I’ve had a Twitter account for years but only started to interact with it two years ago. That’s when I began to understand the adoration, obsession, and addictive rabbit hole of Twitter.
Twitter is unlike any other app. It’s another world allowing thoughts and theories to be shared willingly and globally. It’s famously known as the platform for people to debate, joke, protest, and expose the light and the dark side of the human mind. It’s an app where people use the power of words to express themselves regardless of location, education, or external success.
Twitter was one of the first platforms to be embraced in the media as a source, using tweets in various ways, from punchline jokes (#MeanTweets with Jimmy Kimmel) to official statements by elected officials.
And in my opinion, it’s the reason why the media is highly focused on Twitter today because Twitter is changing.
While scrolling through the app, I started seeing users posting violation warnings they received on certain tweets. It started out small and then suddenly everyone was getting them. My feed was filled with violation posts and remarks on why they received them.
While examining the violations displayed, they all seemed to have one thing in common — the tweets were about Elon Musk.
When Musk purchased Twitter in April of 2022 (a 44 billion dollar deal), the media had speculations as to whether this would have a positive or negative impact on Twitter’s future. Since then, we’re starting to see this popular platform making major and questionable moves in front of the public eye.
Numerous Twitter employees were let go including long-time lawyer and former FBI counsel James Baker who was dismissed for “suppression” of information. Previous Twitter employees continue to react in protest about the way they were terminated, including displaying public statements on buildings calling Elon “racist, narcissistic, and a bully” among other things.
Although it’s only been eight months, Musk’s actions have caused a great divide among users.
Twitter users with the blue check mark displayed after its new terms (ex. an increase of $8/month) have been viewed as users who acknowledge and are complacent with not just the latest policies, but Musk’s actions. Waves of users have decided to leave Twitter in protest making public announcements or “final tweets” stating the end of the platform and how they’ll no longer participate in something that promotes harmful actions and rhetoric.
At a glance, this all might seem very extreme and somewhat foolish (on both sides).
For the media to make all this commotion over an app might seem trivial or even silly. While it may seem like a restructuring of a social media platform on the surface, the message and hysteria go deeper than that.
The current shift and divide on Twitter reminds me of the moment Trump started running for office in 2016. Along his campaign, twitter users, television, and social media displayed a vast divide in the country. When Trump became president in 2017, the United States as a whole was in a great divide causing protests that resulted in violent actions across the country.
The result of Trump’s presidency has shifted the minds of the American public. Not only did he win the vote without having a political background, but he was (and still is) a man of great wealth. He was also an active Twitter user and used it daily during his campaign and presidency before he was removed.
His rhetoric displayed in his tweets caused a huge divide within the country. In the case of Twitter, Elon’s presence has made the platform hostile and sparked a divide between users on a global scale.
With a great divide comes chaos, caused by individuals with power in ways we are not fully exposed to.
This kind of power given to the hands of people whose motives are questionable is the reason why the media is hyper focused on Twitters future. When people with enormous amounts of money can control and redirect the law to their benefit — there in lies the fear.
The fear that our country and government are not controlled by political leaders who have our best interest at heart regardless of how minuscule they appear, but by billionaires who create 1% of the population and have financial power to overtake our democracy.
As the tides continue to turn and the world continues to see what the future holds for Twitter, our interest to whether Musk’s takeover and revamp is for long-term success or the absolute end is growing. Will the 1% continue to try and takeover the world or will the people rise up and remind those people in power who they truly serve? Only time will tell.
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Til next time,
Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash