A return of the Donald?
Donald Trump was permanently excluded from Twitter last January.
The former president has started his own Twitter rival, Truth Social, though it hasn’t gone exactly to plan. According to one influential US gossip site, Trump’s new enterprise has turned into something of s**t show following the departures of key personnel and operational difficulties.
Truth Social is thought to have around 500,000 active users compared with the 217mln on Twitter. So, will the Donald return to the platform he used with ruthless efficiency during his presidency? According to Fox News, he won’t be making a Twitter comeback.
Celebrity exodus?
So far, and it is early days, the glitterati appears to be in wait-and-see mode after the Twitter board accepted Musk's bid. We’ve seen just one celeb strop off in a huff at Musk’s prospective ownership of the platform.
And when I say celeb, that might be stretching it a bit. For the stropee is Jameela Jamil. Across here she’s known as a former Channel 4 youth presenter. In the States, she was part of the cast of the US TV series The Good Place.
“I fear this free speech bid is going to help this hell platform reach its final form of totally lawless hate,” the actress said. Meh. Musk will only worry if the Blanchetts, Clooneys and DiCaprios of the world start making similar noises.
Changes at the top?
Twitter has widely been criticised for not being innovative enough. Founder and chief executive, Jack Dorsey, exited last November after a period of protracted pressure over the network’s lack of new products and services. His successor, former chief technology officer, Parag Agrawal, doesn’t appear to have made a discernable difference, though to be fair he hasn’t been in the post long enough to make a dent. Still, Musk isn’t a man known for his patience.
Innovation
On Monday, Musk said he planned to 'enhance the product with new features and 'make the algorithms open source to increase trust'.
The focus will be on defeating the spam bots rife across the network, while the other ambitions seem a little hazy at this stage. Musk said: “Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
An edit button?
Tweet in haste, repent at leisure. Musk has mooted a function that would allow users to erase that ill-judged, poorly timed comment that, in a moment of cool and clear reflection, one might not have made.
However, it would be available for just 60 seconds after the Tweet, and only to those with a premium subscription. Perhaps he will also consider developing a time machine that allows users to go back and undo the damage that got them cancelled.