Highly influential billionaire, Elon Musk, has this Monday bought a 9% share of Twitter, effectively making him the captain of the Twitter ship. When it was announced that Elon Musk had bought the biggest share of Twitter, speculation came about on whether he would be accepted onto the board and able to affect real change: the next day, that was confirmed. It’s only Wednesday.
And the Tesla founder has wasted no time in making the changes he wants on the platform. Tweeting, because of course he did, that he was pioneering free speech in the platform, and immediately taking a poll on whether Twitter users would like to see an edit button on the site.
Why the edit button?
The edit button might be more of a controversial subject than users as yet realise. On the face of it, it’s a simple way of correcting an error in your Tweet without deleting and posting again, which will be how marketers are likely to use it.
But Twitter is the platform of celebrities, and the other side of that coin is reporting. Whether it’s for the sake of high-end journalism, like in the very case of reporting on Elon Musk’s intentions for Twitter or referring to the quote of an influencer, the edit button allows for deniability. No one can prove that a user said something years ago verbatim.
Why should marketers care?
Twitter is one of the main pillars of social media marketing. If you want to get the word out, you do it on Twitter, which is why it’s known for its high level of celebrity users and the open mic approach that Facebook and Instagram lack.
This makes it particularly appealing to marketers, who can use celebrities and influencers of all levels to market their products and services.
It’s a good idea to keep an eye on the latest changes in social media platforms, but particularly one as influential as Twitter, and with the newly appointed Elon Musk at the helm, you can bet there are going to be far more changes beyond the edit button.
