced and ad-free subscription tiers, it’s exploring longer tweets and longer video uploads. It’s accelerating the roll out Neighborhood Notes, as a method to supply extra, user-sourced perspective on divisive tweets, whereas it additionally works on new advert placement controls, whereas Musk has additionally hinted at bringing again Vine.
However for all of the noise, for all of the media protection, for all of the dialogue that Musk has generated in his time as ‘Chief Twit’, he hasn’t truly modified something a lot. Like, in any respect.
Which as soon as once more underlines Elon’s true talent and energy – he’s very, excellent at producing media consideration, and primarily proudly owning the media cycle, by way of simply his tweets.
Tesla has by no means had an promoting division because of this, as a result of they don’t want one, with Elon at all times capable of exit, say one thing outlandish, and produce the media to him, like pigeons scrambling for scraps.
Which may be Elon’s most dear trait, and for a social platform, which depends on getting individuals to return and listen to the newest, that, no less than in idea, could possibly be very useful.
The problem for Elon then is that he must preserve developing with controversial issues to say, with the intention to preserve triggering mass protection, bringing extra individuals to the app.
Which may be working to this point, however as Elon continues to stoke political division, and skirt the sides of social platform rules, it does appear to be, finally, it’ll come to a head.
Which can be why now is an effective time for Elon to step away, if he does so, although regardless of him stepping again, that also doesn’t suggest he will not be answerable for the app.
Elon taking a backseat is smart, if he does it. And his previous historical past doesn’t counsel that he is overly nice at taking a extra passive function at his firms.
