Musk's first days at the helm of Twitter raise concerns over direction of the platform
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- When he purchased Twitter, Elon Musk had more than 112 million followers, making him one of the loudest voices on social media platform. But what happens when the guy who preaches from the town square, suddenly owns the town square?
After just a few days at the helm of Twitter, Musk has raised concerns about his intentions, from both inside and outside of the company. One man who claimed to be a fired employee posted a tearful tweet about being grateful to be part of the team that banned Donald Trump from the platform.
It was a tweet by Musk himself, giving credence to a bizarre right-wing conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi, that has people wondering if he understands the gravity of his new position.
"I'm very concerned, especially about the tone of his most recent tweets--that he's still sort of jokey and snarky, even about something as serious as the severe wounding of a private citizen in his own home," said Irina Raicu, Director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center at Santa Clara University. "Certainly, doesn't seem like the actions of someone who has come to grips with his new role at Twitter."
Raicu said she worries that Musk hasn't considered the difference between using a social media platform and owning one.
"It seems like he hasn't made the transition in his own mind, from heavy Twitter user to somebody who is really now responsible for the content moderation policies and everything that happens or doesn't happen on the platform," she said.
Musk has described Twitter as a kind of national town square, and often stresses the importance of freedom of speech. That has some worried that, by removing content restrictions, it could devolve into a platform for dangerous misinformation. On the sidewalk outside Twitter headquarters, just as on the platform itself, opinions varied widely.
"People take their self-esteem from how people react to what they post and can be easily influenced into doing less than legal things," said James Maloney.
"It is an open forum," said Sarah Satoshi. "It is what it is, and I would not want to see any social media platform become extremely, politically, one-sided."
"I have no reason to trust Elon Musk," said another woman, who didn't want to give her real name. "He's an unpredictable person and I don't understand why he wants Twitter. So, I guess we'll find out."
Musk, like a lot of tech entrepreneurs, is not afraid of a disruption to the system. On the sidewalk, tech engineer Phillip Morgan shared that feeling and said he's fascinated by what Musk's next move will be.
"I find the dude interesting. I know he's quite controversial when it comes to workplace practices," said Morgan. "But as far as I'm concerned, it's a shake-up. I'm curious, like, how's it gonna turn out? I like shake-ups. Sounds fun," he said, laughing.
Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter and business observers say, if national advertisers start pulling out of the platform, that could also influence the direction of the company.
For those who are fearful of Musk's influence, Raicu offered this: the world has changed since the days of a few powerful media companies. Now, people have a lot of choices and if Twitter turns too many people off, it could be headed for a financial disruption of its own.
"It's going to be interesting to see how Twitter comes out of all of this," said Raicu. "Whether it loses its most avid users and whether it turns into something very different than what it's been...and not for the better."