
Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk has joined Twitter’s board of directors and promised to “make significant improvements” to the social media platform. Some changes he is considering include adding an edit button and solving the crypto spam bot problem, which he sees as the “single most annoying problem on Twitter.”
Elon Musk Joins Twitter’s Board of Directors
After disclosing Monday that he has taken a 9.2% stake in Twitter Inc., Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk has joined Twitter’s board of directors, according to the social media giant’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Musk is now Twitter’s largest shareholder.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted welcoming Musk to his company’s board. The Tesla boss replied: “Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!”
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted: “I’m really happy Elon is joining the Twitter board! He cares deeply about our world and Twitter’s role in it. Parag and Elon both lead with their hearts, and they will be an incredible team.”
Musk promises to make major improvements to Twitter
Following Musk’s Twitter investment, many people flooded the Tesla CEO’s tweets with their ideas on how to improve Twitter.
Some recommendations concern crypto spambots. “Elon, you need to do something about these crypto spam bots,” one person wrote. “They’re getting really annoying. Improving the verification system to prove that you’re an actual *real* human would help with this.” Musk concurred, emphasizing that in his opinion, this is the “single most annoying problem on Twitter.”
Musk was not the only one to voice concerns regarding the cryptocurrency spam bot issue. Crypto spam posts frequently appear on Musk’s tweet threads, and many of them promote crypto giveaway scams. Scammers often capitalize on Musk’s popularity, featuring him and his companies giving away bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Musk tweeted on Feb. 1, 2020: “The crypto scam level on Twitter is reaching new levels. This is not cool.” His statement was made in response to a comment that “Even verified accounts are now being hacked and pushing fake bitcoin scams.”
Billy Marcus, founder of Dogecoin, estimated that he died March 25.
Crypto spam bots are 40% of Twitter, according to me.
Musk has been looking at adding an editing button to his tweets, in addition to the problem with crypto spambots. He set up a poll Monday asking his 80.6 million followers, “Do you want an edit button?” The CEO of Twitter stressed: “The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.” Over 4.4 million votes were counted and 73.6% said yes.
Liz Wheeler, a Twitter user, argued against the use of an edit button. She opined: “What if a tweet goes viral, lots of retweets & millions of impressions, & then the author completely changes the meaning? It’s not just a grammar fix but an ideological revolution. Or shameless self-promote?”
The CTO of Meta, formerly Facebook, chimed in: “We solved this on Facebook a long time ago. The change log can be added to the indicator that the file has been changed. They can link to the most recent edit, or point to specific revisions in their history if you’re really concerned about embeds. Not a real issue.” However, Musk replied, “Facebook gives me the willies.”
Some other suggestions concern Twitter’s fact checking, election control, and bringing back banned users, such as former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Musk declared at the end March that he wanted to create a social media platform where free speech was a priority. “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” he described.
Some people are skeptical
Musk’s Twitter improvements may not be the case for everyone. Regarding free speech, Bloomberg published an opinion piece Monday claiming that “Musk’s Twitter investment could be bad news for free speech.”
One Twitter user expressed his doubt that Musk will make changes that benefit everyone, asserting that the Tesla boss “seems self-centered.” A different user said he will quit Twitter if Musk is in control.
Some people in the crypto community pointed out that Musk’s promise to improve Twitter is a display of the problem with the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, citing its apparent weakness of being controlled by the rich. One commented:
Elon demonstrates how simple it can be to manage a PoS network.
Are you positive Elon Musk’s plans to improve Twitter? Do you see any changes? Please leave your comments below.
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