It'll be interesting. It isn't just complaints from advertisers, although that's a major component given how Twitter is pretty much wholly reliant on that revenue stream, it's also Twitter's obligation to conform with various international laws. One of Twitter's biggest current legal headaches is the EU's brand spanking new Digital Services Act. And Twitter has already been warned (along with the rest of social media) that if it fails to get its house in order, it will face stricter government regulation. He can't turn Twitter into a free-for-all even if he really wants to.
Of course, he's also trying to make Twitter less reliant on advertising by expanding the freemium model (as did the previous owners. As has most of the internet). But he gives the impression of having done no market research. He's come up with his $8 to pay for a blue tick scheme seemingly on the hoof, faced an enormous backlash from users (who were already suspicious of him as a character), and started haranguing and insulting users like a malfunctioning carnival barker.
Could he destroy it? Unlikely, but certainly not impossible. Digital services fail very slowly at first and then -- bam! -- very suddenly as users terminally lose trust. Twitter was already in difficulty. Engagement was down massively. Sign-up rates have fallen. It has never grown anywhere near the size of its competitors. He's ma-hoos-ively overpaid for a comparative minnow in the social media world and doesn't, at the moment, appear to have a plan aside from the standard cut costs, try to get more users to pay for the service. And I suspect the previous owners weren't so terrible at business that they hadn't thought of these very basic measures.
So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see how things go. Early signs don't seem to be too startling though. Indeed, it looks a lot like panic.
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