Explainer-in-brief: Is Twitter really a dead man walking?
When Elon Musk bought Twitter, many worried for the consequences on vulnerable users or those more likely to suffer abuse online, as Musk portrayed himself as a freedom of speech absolutist. But now that he’s taken ownership, the problem might be simpler: it’s not clear whether he has the acumen to keep the ship afloat.
Musk simply doesn’t know how a complex social media platform like Twitter works. He first decided that people would have to pay for the “blue thick” – the symbol of verification – under a new “Twitter blue” subscription. This predictably caused countless fake “verified” accounts to mushroom – including one impersonating Jesus Christ.
He then started experimenting with “gray thicks” – a new symbol for “official” accounts – creating much confusion.
Later, it emerged that key engineers and infrastructure designers had resigned en masse, leaving a question mark on the effective future of the platform – with some of them saying it is likely to break down.