Elon Musk's Twitter Strategy: Impact of His Poor Leadership Decisions

For anyone tuned into technology, the biggest story of the year is Elon Musk’s Twitter strategy, from its takeover to decision-making following the changing of the guard. Prior to purchasing Twitter, Elon Musk’s choice received mixed backlash and praise, depending on whom you asked. Everything from his commentary during the leadup to the price point itself gained some sort of controversy.

Now, fewer than two full months into his reign as CEO, the entire tech industry obtained front row seats to one baffling idea after another. To help sort through it all, here are some of Elon’s key decisions and the questions they’ve left for Twitter users, businesses, and anyone interested in the future of the social platform.

Extensive Employees Layoffs and Firings

When diagnosing Elon Musk’s Twitter strategy, you have to start with the way he addressed his employees. Suffice it to say, Musk’s reign as Twitter boss started off very rocky. Many recall the numerous back and forth debates between Musk and his employees.

Furthermore, tech experts from other companies annotated the impact of Musk’s plan to fire over 5,000 full-time and contract workers from different departments. Of course, this entailed completely erasing entire departments, as was the case with Twitter’s former curation team. Prior to their dismissal, the curation team focused on adding context and descriptions to news and trending events through curated tweets.

However, some of the most notable firings occurred directly on the Twitter platform itself. For instance, Musk fired Twitter software engineer Eric Frohnhoefer, a Twitter veteran of 8 years, after he replied to Musk’s tweets about slow service on the platform. Holistically, many of the layoffs and firings appear to have targeted those who publicly voiced their disagreement with his strategy as new Twitter CEO.

Saving History Amongst the Uncertain Future of Twitter

Next, issues with Elon Musk’s Twitter Strategy surround the platform’s future as a whole. As a matter of fact, the drastic changes and cultural shifts led many to forecast the end of Twitter. Despite those conversations, numerous others concentrate on the larger consequences of social media as a tool for archiving history. Basically, many people fear that if Twitter goes down, the platform could take its huge amounts of content (parts political, entertainment, and historical) with it.

Diving into the statistics, approximately 6,000 tweets go out every second. The task of archiving content of that volume nears an impossibility. To draw a closer parallel, even the United States Library of Congress pulled the plug on its initiative to catalog tweets, overwhelmed by the seemingly endless vastness of the social media platform.

As world leaders, entertainers, and everyday citizens share their thoughts, they join history. However, there is no existing method of preserving that history outside of the platform. With Musk’s tumultuous first days as Twitter CEO, many others are trying to figure out a way to save what’s possible.

Elon Musk’s Twitter Strategy Eliminated Content Moderation

The initial crux of Elon Musk’s Twitter strategy stemmed from his views on content moderation and free speech. At first glance, Musk bought Twitter to promote free speech, which he felt the social media platform’s existing leadership failed to do. Moreover, Elon Musk sought to create a version of the site that promoted viewpoints from the entire political and ideological spectrum. Despite his intentions, Musk bit off more than he could chew when it comes to cutting back on moderation (deleting harmful tweets, suspending accounts, etc.).

According to the Associated Press, hate speech in Tweets rose steeply following his takeover (something Musk denies). After the last several years of discussion surrounding social media regulations, Twitter attempted to eliminate hateful speech, including slurs, misinformation, threats, and more. However, Elon Musk removed many of the content moderators from the company as part of his sweeping plan to open the floodgates.

So, seemingly inadvertently, Musk’s attempt to bring more freedom to how people can speak on Twitter paved the way for increased amounts of misinformation, hate speech, targeted threats, bots, spam accounts, and parodies.

The Future of the Platform Following Elon Musk’s Twitter Strategy

One thing nobody can dispute is that Musk’s Twitter takeover sparked debate about how social media fits into our lives as a free speech tool and a tool for communication between people, politicians, celebrities, and businesses. Decreasing moderation and increasing chances for unwanted speech caught the eye of what makes everything tick: advertisers and businesses.

What was once one of the most popular marketing tools for businesses is now in a state of flux. Reacting to Elon Musk’s Twitter strategy, advertisers slowed their Twitter spending. This caused countless further businesses to reevaluate their usage, too.

Currently, the future is uncertain and seems to fluctuate greatly every day. How these big changes affect users, both individuals and businesses, remains to be seen. To stay ahead of the social media curve, book an intro conversation with the digital advertising and branding specialists at Rizzo Young Marketing.