Elon Musk asked users on Twitter a few days ago if he should resign from running the platform. He added that the poll results would be binding. It turned out to be 57.5 percent. More than 17.5 million voters want him to step down.
Should I step down as president of Twitter? I will stick to the results of this survey.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
Musk after the vote ends He wrote that he would quit as soon as he found “someone stupid enough to take the job.”. The billionaire has stated that if that happens, he will take over the software and server teams himself.
This isn’t Musk’s first unconventional behavior, to put it mildly. And recently, the new owner of Twitter made an offer to subscribe to the service, then withdrew it, and soon announced its implementation again. As the billionaire announced Forgive suspended accountsit has been restored Owned by former US President Donald Trump. Musk immediately after he took over Twitter Lay off most of the staffand then dismiss his critics.
Previously, one of the richest people in the world became famous. Announcing the purchase of Manchester United Football Club. It was later revealed that he was joking. He also showed strange behavior on the Twitter takeover: at one point, the billionaire announced that he was abandoning the deal (for which A lawsuit was filed by the board of directors).
Currently, Musk is best known for his tweets, although in the past there has been more talk of Tesla’s self-driving electric cars, projects related to artificial intelligence, or his plans to conquer Mars. What happened?
Cross thin line
– I’ve been saying this for years, because for a long time I’ve been criticizing and drawing attention to Musk’s actions Elon Musk’s worst enemy is Elon Musk – says Artur Korassinski, blogger, entrepreneur and market observer of new technologies. – An extreme liberal with huge complexes, who does not respect women, and even deliberately builds a “macho” culture in his companies, which is confirmed by people who run away from there. The man whose state has enabled and financed the survival of his companies at critical moments—NASA reached out to SpaceX, Tesla secured subsidies and loans from several states—is using the situation to blackmail governments (as in the case of access to Starlink)—is Lists.
A year or two ago, he was an internet darling — able to mock anyone with his Twitter profile. Now, when Musk lied to many people about protecting free speech on a purchased social networking site, when he repeats the Russian narrative against Ukraine, supports people who harm democracy (replayed accounts by Trump and neo-Nazis), undermines the achievements of science by attacking Anthony Fauci (Chief Medical Advisor to the President of USA) and vaccinations, you become a laughing stock and an example that being a billionaire does not authorize you to do anything – Especially to run a company – thought Korasinski.
According to the expert, Musk’s image as a joker and mocker was “shattered at his request.” – The decisions he takes (blocking journalists, banning posting links to other social media sites, etc.) are indicative of crossing a fine line. I am waiting for a conflict with European regulations and the need to adapt Twitter to EU regulations. I’m awaiting reactions from shareholders of Tesla — a publicly-listed company, which is down 55 percent in the past year, in part because Musk is playing his new game rather than producing cars — says Koracinski.
As if he runs Zdzitex
Sylwia Zubkowska, editor-in-chief of Spider’s Web +, economic and technology journalist for “Gazeta Wyborcza”, “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna” and “Przekrój”, claims that Musk’s problem is deeper. – Of course, you can be a billionaire investing in technology companies and come up with another investment that is fundamentally different from Tesla or SpaceX, because they are manufacturing companies, and Twitter is a digital platform that may generate revenue from advertising. It’s a different business model, which can be challenging even with extensive stock exchange experience. But With Musk, the entire investment in Twitter was heavily surrounded by emotions and his own view of the world, not just technological The journalist points out.
Recently published texts were written about what draws the billionaire, Czubkowska recalls. – This is, among other things, the concept of a sense of redemption, the belief that there is collateral damage, collateral damage, but in the long-term vision of the future of humanity, concern for its safety, that it will be a positive game of the sum. It is somewhat similar to his plan to conquer Mars – says the journalist. Musk is missing one thing, he adds.
– One is the vision and the other is the practice of implementation. And that’s just bad. This is an example of a manager who can’t handle the product he’s managing. What he does on Twitter, regardless of whether his actions will have positive long-term effects for the company, knowing – but not wanting to take it upon himself – that he is running a company that has a very large impact on political and social life, or the safety of people. He doesn’t follow the rules, he treats them like a game. And this will do a survey, and this will offer a twenty dollar blue stamp fee, but in a moment Stephen King will negotiate a reduction to eight dollars, and this will prevent linking to other sites, and we really don’t know why. You can see he’s tired of all of this and it’s hurting the image – for him and for Twitter – Czubkowska confirms.
According to Spider’s Web + editor, the only merit of Musk’s takeover of Twitter is “showing just how weak the content moderation mechanisms are, and the responsibility for them.” – Is anyone surprised that Trump’s image and Twitter ban were manually controlled? Nor is it surprising that similar things happened under Musk, but he was supposed to address the platform by introducing the tyranny of free speech. The rules must be changed. And he himself, once squeezing services, now everything depends on Musk’s whim, Czubkowska believes.
It’s dangerous for Musk not to feel more responsible, especially in a year of war in Ukraine, rampant misinformation, and Xi Jinping’s increasingly powerful power in China. There are examples all the time: the banning of people posting protests against China’s Zero Covid policy, the disappearance of content and accounts of people Putin has targeted. Musk alone Pro-Russian tweets, even complaining that investing in Starlinek is unprofitable. And SpaceX did not provide these devices to Ukraine for free, but rather they were donated by individual countries. And Poland, Czybkowska asserts, bought half of those who went to Ukraine. He adds that even though Musk’s company incurred $80 million in expenses, the Ukrainian side still paid for using Starlink, albeit at a lower price. – Then there’s the massive marketing campaign. Everywhere Elon Musk donated equipment. He says he didn’t donate anything, it’s not an expense, it’s an investment with a high rate of return.
The journalist directly says: – The things that Musk tweets are very ill-considered, as if he ran Zdzitex, hired several people like Janusz. You need to be sensitive and attentive in these times, and here we have a new Twitter owner pushing some weird content. As a result, it’s hard to take him seriously. And respect it,” he adds.
Dangerous combination
Communication expert Ursula Podraza In a recent interview with Wirtualnemedia.pl She admitted that she witnessed the “gradual erosion of the image” of the billionaire. – It is not easy to predict the direction in which Elon Musk’s public image will develop. The reason is the billionaire’s unpredictability, the problem of finding logical premises for his next steps. Not a week goes by that the Twitter community, and the media behind it, do not comment on Musk’s statements and decisions, which are still characteristic of inconsistency, and the result is chaos in the companies he runs, as Podraza believes.
– The head of Twitter, who has repeatedly declared himself a supporter of free speech, bans accounts that use defamation [gromadzenie i wykorzystywanie zebranych w internecie danych dotyczących innych osób – red.]For their suspension after harsh criticism. He submits himself to users’ judgment, asks if he should resign, and then ignores the opinion of millions of voters. He makes controversial plans to end the war in Ukraine, and a few weeks later he delivers another batch of Starlinks to the government in Kyiv, experts list. – His irrational behavior affects not only the state of Twitter (advertisers quit, influx of users), but also Tesla, which has a dizzying drop in the stock market, and people who are ready to buy cars of this brand cancel their orders, – notes Podraza.
– Musk’s anarchic actions and controversial opinions (such as the attack on Dr. Anthony Fauci) are destroying his credibility and trust in the brands he endorses. However, his wealth and role in business and communications still provide him with significant influence over the economy, technologies, and the directions of public debate.. A person with such a global attitude could not be underestimated. His status, combined with unpredictability, creates a dangerous combination, Podraza concludes.
In the second quarter of this year, Twitter revenue decreased by 1%. to $1.18 billion, despite a 16.6 percent increase in the number of platform users. to 237.8 million. The platform’s costs jumped 31% year-over-year, dropping its net income from a profit of $66 million to a loss of $270 million. There will be no further data because Elon Musk deleted Twitter from the exchange.
