Elon just became Twitter's largest shareholder
THE BATTLE FOR TWITTER
On March 25th Elon Musk posted a Twitter Poll and said, rather ominously, that "The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully."
The subject of that poll? "Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?" The result was an overwhelming amount of agreement with Elon's previously-stated position that, no, Twitter does not adhere to the principle of free speech.
I'm sure that each of us has, at one time or another, become frustrated with the direction of a social media platform, but short of deleting our accounts, it may feel like we don't have a lot of recourse. Elon, on the other hand, has recourse. His millions of followers and billions of dollars give him options that aren't available to the rest of us.
First, he followed up that poll with a series of tweets that suggested he might start his own social network. Then, just this morning, it was announced that he has become Twitter's largest shareholder, acquiring 9.2% of the company. Here's where the story becomes unmistakably Elon: The SEC filing (PDF) shows that the purchase was finalized on March 14th, 11 days before his much-discussed Twitter poll.
Why does this matter? Other than the fact that Elon has previously been found guilty of market manipulation when he's misled the public with his Tweets, the team at Twitter is now going to be forced to listen closely to one of its harshest critics.
For now, Elon is technically registered as a "Passive Investor," but there is nothing stopping him from flipping that switch and/or accumulating additional shares up to, and including, 100% ownership in the company.
Another fun fact is that Musk's friend, and former Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey's board seat is up for renewal in May, which could be the opening that Elon needs to begin asserting even more influence over the company.
SO WHAT?
The Musk/Twitter saga is the type of boardroom soap opera that we might expect to see play out in an HBO series, but it will have real-world implications for the way that all of our social channels operate.
In recent years, many legacy media properties have been acquired by business leaders (Washington Post/ Jeff Bezos, Time/ Benioff, The Atlantic/ Powell Jobs), but until today, the idea that any Billionaire could assert their dominance over a social media platform had been all but unthinkable.
Expect to see the debate over Section 230, GDPR, and other free speech vs. censorship issues heat up, which will no doubt bring with it more regulatory scrutiny. What's noticeably absent amidst all of this shouting is any mention of the most important part of any media platform: The people who actually use it.
While all of this drama may be tantalizing for the tech news media, it's just as likely that the general public will move on to more private platforms, leaving the billionaires and regulators behind to fight over empty newsfeeds.
TWITTER GOES PRO — THE TEAM HAS BEEN PUMPING OUT NEW FEATURES
It seems that the people at Twitter haven't let the little board room shenanigans distract them, as they've been releasing more updates over the past year than perhaps at any other time in the company's history.
This week it's Twitter Professional. All users now have the option to switch their account type to unlock tools to promote themselves, including a business category displayed publicly on their profile, advertising options, and upcoming e-commerce integrations.
They've also released a series of new ad units, like one that allows us to highlight text in our tweets, or feature a gallery of products.
If you haven't been active on Twitter recently, you may barely recognize the platform. Here are a few of the other recent feature releases that you could have missed:
Twitter Spaces — Live conversational audio
Twitter Blue — Subscription service that unlocks premium features like ad-free content
NFT Profile Pics — Display a verified NFT, with a new hexagonal shape
Twitter Communities — Like FB Groups, these are spaces for sharing particular topics
Written by Conner Galway, Junction Consulting