Recently, one could no longer be sure whether Elon Musk would even want to buy Twitter. But now the tech billionaire is talking to Twitter employees about his ideas.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk also wants to get involved in the product development of the service after a Twitter takeover. At a video conference with Twitter employees, Musk said he assumes that employees would listen to his suggestions for features.
Among the product ideas that Musk mentioned was, for example, taking money for user verification, which is free today. He also confirmed the intention to fight against automated bot accounts.
Musk also recounted how he once bought a bad product based on an advertisement for it on 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.
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. In the video conference, he admitted that users would leave Twitter if they were attacked or felt uncomfortable on the platform. At the same time, he reiterated that users should be allowed to post “pretty outrageous” things, but that Twitter could restrict the distribution of such tweets.
High number of users as a goal
Musk said he wants Twitter to hit 1 billion users. According to the latest figures available, Twitter had around 230 million daily active users to whom the service can display advertising because they use the in-house app or the web version. In a possible hint at the future direction, Musk praised the Chinese video app Tiktok for finding clips that are entertaining for users.
While Thursday’s conversation with Musk was intended for staff only, Twitter employees shared information from it so freely that several major US media outlets were able to liveblog it.
Musk prepared the Twitter workforce for possible job cuts. Twitter should be financially healthy – and at the moment the costs are higher than the revenues, he emphasized. 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 has only recently prescribed a general attendance requirement for companies he manages – the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the space company SpaceX.
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 a share, the stock ended Thursday at $37.36, down about 1.7 percent. So Musk has an incentive to renegotiate the price, while many previous shareholders have an interest in selling on his current offering. The appearance in front of the employees was taken as a sign that Musk is still fundamentally interested in buying Twitter. He did not directly comment on this in the conversation.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
