It’s official. Elon Musk put an offer of $44 billion on the table, and Twitter accepted. The world’s richest man can now add the owner of one of the biggest social media platforms to his repertoire.
What does this mean?
Well, Elon Musk has not kept his intentions under wraps, in the least. The Tesla CEO has made it clear he is aiming to make Twitter the platform for “free speech”, which the concept can be argued about forever. He’s not alone in his thoughts but he’s also got a lot of opposition.
Reading between the lines, Musk made his views of banning controversial figures clear when former US President Trump was banned from Twitter. This has led a lot of people to deduce that there is to be a blanket un-banning of controversial figures, so the likes of Trump, Katie Hopkins, Alex Jones, Martin Shkreli, Steve Bannon, and Milo Yiannopoulos, could be invited back to the platform, having had their bans overturned.
What does Musk himself have to say about the move?
Well, Elon Musk of course took to the platform of his choosing to express his intentions for the app, Tweeting: “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?”
“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?”
What does this mean for marketing?
Of course, there is a lot of speculation about what will happen to the platform, since the point of Musk’s buy is to fundamentally change the priorities and political swing of the platform, but what does this mean for marketing?
Well, here, there is only speculation to go on, plus his own mention of advertisements on Twitter.
“And no ads. The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive.”
Of course, Musk will have no power to stop brands from posting marking content on Twitter, however, he seems to have a grudge against giving Twitter directly money to advertise. Considering that this is Twitter’s main money-making venture, it will be interesting to see where Musk intends to make back that money. As for marketers, your advertising options are limited but not non-existent.
