Image Source: Twitter, Twitter, https://twitter.com/twitter.
Why Does Elon Musk Want To Buy Twitter?
This question is hard to answer because we don't know exactly what Musk is thinking. There are a few possible reasons as to why Musk may want to purchase Twitter; we'll go through three of them here. As most of us know, Twitter is full of "bots" - accounts that are not managed by a human, thus, they make changes like commenting on posts, liking posts, spamming users with messages, and other things like creating a false marketing environment (we'll talk more about this later on in the article). Musk reportedly stated that he plans to improve Twitter by ridding it of such bots. Furthermore, he stated that he desires to make Twitter a "platform for free speech around the globe". He also emphasized the importance of a functioning democracy.Recently, Twitter and other social media companies have come under the spotlight due to their positions on free speech. This issue peaked when Twitter decided to permanently remove Former President Donald Trump from its platform. If Musk's deal goes through, Twitter may see a decrease in censorship. Finally, the most obvious reason why Musk may want to purchase Twitter: wealth. With approximately 229 million daily users globally (as of April 2022), Twitter is one of the most popular social media applications. As the CEO of Twitter, Elon Musk would be able to increase his wealth and stay the richest person in the world. While all of these reasons are possible, no one (except for Musk himself) knows what / who exactly influenced his decision.
What Does This Mean For Twitter And Its Users?
Firstly, Musk plans on making Twitter a private company, meaning that the company's shares will no longer be publicly available as they are now. If you've invested in Twitter, don't worry! You most likely will not lose your money, in fact, you'll probably still gain a profit as once the company goes private. This information may change; I will update this page as things change. As for the users, not much will change. Musk, so far, hasn't said anything about changing anything that would drastically impact its users. What will change, however, is the amount of Twitter accounts. As I mentioned previously, bots make up a large portion of the accounts on Twitter. Musk states that he wants to rid the platform of such bots. But, why? There's a simple explanation for this: when users / agencies puts up adds on Twitter, they get paid based on how many accounts view that add. If bots view adds, the view-count becomes misleading, thus, negatively impacting the advertiser. This creates a false marketing environment. Furthermore, the amount of censorship on the platform will decline. It's likely that regulations on speech will be dismantled and Former President Donald Trump may be allowed to join Twitter again, however, to do so, is his decision. Overall, if you're a regular Twitter user, not much should change for you.
Will The Deal Go Through?
Short answer: probably not. Here's the long answer: Musk originally sought to acquire the company for $44 billion - a deal that was accepted by the board of directors. So, what changed? Accordingly to Musk, Twitter failed to provide him with information regarding the number of bot accounts on Twitter and other crucial pieces that would shape the deal. Because of this, Musk announced that he no longer plans to buy the company. What makes this even more complicated is that Musk agreed to pay $54.20 per share to all of Twitter's shareholders - many of whom are now disappointed because he backed out of the deal. Due to this, Twitter announced that it plans on suing Musk. The outcome of this case is uncertain: Musk may just walk away without making any payments to Twitter, pay $1 billion to Twitter, or he may even be forced to go through with the original deal of purchasing Twitter. No matter how this shapes up, it won't impact an everyday Twitter user.
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