Updated April 9th, 2022 at 20:29 IST
'Is Twitter dying?' asks Elon Musk, cites inactivity of top 10 accounts on platform
Reacting to a post on the top 10 accounts on Twitter, Elon Musk pointed out how most of the users on the list tweeted rarely and posted very little content.
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Days after becoming the largest shareholder of Twitter, tech-billionaire Elon Musk left everyone stunned after he asked users whether the micro-blogging platform was in fact 'dying'. Reacting to a post on the top 10 accounts on Twitter, Musk pointed out how most of the users on the list tweeted rarely and posted very little content.
The SpaceX CEO cited American pop artists Taylor Swift and Justin Beiber who occupied the sixth and second places on the list as examples. "For example, @taylorswift13 hasn’t posted anything in 3 months...," he mentioned. "And @justinbieber only posted once this entire year."
Most of these “top” accounts tweet rarely and post very little content.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
Is Twitter dying? https://t.co/lj9rRXfDHE
Netizens React
While several netizens agreed that celebrities were moving to other platforms to propel their brand, others countered Elon Musk's theory asserting that platforms did not 'live or die' based on the activeness of influencers, which were smaller in number compared to the millions of other users active on Twitter.
A lot of those people used it while they needed it and moved on. Many people view Twitter as a necessary evil. We need an entirely new ecosystem more than fixing a few features.
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport)
People use twitter for different reasons. Most influencers use the platform as a tool to propel their brand or whatever they have going on. They aren't really using twitter. Twitter isn't dying, big celebs that have nothing going on don't need to use it as often anymore. 🤖
— xQc (@xQc)
Platforms don't live and die from the small amount of "top" accounts. You know this, man. There's millions of people across thousands of verticals providing incredible content day in, day out.
— Casey Rain (aka S-Endz) (@CaseyRain)
No, just lesser-known people with more talent are tweeting.
— VirtualAstro (@VirtualAstro)
The Twitter world isn't just about celebrities, it's about ordinary people sharing their lives and interests.
That's why there are so many using it.
Musk, Twitter isn’t dying because a handful of humans are less engaged.
— Nick (@nickjsheriff)
A product and service dies when that offering has unhealthy metrics objectively.
Engagement is just 1 of many to account for.
Additionally the TAM is bigger than Justin Bieber & Taylor Swift. https://t.co/NT4uVCecd7
Musk becomes largest shareholder in Twitter, appointed to company board
On April 4, Elon Musk bought the majority stake in Twitter, making him the largest shareholder in the company. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission 13G filing released on Monday, the billionaire owns 7,34,86,938 shares, which makes it 9.2% of Twitter's total stake and is worth a whopping $2.9 billion. Shortly after, he was announced as the newest Twitter board member by Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.
Ever since he became the biggest shareholder in the company, Musk has been hinting toward possible changes on the platform, which he has been an avid critic of, conducting polls to analyse public consensus. Earlier, he shared a Twitter post urging his followers to vote if they wanted an 'edit button' on Twitter. Unsurprisingly, a vast majority of voters were overwhelmingly in favour of the feature.
Do you want an edit button?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
The Tesla CEO has often remained uncensored with his views on the social media platform and subsequently faced much backlash. In some instances, Musk was also forced to pull down his scandalous tweets. About a week ago, he launched a poll questioning company's fairness in "free speech principles". He asked, "Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?" Netizens are hoping that his position in the company paves the way to end political censorship on the platform.
Image: AP/Shutterstock
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Published April 9th, 2022 at 20:29 IST