Now that Elon Musk has been the new owner of Twitter for 2 years, will the X Twitter social media network continue to change much? What will happen to the Twitter social media network under Elon? One thing can be sure, Twitter X got more interesting with Elon Musk on Twitter as the owner.
While some people were thrilled at the prospect of having Elon Musk at the helm of one of the world’s most popular social media platforms, others were concerned that his controversial behavior has done more harm than good.
So, the question is: Has Elon Musk Twitter Chief Twit inspired and united us as Twitter’s new chief executive? Will he be successful in the coming years?
Table of Contents
Twitter Before Elon Musk In The Past
I have to admit I was excited by the news when Elon took over as Twitter has been dying according to some recent reports by Reuters. Internal documents showed that their most active users have left the social network.
After all, Inspire To Thrive has grown over the past decade-plus in part due to traffic from the Twitter social network. It’s been the number one source of referral traffic here for years but recently dropped to number two or three in referral traffic. However that was a brief drop.
It has jumped back to number with several ad s on the X network. (They work well and are cheap right now!)
It still by far surpasses traffic from other social media channels 2 years after Elon Musk purchased Twitter. Pinterest comes in 2nd after X.
You can learn how to follow Elon Musk on Twitter and subscribe to his latest tweets below.
First, When Did Elon Musk Buy Twitter?
According to this tweet, it shows Elon entered the company headquarters in San Francisco, California after making the purchase of the social media platform. The sale was completed on October 27, 2022. However on Friday the 13th of September 2024, Elon moved their headquarters to Texas.
Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022
Musk On Twitter
Some people are saying that Musk’s tweets will become more business-oriented now that he’s in charge of Twitter. Others believe that Musk will continue to use Twitter as a platform to share his thoughts and musings with the world as he is a huge influencer. And that he sure has!
He continues to do just that daily you can see below and if you follow him:
Comedy is legal on this platform! https://t.co/G1ZslWmxBK
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 2, 2023
What’s Next For the Social Network?
Rumors have been floating around that layoffs would occur at the social media networks headquarters in San Francisco. However, it was also reported that these layoffs were in place before the takeover of the social-networking company.
In fact, Elon did lay off over half the staff after taking over Twitter.
As with Facebook, Snapchat, and Google, (Alphabet), big tech earnings were dismal in 2022 due to inflation and people spending less time using social media.
Many of them have come back up this year in 2024 after rounds of layoffs. Meta even doubled their profits in 2023 with their cost cutting measures and they continued to rise in 2024.
But then just last week (Oct. 18, 2024) Meta laid more of their staff off.
Elon Musk Taking Twitter Private
What does going private mean when a company is public?
According to Investopedia, it means:
When a publicly-traded company becomes a privately-held company, the public company’s shares are purchased at a premium by the investors buying the company. The company is delisted from the stock exchange where its shares were formerly traded. Shares now can no longer be traded publicly.
Not only that but:
Why Would A Public Company Go Private?
Elon Musk wants to take Twitter private. He says it is needed to be private to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech.
Going private, or privatization, frees up management’s time and effort to concentrate on running and growing a business as there is no requirement to comply with SOX. Thus, the senior leadership team can focus more on improving the business’s competitive positioning in the marketplace. – via Investopedia
Now, that’s a great reason why Elon Musk took Twitter private. As you may know, he runs a few other companies and time is of the essence for him.
He says it is needed to be private to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech. He has even went far to say that he doesn’t care about the money.
And he sure puts his money where his mouth is.
Why The Turnaround Of The Twitter Sale?
According to Reuters: The sale would have represented an admission by Twitter that its new chief executive Parag Agrawal, who took the helm in November of 2020, is not making enough traction in making the company more profitable, despite being on track to meet ambitious financial goals the company set for 2023.
(You can see this from the chart below from Statista.)
Twitter’s shares were trading higher than Musk’s offer price as recently as last November.
Has The Twitter User Base Gone Up Or Down With Elon?
Many users are tweeting that they will leave Twitter if Elon takes over the social network. In fact, many did according to recent reports. Many users who were not happy with Elon left to join Mastodon. Other todays are fleeing to BlueSky for political reasons.
However, they are many more that did join or rejoined the network when he took over.
It is hard to tell which audience is larger at the moment.
It will be fascinating to see where the Twitter user growth goes after Elon begins to make changes to the Twitter network.
According to Similar Web, the stats in mid 2023 show a decline of over 7% in Twitter app usage year over year.
However, Elon claims it is up. It’s hard to know these days who to believe. So many people want to see Elon fail as they truly hate him.
Now in 2024 you can see a trend emerging: Twitter is gaining organic traffic while Instagram is declining.
More Leaving For New Meta Threads
2 years ago about the same time Meta released their Twitter alternative called Threads. Mark Zuckerberg’s company hired many of Twitter’s old employees that Elon Musk had fired when he took over.
Now Elon is claiming that Mark stole Twitter’s trade secrets, violating both state and federal laws.
Over 30 million people signed up for the new Threads social network. However, it is not available in Europe due to privacy concerns.
Will Threads be successful or go the way of the Metaverse? Time will tell. As of October 2024 it is not in the top social media networks based on usage or traffic.
What Are The Demographics of This X Social Network Site?
- 70% of users are male (worldwide) More females in the United States use the Twitter social platform
- 25-34 is the average age of users
- Demographics show most have college degrees
- Most earn over 75k+
These stats were interesting to see as many of my friends and customers active on social do not fit the above demographics. Will the audiences change with Elon as the Chief Twit?
In 2024 Gen Z is the most active on the X social network. All users average 35 minutes per day on the network as well.
Musk On Twitter Censorship
The biggest change we have seen is that censorship mostly has become a thing of the past. That was the hope at least with Elon Musk on Twitter as CEO.
He claims he is not in it for the money but wants to preserve our freedom of speech. Will he be able to stand up for it as time goes on as CEO of Twitter? So far he has.
Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2022
What should be done? https://t.co/aPS9ycji37
How will he accomplish this? Will all those that have been censored be allowed back on this social network? Yes, former President Trump and Info Wars (the 2 biggest censored accounts) have been reinstated recently.
Will he still take down some tweets or suspend more accounts on the social media network like Facebook continues to do? To some extend, yes, that has happened.
It appears Twitter still suspends accounts and it’s not 100% free speech on the network though it’s more fair and balanced than the other big mainstream social media networks have been.
Even the new Threads have suspended accounts and censored posts on their first day out of the gate.
First users complain about being #censored on #MarkZuckerberg's new #Threads #Twitter clone #app.#Meta#Metaverse pic.twitter.com/6OpgI6Kwu1
— MidnightVisions (@MidnightVision5) July 6, 2023
Can Elon Musk On Twitter Unite And Inspire Us?
My hope has been that Elon Musk inspires and unites us on the town square as they call it. People of all opinions and sides should be able to congregate there and discuss the issues of the day.
Maybe we can all learn from one another as we connect with other users on the social platform.
But if we stay on one the one-sided network, how will we know how the other side feels or needs? How will this country ever unite that way? People are even moving to other areas of the country to be near like-minded people.
Having discussions to bring out the best in people and finding solutions to our problems is the best way.
Sadly, it hasn’t happened yet, but there is always hope even as we enter into a big presidential election.
My hope is Elon Musk can still help us unite or at least have discussions and inspire us along the way on the social media platform.
The Edit Button Is Here
Will the infamous edit button request from Twitter users finally come to fruition? That was one of the first signs that Elon was taking over Twitter when he asked users if they wanted to see the edit button.
For years, users on the platform wanted an edit button but the company pushed back. The tweets were public records and even used in court cases.
Today the edit button is available to Twitter Blue subscribers who pay $8 per month in the United States for the subscription service. However, you can only edit your tweet, not your replies to others as I have been using the subscription service.
However, Facebook allows edits on their posts and their posts (as long as they have not been boosted) have been used in court cases as well over the years.
Are Spam Bots Going Away with Musk on Twitter?
Another Twitter drawback that Elon wants is to get rid of the spambots that have flooded the network for years. There have been times years ago when all you could see were spam tweets.
However, I must say they are not as bad as they once were although just yesterday I saw more springing up on my Twitter account. One last fling for the spam bots of Twitter?
Crypto Payments on Twitter
Another possibility with Elon in charge of Twitter would be the bitcoin-type payments for premium “Blue” service on Twitter via Dogecoin, of course.
Not only that but Elon also wants to get rid of ads on the Twitter network. Where will advertisers go next?
Who would NOT like lower prices for a premium Twitter service?
And as far as the advertisements go, Elon hired a new person to increase ads on the network as many big “left” companies left the network under Elon. Some have returned in the past few months but others have not.
Will Apple And Google Eliminate Twitter In The App Stores?
When Twitter eliminates censorship on its platform as Elon promised, will the app stores no longer offer the Twitter app in their app stores? They took away the other alternative social networks from their stores when they allowed free speech.
This will be an interesting development to stay tuned on. He could get private servers like other networks like Minds, Gab, and Rumble has had to do.
There is also speculation that Google may no longer show tweets on their search platform. It has NOT happened yet. But it would be another way for big tech to censor Twitter.
How To Follow Elon Musk On Twitter
Now if you want to follow Elon Musk on Twitter just hit the follow button on his profile. See the screenshot below of his profile. Not only that, but you can also subscribe to his tweets and see his latest tweets in your own feed.
As you can see from above from Elon’s Twitter profile he has been a long-time user of the social network. Elon recently changed his profile picture show his dark MAGA hat off.
He has recently joined the former President Trump on the campaign trail. Recently the former President Trump began posting on X Twitter again daily.
Grok AI Available
Another feature that came out of the takeover at X is the use of Grok AI for subscribers of the network. What makes it different from say ChatGPT is that is uses content from the network in real time, whereas ChatGPT uses content from 2021 making it irrelevant.
Furthermore, users can opt out of the Grok AI if they so desire to.
New Radar Analytics
This new feature is for premium+ subscribers only. I signed up last week to check out this new feature Radar.
“Radar,” is a feature in X’s analytics tools that lets you set up keyword tracking. Monitor conversation trends over time and measure related topics impacting your industry or niche.
Conclusion: Elon Musk Takeover of Twitter X
It’s been quite the journey since Elon took over Twitter x. He was never involved in politics before but he realized to save free speech he had to get involved.
However, this has made many people to hate him more (or love him more). So much so that he has had to get more personal security as threats on his life have come into play.
You get to choose your own opinion of him. But you must admit he is extremely crafty with his posts and he has become a better speaker as he goes on road to campaign.
Elon Musk: Almost every country on Earth has Voter ID requirements and we don’t — Why?
— ALEX (@ajtourville) October 27, 2024
It's my firm opinion that those who say Trump is a threat to democracy are themselves the threat to democracy. pic.twitter.com/z9GckQdwRE
What Do YOU Think About Elon Musk Twitter As Chief Twit Today?
I’d love to hear from you on the topic of Elon Musk on Twitter. What do you like about the new ownership of Twitter or what you do not like about it?
Which feature are you be most excited by? Will you stay or leave for other social channels?
She has 30+ years of experience in marketing/advertising with 12 years of experience in content marketing, social media, blogging, and SEO.
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Hi Lisa,
It seems we need a new comment; that’s what I’m here for. lol
The premise was could “that man” save Twitter. I left the day he bought it because I knew what was coming. In a financial report posted on LinkedIn last week, it seems that site’s lost 73% of its value since he purchased it, now worth only $11.3 billion. That sounds like a lot, but it’s a lot less than the $44 billion he paid for it.
The problem… besides him… is what he not only created when he dropped moderation, but deciding to tell potential advertisers to go “blank” themselves. If you’re looking for advertisers, that’s not an intelligent move.
Can it survive? Only if he’s willing to spend some of that $265 billion he’s worth now, but it’s not his style. I give it 15 months, because many of the “free speech” crazies have decided to come over to Threads because they don’t have anyone to fuss at on that site anymore. Sigh…
Hi Mitch, sure, I’ve updated it. He is not in it for the money, he stated that a few times. Time will tell if and how it survives going forward Mitch. It will be interesting to see for sure1 Thanks for coming by and have a great day.
Hi Lisa,
One of the conversations on Twitter Spaces that I listened to people were talking about his plan to charge a monthly fee for the verification check mark. I’m not sure I would pay for that but I do like the idea of some of the other perks that go along with it like:
– Priority in replies, mentions & search, which is essential to defeat spam/scam
– Ability to post long video & audio
– Half as many ads
I would certainly pay for those features especially since I already pay for Twitter Blue.
Hi Ileane, I agree with you. I was thinking maybe the checkmark for my business accounts on Twitter for the checkmark. I do love the added benefits that you have mentioned here for the new Twitter Blue. I could not sign up yet for it – the newer version. I’m also excited about Vine possibly coming back! Thanks for your feedback Ileane and have a great day!
So far, so good with Elon, Lisa. I followed him and of course his tweets come up in my mainstream. The dude is following through with what he said he’d do. He’s fostering conversation and opening the platform to greater freedom of speech, no matter what people say. That’s the key. You can never prevent free speech for any reason because if you do it is censorship, based in fear, manipulation and control. Every human can say what they want and every human has the free will to think whatever they wish about that freedom of speech. This is freedom. This is responsibility.
Hi Ryan, I love his new profile picture answering the phone. He’s the go to person now. Yes, I love that about him, he did what he said he would do. Few people follow through like that. No matter the price too! I agree with the freedom of speech. It’s a breath of fresh air, even if you have the bad stuff along with it. We do have the freedom to think and say what you want in the United States, still. With great freedom comes great responsibility to protect it! Thanks Ryan for your input on this one.
I wonder why he would want to get rid of running ads on Twitter. Do you think this could lower Twitter’s revenue?
Hi Randall, I don’t think so and he announced yesterday Twitter Blue will be $19.99! That shocked me as he wanted to lower it before to $2.99/mo. And you will need Twitter Blue to be verified. We will see if this comes to fruition or not. I think that’s a bit high for many people to pay that amount. Thanks for coming by on this one Randall and have a great day.
Hi Randall, it surely would! However he is looking at charging users $2.99-$20 per month for Twitter Blue and verification blue checks. Time will tell. I don’t this he knows for sure yet. Thanks for coming by on this one Randall.
Expecting a revamp for the Twitter page and the application now, wouldn’t be surprised if I see them Tesla bots in the interface haha But honestly, I’m just glad the drama has finally ended.
Hi Brandon, I heard that Tesla engineers are working on it today. Should be interesting. I’m glad too – thanks for coming by and welcome to Inspire To Thrive.
Do you think that Elon is going to make Twitter a pay-to-use platform, Lisa?
Hi Erik, I don’t think 100% pay to play. He may entice more to Twitter Blue with a lower price and a few more bells and whistles. Do you think he will Erik? Thank you for coming by on this post about Elon Musk and Twitter.
I don’t see many benefits worth subscribing to Twitter blue, Lisa.
Am I missing some particular features that could be interesting for us, as online marketers?
Hi Erik, maybe this one feature of Twitter Blue: “use a ‘reader’ that makes long threads look like articles.” I’m also not sure if the algorithm favors the premium accounts. That would be my reason to subscribe to it at some point. I feel like my tweets are not being seen as they were several years ago Erik. How about you?
Yeah, I use to get more traction on Twitter too…
Let’s see if the upcoming changes will help marketers get the most our of the platform…
Wow, either you wrote this really quickly or you wrote it earlier and were just waiting to post it because you were sure Elon would indeed end up buying Twitter. Either way, very impressive! I don’t think I’m ever going to forget that Inspire to Thrive was the place where I learned the news that Elon Musk bought Twitter.
Hi Sabina, A little bit of both. Thank you. I’ve been watching it for weeks now and didn’t know until this morning how real it would become. I’m excited to see how it will all play out on Twitter. Thanks for coming by and have a great day Sabina.