Musk's First Days at the Helm of Twitter Raise Concerns Over Direction of the Platform
It was a tweet by Musk himself, giving credence to a bizarre right-wing conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi, that has people wondering if he understands the gravity of his new position.
"I'm very concerned, especially about the tone of his most recent tweets--that he's still sort of jokey and snarky, even about something as serious as the severe wounding of a private citizen in his own home," said Irina Raicu, Director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center at Santa Clara University. "Certainly, doesn't seem like the actions of someone who has come to grips with his new role at Twitter."
Raicu said she worries that Musk hasn't considered the difference between using a social media platform and owning one.
"It seems like he hasn't made the transition in his own mind, from heavy Twitter user to somebody who is really now responsible for the content moderation policies and everything that happens or doesn't happen on the platform," she said.
For those who are fearful of Musk's influence, Raicu offered this: the world has changed since the days of a few powerful media companies. Now, people have a lot of choices and if Twitter turns too many people off, it could be headed for a financial disruption of its own.
"It's going to be interesting to see how Twitter comes out of all of this," said Raicu. "Whether it loses its most avid users and whether it turns into something very different than what it's been...and not for the better."
Irina Raicu, director of internet ethics, quoted by KPIX-5.