A few days ago, Elon Musk became Twitter’s newest board member and largest shareholder with a 9.2% stake in the company. The purchase took place back in March, but Elon only revealed the news on April 6. Elon’s investment set him back approximately $US3 billion and drove Twitter’s share price up 27% leaving us to wonder what further influence Elon will have on the future of Twitter and social media platforms in general.
I’m really happy Elon is joining the Twitter board! He cares deeply about our world and Twitter’s role in it.
— jack⚡️ (@jack) April 5, 2022
Parag and Elon both lead with their hearts, and they will be an incredible team. https://t.co/T4rWEJFAes
Twitter’s Edit Button
Shortly after Elon Musk became a board member, he asked his followers whether they thought Twitter should have an edit feature. An edit function would allow users to correct typos and errors without losing replies, retweets or likes .
Do you want an edit button?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
And not long after Elon’s tweet, Twitter announced that it would be trialling a new edit feature in the next few months. BUT apparently, it has nothing to do with Elon!
1/ We’ve been exploring how to build an Edit feature in a safe manner since last year and plan to begin testing it within @TwitterBlue Labs in the coming months. Sharing a few more insights on how we’re thinking about Edit 🧵 https://t.co/WbcfkUue8e
— Jay Sullivan (@jaysullivan) April 5, 2022
Whether it was Elon’s idea or not, it certainly seems like his poll (and the 4 million respondents) pushed things along.
Elon & Twitter: What Next?
Anyone who has followed Elon’s career knows he is not one to sit still. So it’s fair to assume that there will be changes made to Twitter. We’ve already mentioned the edit feature, and Elon has also expressed frustration over the platform’s crypto bots and attitudes towards free speech. However, Elon is only one member of a twelve-person board, so he isn’t able to make solo decisions on functionality or policy. As the largest shareholder, though, he will likely wield a great deal of influence on the future direction of Twitter.
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