Elon Musk buys Twitter (and this is what it means to you)
The eccentric billionaire Elon Musk has bought the social media platform Twitter. According to the CEO of, among others, Tesla and Paypal, a lot is going to change. In this article you can read all about Musk’s ideas and about the future of Twitter.
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Musk buys Twitter for $44 billion
Elon Musk, the man behind thriving companies Tesla, SpaceX and Paypal has bought the social media platform Twitter. Why? He is initially a major user of ‘the public square of the Internet’ and believes that free speech should return† However, not everyone agrees.
For example, Human Rights Organizations anxious that online hate and bullying is becoming an even bigger problem on Twitter. There are also fears that Donald Trump, who has now been removed from the platform for more than a year, will get his account back. However, this is not the only thing that could change in the future.
This is going to change for Twitter (and affiliated apps)
Elon Musk has already thrown several ideas into the world after the takeover, which was unanimously approved by the 11-member board of Twitter. First, Musk would like to rid Twitter of all ‘spam bots’. This would mean that the platform will become ‘cleaner’, but also that apps that automatically post news items for you may no longer work.
We know Elon Musk from a clear and uniform design. Functionality always trumps aesthetics at Musk. Tesla cars all look pretty much the same. This could mean that apps that change the interface of Twitter may be faced with a closed (software) door.
Musk: ‘Free speech is the rock of a working democracy’
In any case, we will see more of the source code of Twitter, if it is up to Musk. He wants the technology and code behind the platform via GitHub (an online platform for software development). open source to make. This is better for consumer confidence in the app. So everyone gets access to the source code and can copy it, make it their own and build apps around it. According to Musk, we will also be able to easily view all data collected about us.
Musk has wild and controversial plans. He is also a big supporter of the addition of editing a Tweet. The platform was already experimenting with this before the takeover. This button, as well as a ‘dislike’ option, should make Twitter the platform for free speech again; everyone can say what they want and everyone can think what they want. According to Musk, Twitter is not a company, but a public good.
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