Last week, the “Elon Musk era” began for Twitter, and now just a few days later there are already many important new features introduced or in the process of being introduced.
The one that has caused the most discussion is the almost doubling of the cost of Twitter Blue.
Elon Musk increases the cost of Twitter Blue
In fact, the subscription will be bumped from $5 to $8 per month, and will provide the “blue check mark,” which is the verified profile. Rumors had initially circulated that the cost would be quadrupled, but then it was Musk himself who confirmed that it will be raised to $8.
Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.
Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
It is worth noting that Blue is not the only way to get profile verification, although it is the most widely used because anyone who owns this subscription can request it. For everyone else, it will still be necessary to follow the usual rigmarole that actually prevents a great many account owners from obtaining verification because of the very narrow requirements.
Currently Blue is not yet available worldwide, but it is possible that it will be expanded soon.
The policies for creators
But the most important new feature among those already announced is probably the remuneration of creators.
This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
Indeed, the success of social networks depends largely on the ability of content creators to engage users and keep them on the platform.
Currently, few social networks pay creators in any way, as YouTube does for example, and in particular it is not surprising that many over the past few years have fled Twitter for refuge on platforms where it was easier to earn money.
Incidentally, just yesterday Facebook also introduced a new way of paying creators. So there seems to be a real clash going on between the two most popular text-based social networks in the world to grab the best creators.
The central focus of Elon Musk’s whole plan for Twitter is related to an eventual strong increase in revenue. This can only be achieved with a strong increase in the number of real active users, and the amount of time they will spend on the platform.
In such a scenario, it is crucial for Twitter to grab the best creators on the market, which is why it will be forced to pay in a way that will be more attractive to them.
What’s more, it is also possible to imagine that the remuneration could take place in cryptocurrencies, for example in Dogecoin.
Elon Musk introduces cryptocurrencies on Twitter
Indeed, yesterday the price of DOGE broke above $0.15 for the first time since the May crash, returning to the levels of 11 January. Despite later falling back below $0.14, and while still 81% below the May 2021 highs, it has gained nearly 120% in the past seven days.
Musk also wrote yesterday that it is essential that creators make a living from their business, hinting that the goal is not to pay them little, but to allow them to get a full salary out of their content production business for Twitter.
Absolutely essential. Creators need to make a living!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
It is probably on this single point that the most important game is being played not only for the future of Twitter, but also for that of the entire social media industry.
An important detail about the role that cryptocurrencies could play within the new Twitter was given by Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng CZ Zhao.
Indeed, after investing $500 million in the Twitter acquisition, Binance intends to lend a hand in developing crypto services within this social network.
Yesterday CZ held an AMA session, on Twitter of course, during which he shared some glimpses of how cryptocurrencies might be integrated into Twitter.
He also said that he believes that the social network should not only support DOGE and BNB, but also other cryptocurrencies, and that choosing a specific cryptocurrency would not be the best decision
While it is only natural that Binance would propose that Twitter should integrate multiple cryptocurrencies that are perhaps interchangeable with each other, thereby selling them the exchange service, on the other hand, it would actually make little sense for a social such as Twitter to focus everything on a single cryptocurrency.
Indeed, there are many crypto communities on Twitter, and it would not make sense to actually promote only one.
For example, Binance’s profile has nearly 10 million followers and Dogecoin 3.5 million, but Ethereum has nearly 3 million and Cardano nearly 1.5 million.
In contrast, the co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey previously seemed to be intent on integrating only Bitcoin, which would have disappointed a great many users.
Jack Dorsey and the current relationship with Twitter
Incidentally, it appears from some documents recently filed with the SEC that Dorsey himself still owns a small portion of shares in the company.
This is a small minority stake with which he cannot in any way oppose the decisions of the new owner. In fact, Elon Musk now owns the vast majority of Twitter’s shares, so much so that he has become its de facto sole chief.
Indeed, in order to move forward so quickly on such important decisions, he decided to completely remove every possible obstacle.
In other words, he first fired the entire group of previous directors, and then he also dissolved the board of directors.
After all, the board of directors of a company represents the shareholders who own the company, and now the only real owner is him.
He is already acting as CEO of the company, so much so that he is turning it inside out.
Although it is plausible that sooner or later he will begin to delegate, in this turbulent early stage of real revolution he wants to be able to make all the important decisions without slowing down and without challenge. For now, it seems that this strategy is getting the desired results, although it will presumably take months before it becomes clear whether or not it has really succeeded.
The government
For example, it appears that the US government is suspicious about this.
The Washington Post reports that some White House officials are considering whether they have the authority to review the deal between Elon Musk and Twitter.
The fear is that the big foreign investors who co-financed the acquisition could thereby gain access to confidential information about its users, and the US does not like that.
That’s why Treasury Department officials have begun examining regulations to try to see if they have any authority to launch an investigation into the recent Twitter purchase.
Most scary are some investors from Saudi Arabia, and a subsidiary of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, as well as Binance itself. The latter, in fact, was originally founded in China, where among other things it also has major ties to Tesla, Elon Musk’s other company.
Even though Binance has no longer been Chinese for some time (CZ for example is a Canadian citizen), and Tesla is an American company, the possible ties to China are definitely delicate and potentially critical.
Therefore, the overall scenario is definitely complex, very dynamic, and full of novelties and problems. However, Elon Musk is used to operating in similar contexts.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2022/11/02/elon-musk-revolutionizes-twitter-record-time/