Elon Musk appeared to have taken control of Twitter on Thursday, after months of legal wrangling over the billionaire’s $44bn bid to take over the social media site.
People familiar with the matter said Musk completed the deal on Thursday afternoon, and terminated several top executives at the company, including the chief executive, Parag Agrawal.
Musk has said he bought the platform not to make money but to “help humanity”. The specifics of his plan remain unclear, but he has signaled that they could involve a relaxation of rules on acceptable speech – and many observers fear “helping humanity” could involve reinstating Donald Trump.
And Twitter, being Twitter, had plenty to say on the topic.
As the dust began to settle, users were weighing their options for the future, with some suggesting they would remain on the site – “for now”.
I'm still here. For now.
— Randi Mayem Singer (@rmayemsinger) October 28, 2022
Many suggested a cautious approach to continued tweeting, with full use of Twitter’s tools for moderating one’s own feed:
No idea what the future holds for this site, BUT: I can say that from my very narrow perch, blocking, muting, unfollowing, limiting whose replies you see, all those tools are basically essential to making it a pleasant place and you should use them ruthlessly!
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) October 28, 2022
I encourage you not to leave Twitter, but rather to block freely and make good use of tools that enable you to limit replies and your audience.
— Leah McElrath 🏳️🌈 (@leahmcelrath) October 27, 2022
However, it’s always a good idea to have a second or third platform, and I’m exploring those options right now myself.
Some vowed to quit:
Bouncing at Midnight. Not gonna support that person in anyway.
— Bob (@ironbob73) October 28, 2022
I vote for chaos i.e. we all start posting on Instagram like it’s twitter.
— Dr. Samantha Montano (@SamLMontano) October 28, 2022
Some wondered about a replacement service:
So, #journalismtwitter: what platform are we off to next?
— Brian Krans ☀️ (@citizenkrans) October 28, 2022
Others looked at the wider picture, and what the takeover means for society:
We are hurtling in the wrong direction on climate.
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) October 28, 2022
Though this can be a powerful organizing space, it is a more powerful time wasting space.
A more powerful space for depressing, demoralizing + dividing us.
Less Twitter might mean more planet.
https://t.co/rGAUSRwI5M
The real lesson is one we know but never seem to apply: if it can be bought by a billionaire it’s probably not doing much societal good to begin with.
— Tressie McMillan Cottom (@tressiemcphd) October 27, 2022
And there was, of course, speculation about Trump’s return:
Trump gonna be tweeting by the AM lol https://t.co/vV1qnGdINf
— Ashley Reese (@offbeatorbit) October 28, 2022
Meanwhile, on the right, there was celebration, including from the Texas congressman Dan Crenshaw, who seemed impressed that Musk, who is literally the platform’s boss, was behaving accordingly:
RT if you’re going to start using Twitter more now that @elonmusk just took over, walked into HQ like a boss, and fired the CEO.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) October 28, 2022
Some hoped Musk would finally reveal the true identities of chunks of code:
Expose the algorithms, @elonmusk ALL of them!!!
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) October 28, 2022
And other downtrodden people whose voices are never heard, such as the US senator Marsha Blackburn, appeared to have high hopes for Musk’s content moderation policies:
Elon Musk has indicated he will oppose Big Tech censorship and support free speech.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) October 28, 2022
That’s something all freedom-loving people can get behind.
And of course, plenty of people used the platform for its most noble purpose – jokes:
Welcome to 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗧𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥
— Ben Rosen (@ben_rosen) October 28, 2022
When you receive 𝟰𝟮𝟬 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗦 you will earn 𝟭 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗞 𝗕𝗨𝗖𝗞. When you earn 𝟲𝟵 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗞 𝗕𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗦 you can say 𝗔 𝗦𝗟𝗨𝗥
All your tweets are belong to Musk
— Peter Mulholland (@PeterMu22490448) October 28, 2022
There is no more apt end to today than the vapor trail from a SpaceX launch lighting up the Southern California sky. pic.twitter.com/OehbIQtgaq
— Ethan Kaplan (@ethank) October 28, 2022
In summary:
@elonmusk is the proud new father of a blue baby bird. Let’s hope it survives.
— Glen (@pinkfluffyturt1) October 28, 2022
