Since Elon Musk bought Twitter in late October, paying $44 billion for the company, the changes haven’t stopped happening. Among them, the number of followers that the tycoon has added: it is a rocket that is on its way to becoming the number 1 influencer on the network.
Elon Musk seeks to dethrone the former president of the United States, Barack Obama, as the figure with the most followers on Twitter.
While Obama has 133.2 million followers, Musk already counts with 119.3 million, for the morning of this Tuesday, November 29, 2022.
Just in January of this year, the head of Tesla and SpaceX, among other companies, had 68.5 million followers. The 100 million surpassed them last June.
BBC quotes Social Blade, a statistics portal for the social network, indicating that Musk is adding an average of 270,000 daily followers.
What connotation does the purchase of Twitter and the increase in Elon Musk’s followers have? Can it affect the platform?
Elon Musk and his effect on Twitter
At the moment, any decision Musk makes is affecting Twitter. From verification policy changes to blanket account amnesty, everything has caused several advertisers to stop having a presence on the platform.
Matt Navarre, an expert in social networks, spoke with the BBC about it. For him, the fact that Twitter is “inextricably linked to Musk” creates a problem for the company.
“(Elon Musk) is very antagonistic and incendiary and some might even say quite toxic. And for brands, it could be seen as potentially very dangerous,” Navarra said.
While Kate Baucherell, emerging technology consultancy, noted: “Wrapping the persona of the CEO in the persona of the platform compromises any neutrality or diversity.”
“A white man residing in the United States does not represent the world.”
Twitter was founded in July 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. Dorsey served as the company’s CEO until 2021, followed by Parag Agrawal, who was CTO. They were both moderate figures that helped to consolidate the “neat” image of the company.
But with Musk, things changed. Moderation changed for revolution, at least in the South African’s first months as boss.
Parallel routes: Elon Musk and Donald Trump
Navarra compares Elon Musk with the former president of the United States, Donald Trump, not only because of how regular they are when publishing information on the web, with their pros and cons.
“Trump was also a big driver of his tweet activity and engagement, And I’m sure it was a benefit for the platform.” Navarra said, focusing on the popularity that the network gained with the former US president.
“But I would also say that it is probably a net negative in terms of the problems it brought with it for content moderation and toxic content. Elon Musk is having a similar effect.”