I think this represents an event horizon for both Twitter and social media, beyond which it is a little more difficult than usual to make accurate predictions.
We know Musk wants a less moderated Twitter (less censored, depending on your point of view). But it's hard to think that all the changes would stop there. I can't imagine Musk just opening the door on content and then... Stagnation. But what else would he change? A more comprehensive social platform than just tweets? Revive the Vine concept to compete with TikTok after completely missing that opportunity the first time around?
And since Twitter is one of the social media pillars, whether they succeed or fail will strongly influence the direction of the other big players. They could follow suit in content policy, or lean harder in the opposite direction to distinguish themselves in the marketplace: Twitter is open, some other places are more of a walled garden, users choose what they want.
It could also mean slightly less antitrust & political attention for other social media players: again, market differentiation would mean that mainstream social media still provided all users with a top-tier platform. It's difficult to argue that Big Social Media (BSM™) is stifling free speech, or has a collective monopoly (or Cartel), and therefore needs to be regulated or broken up. Not when one of the most influential outlets is a much more open platform.
> We know Musk wants a less moderated Twitter (less censored, depending on your point of view).
No, we don't.
We know that Musk says this, and we can probably reasonably conclude that he wants a differently moderated Twitter, but neither his past actions, his use of congressional Republicans (and their willingness to do the job) as bad cop to pressure the board, nor anything else other than his own PR supports that Musk has any particular devotion to the idea that private actors should not do everything in their power to constrain others speech.
> Twitter is open, some other places are more of a walled garden, users choose what they want.
Musk's specifically stated plans include making Twitter more of a walled garden, pushing people harder to paid accounts and using paid account status of the originator as a stronger signal in content distribution. Looser content policies, even if that is what actually happens, aren't opposed to being a walled garden.
> It's difficult to argue that Big Social Media (BSM™) is stifling free speech, or has a collective monopoly (or Cartel), and therefore needs to be regulated or broken up.
Au contraire, it's must easier to argue that your preferred approach is reasonable, viable, and should be mandatory if someone is already doing it and you can vilify those not doing.
I can't argue with the possibility that your objections may be correct. They could be. I do think it's at least plausible that Musk believes he will make Twitter more open, but you're right: He's not above silencing critics, and when his own interests are on the line (let's say there's a massively viral tweet storm along the lines of #boycott Tesla or #shortTesla) he may very well come down on his own interests. I think it's also plausible that when his own interests aren't involved then he may not care much one way or another. (Not that I'm arguing for a completely open Twitter: I don't claim to know the best balance is, but I think there's a reasonable argument that some types of content don't belong there. Even if I really wouldn't want to be in the position of having to figure out a method & boundaries of the problem.)
>Looser content policies, even if that is what actually happens, aren't opposed to being a walled garden.
I don't think it's an either/or. It's a spectrum. The looser the content policies are, the less it's a walled garden.
the play is really simple: restore the orange clown account. get more subsidies in case the orange clown gets re-elected.
that’s it. can make a big show out if it and we can build more shrines to Musk (yuck) but at the end of the day nobody pays 69 billion dollars out of pure thoughts on free sp33ch.
We know Musk wants a less moderated Twitter (less censored, depending on your point of view). But it's hard to think that all the changes would stop there. I can't imagine Musk just opening the door on content and then... Stagnation. But what else would he change? A more comprehensive social platform than just tweets? Revive the Vine concept to compete with TikTok after completely missing that opportunity the first time around?
And since Twitter is one of the social media pillars, whether they succeed or fail will strongly influence the direction of the other big players. They could follow suit in content policy, or lean harder in the opposite direction to distinguish themselves in the marketplace: Twitter is open, some other places are more of a walled garden, users choose what they want.
It could also mean slightly less antitrust & political attention for other social media players: again, market differentiation would mean that mainstream social media still provided all users with a top-tier platform. It's difficult to argue that Big Social Media (BSM™) is stifling free speech, or has a collective monopoly (or Cartel), and therefore needs to be regulated or broken up. Not when one of the most influential outlets is a much more open platform.