The Evolution of Twitter…

Elon Musk has finally taken over Twitter and it led to so many reactions from different people around the world. On April 4 Elon Musk was trending all over Twitter and not just because he is the world’s richest and most influential businessman but because he disclosed his major stake in Twitter Inc.

Twitter is one of the world’s biggest social media platforms and people on and off the social media platform have been raising concerns about the direction Twitter is going in under its new billionaire leader. Well, before we discuss the new takeover, let’s do a quick dive into Twitter’s journey;

When Twitter went public nine years ago, it raised $1.8 billion. As a result of Donald Trump’s extensive usage of the program, Twitter became the center of controversy during his time in office. Elon Musk is now in charge of the company’s future.

We are all aware that social media platforms were not designed with branding and business in mind when they were first developed. Nevertheless, they swiftly rose to prominence as the pinnacle of digital marketing and a significant element of the online strategies of most businesses.

Twitter is not the most popular social media site and is frequently overshadowed by other social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and even TikTok. However, it has one of the most intelligent and wealthy audiences of any network, as well as the fastest growing engagement rate. There, people are more likely to purchase the things they see, follow brands for news, and find new hobbies. Because of this and other considerations, Twitter stands out as the most effective social network for business.

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What is so special about Twitter?

The most natural and effective strategy to increase brand exposure and your audience size is through Twitter. You may share your material, increase engagement, engage in conversations that are pertinent to your business, and, in the end, be everywhere and still leave an impression.

What makes Twitter Stands out is the audience profile, the working of the business profiles and the unique overall value the platform offers to businesses.

Twitter Statistics Worth Highlighting:

• Nearly ten times as much as Instagram and forty times as much as Facebook, the social network has an astounding 78% spike in interaction rate.
• Twitter accounts are used by 25% of adult Americans. The number of actual visitors to Twitter is three times more than the number of individuals who have signed up.
• Daily visits to Twitter are made by 45% of all users and the typical monthly usage of Twitter is 5.1 hours.
• Users on LinkedIn are highly educated and Twitter is the second most popular platform that has a highly educated audience after LinkedIn.
• 53% of Twitter users have a tendency to purchase novel products they come across on the site. 85% of Twitter users make over $30,000 per year, while 34% makeover $75,000.

Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams founded Twitter in March 2006, and it went live in July of the same year. Twitter Started on March 21, 2006. Twitter, Inc. has since them had more than 25 offices worldwide and its headquarters are in San Francisco, California.

2006: Twitter was first a side project that came out of the podcasting application Odeo. “Just setting up my twttr,” was the first Tweet that Dorsey would send that month.

2007: Union Square Ventures led a $100,000 Series A investment round for Twitter in July. After being heavily promoted by the tech industry during the yearly South by Southwest conference, the app’s popularity began to soar.

2008: Williams took over as CEO after Dorsey resigned in October. According to journalist Nick Bilton’s book “Hatching Twitter,” Dorsey was sacked by Twitter’s board due to issues with the executive’s leadership style and public braggadocio.

2009: Twitter’s popularity grew even more, which led to Williams’ high-profile appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show alongside actor Ashton Kutcher. Williams and Stone would also be the subject of a piece by Kutcher for Time Magazine’s Time 100 edition. Twitter has become a frequent occurrence.

2010: NASA Astronaut Timothy Creamer sent the first tweet from outer space, launching Twitter into space. However, management problems lingered behind the scenes, leading to Williams’ resignation as CEO and Dick Costolo’s appointment as operations president.

2011: When anti-government protests erupted across Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia during the Arab Spring, Twitter emerged as a crucial social media tool. The portal was used by protesters to coordinate and make reports. Twitter’s role in “disseminating breaking news” was not “limited to the Arab upheavals,” according to the Pew Research Center. For instance, the death of Whitney Houston was reported on Twitter 55 minutes before the AP confirmed the story. “ At the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, Houston accidentally drowned in a bathtub; cocaine usage and heart problems were contributory reasons”.

2012: 200 million active users were Twitter’s audience. Barack Obama used the “platform to initially officially declare victory in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, with a Tweet that was extensively shared offline in print and broadcast media, and was viewed about 25 million times on our platform,” according to company papers.Given that the freshly elected president was using the site, this was big news. Since major leaders and politicians contribute to the platform, which is a significant privilege for the platform, many political news stories are discussed there due to the site’s amazing authenticity and prominence.

2013: In November, Twitter went public. Williams, Dorsey, and Costolo have a total net worth of about $4 billion. In that interview with CNBC, Costolo said, “I think we’ve got a terrific set of thinking and tactics to enhance the slope of the growth curve. He said he would classify some of them as tactics and some of them as broad strategies in order to accomplish what he referred to as bridging the gap between widespread Twitter awareness and intense involvement with the platform.

From 2014 – 2020:

With a full-width header image and a parallax scrolling effect, Twitter had a redesign in April 2014 that made the site somewhat resemble Facebook. This included the profile photo and biography being displayed in a column to the left of the timeline. 2014 was also termed the “selfie year” by Twitter.

In 2015, Twitter was beginning to resemble the orphan on the Internet when compared to competitors like Google, Facebook, and even LinkedIn. Twitter’s ad business was still losing a lot of money as it tried tremendously to compete with its bigger rivals. Additionally, Dorsey would return as the business’s CEO while continuing to hold the position at his previous startup, Square which is now known as “Block”.

Up until July 2019, that design served as the primary desktop front end. Over time, it underwent changes, such as the early 2017 removal of shortcut buttons for moving to the previous or next tweet and the June 2017 introduction of rounded profile images. Then in April 2015 The desktop homepage of Twitter was also modified and as per Quartz Fortune, Business Insider, etc. it was revealed that the platform’s growth was affected. It appeared quite slow later in 2016 especially.

In 2017 Twitter seemed to be on the rise for a brief period of time. As the business’s finances were getting better, its stock was finally on the rise. Trump continued to employ Twitter as his public platform while serving as president. Trump was the most-tweeted-about global leader in the globe and in the US that year, as per Twitter’s own data, CNBC said.

In 2018, before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dorsey and Facebook’s then-president Sheryl Sandberg provided testimony regarding alleged influence in the 2016 election by parties connected to Russia. Republicans such as Trump and his allies became more outspoken about Twitter’s and other social media platforms’ alleged political bias.

Since May 2018, tweet replies that an algorithm considers to be disruptive to dialogue are initially buried and only loaded by activating a “Show more replies button at the bottom”. TLS 1.0 and 1.1 connections were no longer supported by Twitter in 2019, and the company also announced a revamp of its user interface.

In 2019, Analysts discovered connections between President Trump’s prolific use of Twitter and a number of markets, including gold, highlighting Twitter’s influence on culture. Jack Dorsey met with Trump at the president’s invitation, according to a Twitter representative, who also indicated that the conversation was productive.

In 2020 when COVID-19 pandemic struck the whole world, the transmission of false information ruled the online debates as Covid-19 swept around the globe. And Twitter kept up its effort to expand its business. That year, the service was also breached, and criminals obtained access to over a dozen prominent accounts, including those run by Jeff Bezos, Donald Trump, etc.

During the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, Twitter grew significantly. Misinformation about the pandemic was also being spread more frequently on the platform. Twitter started flagging tweets that contained false information and added links to fact-checks. In May 2020, Twitter moderators flagged two U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweets were “possibly deceptive” and provided a fact-check link. As a retaliation, Trump ratified an executive order that weakens Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which places restrictions on the responsibility of social media platforms for content moderation choices. Trump was then blocked by Twitter after it claimed he had broken its “glorification of violence policy.” Conservatives and a few European leaders condemned the ban for interfering with free speech because they thought it was unconstitutional.

2022 – Elon Musk Takeover of Twitter

Elon Musk, a business tycoon, first mentioned buying Twitter, Inc. in early 2022 after expressing his doubts about the company’s commitment to free speech and whether its moderation practices were hurting democracy. According to reports, Musk had big plans for Twitter’s spambot policy, a softer approach to content filtering, a redesign of the services it provided, and cost savings. Musk stated that he intended to make Twitter into a “everything app” similar to WeChat in the long run.

Musk initially attempted to join Twitter, Inc. Board of Directors by purchasing company stock, but the Board devised a “poison pill” to stop Musk from acquiring a sufficient number of shares.

Numerous employees, including those in the highest positions, were fired by Elon Musk:

Musk then submitted an unsolicited bid to purchase Twitter, Inc. for $43 billion on April 14, 2022. After a variety of commercial and legal disputes, Musk finally completed the acquisition on October 27, 2022, paying $44 billion. Musk sacked the top three Twitter executives right away. A week later, he started dismissing roughly half of the company’s 7,500 employees.

The Blue Tick Verification made a great noise:

Elon Musk quickly turned his brand-new $44 billion toy into a weapon. The most controversial Twitter upgrade so far is what he did to verification, though he has promised many more changes. This literally shocked the brands and tp personnel who have been using Twitter for a very long time.

Musk has made Twitter Blue subscriptions available to anyone who wants to pay for them and plans to revoke them from those who don’t in an effort to make them a significant source of revenue for the firm.

Twitter users were quick to take advantage of the simplicity of obtaining those blue checks as well. After blue checks went up for sale, Twitter was inundated with confirmed impersonators of all types, including Jesus and a phony (but verified) LeBron James who declared he wanted to leave the Lakers. A bogus (confirmed) Nintendo account tweeted a picture of Mario turning the bird, hurting the brand.

Musk, though, took action against phony accounts and removed them after they had been active for a while. Twitter briefly barred blue tick subscriptions for accounts formed before November 9th in order to prevent this annoyance, although this had little impact because the accounts in dispute were already blocked. Established accounts can now be purchased for only cents.

What about the users’ trust?

Although users’ general trust in Twitter has been eroded, Musk remains the company’s largest individual shareholder with more than 9% of the shares, and rumors have persisted about how he may affect the network’s future. Musk is constantly tweeting suggestions for updating the social media site. Over the course of the following week, Musk would accept a position on Twitter’s board of directors before abruptly rejecting it five days later, leaving the company’s management, staff, investors, and curious onlookers in the dark about his future plans.

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How did all of this begin, and why has Musk taken control of the business? That is, in fact, a very interesting story as well.

Beginning on January 31, Musk began subtly purchasing Twitter stock. The Securities and Exchange Commission, and then the general public, were to be informed of Musk’s activity on March 14 when he had built a holding of above 5%. Musk missed the deadline to notify the SEC by 10 days because he was expanding his interest in the company. By withholding information about the error that would ultimately give rise to a shareholder litigation, he was able to amass more money on the cheap because Twitter’s share price increased the moment his ownership was made public.

On Twitter, Musk starts to criticize the service. Musk started criticizing the company in late March with a few tweets while his ownership of the company remained a mystery.

These were his Tweets:

“Worried about de facto bias in the Twitter algorithm having a major effect on the public; Twitter algorithm should be open source,” Musk tweeted on March 24.

“Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?” On March 25, Musk polled his Twitter followers.

“Is a new platform needed?” Musk asked in a tweet on March 26. “Am giving serious thought to this.”

After reading his tweets, the CEO of Twitter was also talking about this considering purchasing Twitter, but they didn’t know that he was already buying the shares of the company.

Upon receiving an invitation to join Twitter’s board on April 4, Musk made his shareholding public.Despite being classified as a passive stakeholder in his file, Musk began tweeting business ideas for the social media startup soon after it was made public.

He asked users about the edit button which can allow them to amend the tweets once the tweets are published. Musk issued a new poll on Twitter. Users were asked to “vote carefully” in the poll by Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal. “This poll’s results will have significant ramifications.

When the day was over, Musk received an invitation from Twitter to join the board. Musk hinted that he would agree to a contract that prohibited him from owning more than 14.9% of the company’s equity.

Agrawal tweeted that Musk and the business had been in contact for weeks. People began to wonder why Agrawal had filed as a passive investor while he was actively involved in discussions to become a director after posting the tweet. Later that day, Musk amended his disclosure form to reflect his status as an active investor, but only after declaring his willingness to serve on the board of the social media business.

What about Twitter’s Board Of Directors ?

As workers prepare for huge layoffs following the billionaire’s takeover of the social media network, Elon Musk has dissolved Twitter’s board of directors and named himself CEO.

April 10: The news was made public. Agrawal tweets the message after sending it to the staff on Sunday. Agrawal and Musk fail to explain the

April 11: There is much speculation

With the SEC, Musk submits an updated disclosure. He is now free to buy as many shares as he likes. He is no longer required to operate in the Twitter shareholders’ best interests as he is not a board member. Employees at Twitter, which unlike other tech behemoths does not have a founder with a controlling stake, are “extremely stressed,” worried that this is only the start of the whiplash.

April 14: Musk declared he would buy the whole company

The offer price of $54.20 a share represents a premium of 54% over the price at which he first began accumulating shares in January. Apparently, which is not in a subtle way, the number also alludes to Musk’s unsuccessful attempt to take Tesla private in 2018 for $420 a share, as well as to a unique number in the pot community. To provide advice on the offer, which Musk refers to as his “best and final,” Morgan Stanley is consulted.

April 15: Twitter implements a “poison pill”  to prevent a takeover by Musk

Twitter introduced a “poison pill,” a rights plan that enables shareholders to buy shares at a discount if any shareholder owns more than 15% of the company, in an effort to stop Musk. As a result, the billionaire’s interest would be effectively diluted. The goal of the scheme, according to a statement from the corporation, is to guarantee that anyone acquiring control through open-market accumulation pays all shareholders the proper premium.

According to a person knowledgeable, Twitter has received interest from other companies, including private equity company Thomas Bravo. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. both provide advice to the business. Musk friend and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey confirmed in a tweet that as a publicly traded corporation, Twitter was always for sale.

So what are Musk’s Plans now?

The New York Times claims that, according to a pitch presentation provided to investors, Musk plans to quadruple Twitter’s income to $26.4 billion by 2028 from $5 billion this year. He also anticipates a comparable increase in users, from 217 million to 931 million.

To do this, he intends to grow the company’s present tipping operation, which now generates minimal money, to $15 million in revenue by 2023 and $1.3 billion by 2028. The deck also included goals to further develop a subscription product, plan for variable headcount, and reduce the company’s reliance on advertising to less than 50% of income.

So, even though Elon Musk has faced opposition in a number of ways, his plans seem to be on track. On May 10, Musk also declared that he will lift Twitter’s ban on its former owner, former US president Donald Trump. Therefore, a lot has occurred since the takeover. The old CEO and Elon Musk have been engaged in an open verbal spat on bots, and a new CEO needs to be chosen for which several suggestions are being made. Messages on who Musk should appoint as CEO were also flying around. Investor Bill Lee recommended Benchmark Capital’s Bill Gurley. Jason Calacanis responded, “Put me in the game coach ! Twitter CEO is my dream job.”,” in response to Steve Jurvetson’s pitch for Emil Michael, the former chief business officer of Uber Technologies Inc.

A lot is going on right now, and the threads will be updated on what will happen as a result of the recent takeover. So, it’s time to see what the recent developments will be about as Elon Musk takes this journey forward.