Twitter — Elon Musk’s newest escapade

Last October, multi-billionaire Elon Musk purchased Twitter for nearly $ 44 billion. After a lengthy publicized acquisition spanning around seven months, Musk called his position as Twitter’s majority stockholder “a recipe for misery.” 

In recent years, the SpaceX and Tesla founder has come under fire for his political stances and friendships with figures like Kanye West. Employees have also accused Musk of sexual misconduct. A heavily criticized figure like Elon Musk buying a social media platform sent its users into a state of tension online. 

Twitter has a massive cultural and political significance, with movements such as Black Lives Matter and #MeToo gaining traction on the platform, solidifying its status as a hub for societal discussion. Thus, the media is captivated by Musk’s mishandling of organizational issues. 

One of Musk’s most controversial management decisions has been the treatment of Twitter’s workers: mass layoffs, forcing overworked employees to sleep in their offices, and discriminating against employees. This has mounted to various discrimination lawsuits and is consistent throughout Musk’s other organizations, where workers have reported dangerous working conditions and ongoing discrimination. 

In a November poll by Statista Research Department, 42% of participants have at least somewhat favorable views towards Musk as a person, while 41% selected somewhat to very unfavorable views (18% selected “don’t know”). There is a relatively even split between those who approve of Musk and his practices and those who do not. This criticism by Twitter’s user base has resulted in an announcement by Musk that he plans to step down as Twitter’s CEO. 

Musk has also come under fire for his intentions to disband Twitter’s COVID misinformation policies.  

Many American billionaires buy media companies, from Jeff Bezos buying the Washington Post,  Michael Bloomberg’s ownership of Bloomberg LP, Rupert Murdock’s ownership of News Corp, and countless others. The public has begun questioning whether America’s wealthiest people should control their news sources. 

In an era of disinformation and political polarization, “free speech” proponents like Musk use their capital to mold the media as they see fit. And with Musk recently claiming he would step down as the head of Twitter, it is impossible to predict what Twitter’s future may hold, and the future of other media outlets is even more uncertain. 

Article written by Abigail Nega of Winston Churchill High School