Mass layoffs, purchased verification ticks, and advertisers pulling out. A lot has happened since billionaire and entrepreneur Elon Musk took over the social media platform Twitter.
The latest change limits the number of tweets a user can read in a 24-hour period. Something that Brit Staktson, media strategist, does not think will benefit the platform.
– This is not something that strengthens Twitter as a brand or advertising platform and it must still be serious for Twitter in the long term, she says.
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Elon Musk writes that the new rules are temporary, and that they have been introduced to counter “extreme levels of data collection and system manipulation”. But Brit Stakston believes it’s more about his private war against Chat GPT and data collection.
– He refers to an alleged extreme data collection and simply imposes more and more restrictions that offer whoever has a subscription to read more tweets.
This spring saw the introduction of the Twitter Blue subscription service, which allows users to pay to be verified and gain access to various premium features. Meanwhile, nearly 80% of the workforce has been laid off or resigned since Elon Musk bought Twitter, which in turn has led to many advertisers dropping out.
“Obvious problems”
Brits Stakston believes that Musk’s focus on increasing advertising revenue may also be connected to the new restrictions.
– He tries to highlight the advantages of buying subscriptions, but at the same time the site has suffered from obvious problems after the technical side has reduced the number of employees. That so many people disappear from services dealing with technology and security can have these kinds of consequences, she says, adding:
– In order to be profitable, Elon Musk urgently needs to get a spin on this advertising business, but this will only undermine it.