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What Elon Musk's Twitter takeover means for the social media platform

A Twitter logo seen displayed on a smartphone screen with now-owner Elon Musk. (Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A Twitter logo seen displayed on a smartphone screen with now-owner Elon Musk. (Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Elon Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter. And got more than he bargained for.

“The marketers are Twitter’s customers. Tesla has historically never done any marketing,” Nilay Patel says. “He has no idea how advertising works.”

Disappointed fans:

“There’s just a variety of figures who are saying, We were promised free speech. And now you’re talking to the Anti-Defamation League, and why would you do that?” Patel adds.

And an unenviable choice between anonymity and transparency.

Today, On Point: What Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter means for one of the most powerful social media platforms.

Guests

Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of the tech news site The Verge. (@reckless)

Sen. Ed Markey, U.S. senator for Massachusetts. Chair of the Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Safety; and the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy. (@SenMarkey)

Related Reading

The Verge: “Welcome to hell, Elon” — “Twitter is a disaster clown car company that is successful despite itself, and there is no possible way to grow users and revenue without making a series of enormous compromises that will ultimately destroy your reputation and possibly cause grievous damage to your other companies.”

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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