Elon Musk reveals endgame: Buying Twitter an accelerant to creating X, the everything app

Nearly two months after Tesla CEO Elon Musk walked away from a $44 billion Twitter acquisition deal, landing him in a legal battle with the microblogging site, he took a U-turn on Tuesday, agreeing to settle the promised deal.

Musk made the surprising turnaround not on Twitter, as has been his custom, but in a letter to the microblogging site that the company disclosed in a filing Tuesday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk, who has been raising concerns over the bots on Twitter, has this time perplexed his followers as he pitched the idea of launching another application that he named "everything app". 

“Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app," tweeted the billionaire, but did not clarify what he means or what was his intention behind the cryptic social media post.

Twitter-Elon Musk controversy

The latest development came on Tuesday after several twists and turns since the very first day when Musk proposed his intention to buy 100 per cent stake in Twitter. Initially, it was believed that the deal involving the world’s richest man and one of the most influential social media platforms was settled impassively. However, much of the drama has played out on Twitter itself, with Musk raising questions about the fake accounts. He often took to Twitter to lament his decision to acquire the platform.

In June 2021, Twitter reportedly agreed to share its full information on spam "bots accounts" -- automated accounts that typically promote scams and misinformation. Confronted with the data Musk walked away from the deal. As per Twitter, it has around 229 million accounts, of which nearly 5 per cent are fake or bots. But he had disputed that 20 per cent or more are bogus, without contending any evidence. 

What is fake account and why has it been problematic for years?

The tribulation of fake accounts is well-known to Twitter and its investors. These accounts are usually created to amplify messages and spread misinformation. Since the onset of the social media giant, it has been problematic for both Twitter and advertisers. Advertisers usually rely on the number of users provided by social media platforms to determine the influence of their advertisements. If the client pays for an advertisement, they seek genuine users on the platform in order to accomplish the motive of promoting products or services on the social media giants. If the accounts are not genuine, it may be possible that the advertiser achieves its goal in terms of ad viewership but it would not reflect the same in the sale of the product. 

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