However now, we could also be on the finish of the Elon as ‘Chief Twit’ experiment, with Musk tweeting out this ballot on Sunday afternoon:

The outcomes haven’t gone in Musk’s favor, and he has, to date, caught to his phrase on abiding by ballot outcomes.

Which begs the query, ‘what has Elon really achieved, in a coverage sense, at Twitter?’

Elon’s been very eager to tout his view on ‘free speech’, and the way the platform, beneath his possession, will enable extra varieties of feedback and content material.

However will it? Has he really modified something to make Twitter extra open?

Right here’s a glance again at the entire main bulletins and coverage updates which have been carried out to date by Elon and his Twitter 2.0 group.

1. Paid verification

Musk’s first huge announcement, after all, was his paid verification plan, by way of which individuals will have the ability to pay $8 per 30 days to get a blue checkmark, to allow them to digitally cosplay as celebrities within the app.

Musk initially wished to cost $20 per 30 days, earlier than realizing that was too excessive for regular people who don’t have billions of {dollars} in discretionary spend. So he lowered it to $8, or $96 each year to maintain your blue tick – although iOS subscribers need to pay $11 per 30 days as a result of Elon doesn’t need to pay Apple’s 30% in-app buy tax out of his personal pocket.

Look, it is a pretty flawed, self-serving scheme, which presents little of worth for customers, and a whole lot of worth for Twitter, by way of direct income, and as some technique of verifying human customers (as a result of, a minimum of in principle, bots can’t pay). Musk has needed to revise this system to counter impersonation scams, which took off as quickly because it was launched, however even now, there’s not a whole lot of purpose for folks to pay up – particularly when most customers don’t ever tweet, so the advantages, for almost all, actually aren’t well worth the cash.

However some folks pays, and Elon’s engaged on further incentives, like precedence itemizing of replies and in search (once more, irrelevant when you don’t tweet), whereas he’s additionally flagged a brand new system by way of which paying subscribers will have the ability to downvote different accounts, as a way to decrease their tweet publicity.

Once more, Elon’s largest followers pays, as will those that’ve been determined for a blue checkmark since perpetually.

Will that be sufficient to generate vital earnings or worth from this system?

Truthfully, I doubt it, and Twitter’s most up-to-date makes an attempt to limit customers from posting hyperlinks to their Mastodon accounts possible recommend that Twitter Blue take-up hasn’t been what Elon anticipated or hoped. 

However we’ll quickly discover out, with Twitter Blue within the means of being rolled out to extra areas.

2. Account reinstatements

A giant sign of his intentions to make Twitter extra free and open was Musk’s announcement that he would reinstate the profiles of customers that had been beforehand banned from the app. Nicely, it was much less an announcement, and really a ballot amongst customers, which has grow to be Musk’s go-to circuit-breaker for large choices.

Over the past month, Twitter has gone about re-instating some 60,000 accounts, belonging to those that had beforehand damaged the platform’s guidelines – as a result of Musk needs to begin off new, with a clear slate.

All of those profiles nonetheless need to play by the platform guidelines, however a number of the app’s largest offenders of occasions previous are actually again and tweeting once more.

And about these guidelines…

3. Updating Twitter’s Guidelines and Laws

Right here’s the factor – for all of Musk’s discuss of updating Twitter’s strategy, and making the platform extra open to extra sorts of speech, Twitter itself has repeatedly advised advert companions that its insurance policies haven’t modified.

As Twitter shared in weblog publish on November thirtieth:

“None of our insurance policies have modified. Our strategy to coverage enforcement will rely extra closely on de-amplification of violative content material: freedom of speech, however not freedom of attain.”

Once more, Twitter has not modified any of its insurance policies as but, and whereas Musk retains speaking about permitting extra speech, and pointing the finger at previous administration for his or her perceived bias, Twitter’s guidelines round content material, and what’s and isn’t allowed within the app, are precisely the identical.

Some have prompt that Musk has taken stronger motion in opposition to baby sexual abuse materials, although specialists say that these modified haven’t had a lot influence, whereas Twitter has additionally stopped imposing its COVID misinformation coverage, an space the place Musk has sturdy opinions.

However functionally, the Twitter you’re utilizing proper now’s no extra free or open than the one managed by Parag Agrawal on the similar time final 12 months.

Twitter is relying extra on automation, as a result of Musk minimize an enormous quantity of its moderation employees, so there are possible extra errors in enforcement. However once more, as the foundations are written, because the insurance policies are set, Elon Musk has achieved nothing to replace Twitter’s strategy to what’s and isn’t allowed within the app.

Or he hadn’t, till final weekend.

4. No Doxxing

Elon Musk has, nonetheless, introduced one vital coverage shift:

“When somebody shares a person’s dwell location on Twitter, there’s an elevated danger of bodily hurt. Transferring ahead, we’ll take away Tweets that share this info, and accounts devoted to sharing another person’s dwell location can be suspended.”

After an incident through which his younger son was confronted by a stalker, Elon determined to take decisive motion in opposition to any Twitter account that shares dwell location data, as a way to keep away from potential hurt.

Twitter’s new guidelines state that customers can now not share live location info of any variety, ‘together with info shared on Twitter immediately or hyperlinks to Third-party URL(s) of journey routes’. Which, technically, guidelines out just about all live-streams, as you’d be sharing the dwell location of anyone featured within the video.

Which might grow to be an issue within the case of civil unrest, and governments eager to remove adverse protection resulting from such. Say, for instance, a consumer is sharing footage of protests in Hong Kong, and the Chinese language Authorities calls on Twitter to close the stream down resulting from this rule.

It’s not precisely what the replace is meant for, however it could possibly be used on this approach.

What’s most fascinating right here is the truth that Musk has drawn the road at private security. In Musk’s view, dwell location info shouldn’t be shared, as a result of it might result in actual world hurt. Which most would agree with, and with that being the parameter, it’ll be fascinating to see if future coverage choices on the app are made with this in thoughts.

That, at core, is the important thing logic that Twitter’s moderation group has at all times labored from – ‘what are the probabilities of this tweet inflicting precise hurt in the actual world?’

Musk and Co. need to demonize Twitter’s previous choices, and body them as politically biased, however it’s fascinating to see that Musk is now coming round to seeing that base logic.

Perhaps that can shade his future adjustments. Most likely not.

5. Banning Hyperlinks to Different Social Apps

Twitter additionally banned hyperlinks to chose competing social platforms for just a few hours on Sunday, earlier than reversing course fairly shortly resulting from huge backlash.

This was dumb coverage, which Twitter seemingly acknowledged by eradicating all references to it fairly quick. Basically, Twitter sought to ban all hyperlinks to Fb, Instagram, Mastodon, Reality Social, Tribel, Nostr and Put up.

Why these apps? Why not YouTube, or TikTok?

I am guessing its as a result of Elon noticed customers tweeting hyperlinks to those various platforms the place customers might comply with them, as they seemed to leap ship from Twitter. Mastodon is the obvious wrongdoer right here, however I am additionally guessing that Elon has been involved with Meta, and that that assembly didn’t go nicely, therefore the inclusion of IG and Fb.

Nostr is a favourite of former Twitter chief Jack Dorsey, and Put up is just about a carbon copy of Twitter.

Why not YouTube? Nicely, YouTube’s mother or father firm, Google, might return hearth by refusing to index tweets in Google Search, which might be a giant downside for Musk and Co.

Why not TikTok? Elon’s different firm, Tesla, is fairly reliant on the Chinese language market.

Like Elon’s different adjustments, this one appeared fairly shaded by private bias. And on condition that it was possible in violation of EU laws, and will have led to antitrust and different penalties, it is smart for Twitter to maneuver on and faux that it by no means occurred.

—

And regardless of all of the noise, that’s really it. Twitter hasn’t really carried out many adjustments in any respect – which is smart once you additionally contemplate the employees cuts, and the influence these have had on the platform’s capability to function.

Twitter has hinted at ad-reduced and ad-free subscription tiers, it’s exploring longer tweets and longer video uploads. It’s accelerating the roll out Neighborhood Notes, as a method to offer further, user-sourced perspective on divisive tweets, whereas it additionally works on new advert placement controls, whereas Musk has additionally hinted at bringing again Vine.  

However for all of the noise, for all of the media protection, for all of the dialogue that Musk has generated in his time as ‘Chief Twit’, he hasn’t really modified something a lot. Like, in any respect.

Which as soon as once more underlines Elon’s true ability and power – he’s very, superb at producing media consideration, and basically proudly owning the media cycle, by way of simply his tweets.

Tesla has by no means had an promoting division because of this, as a result of they don’t want one, with Elon at all times capable of exit, say one thing outlandish, and produce the media to him, like pigeons scrambling for scraps.

That could be Elon’s most respected trait, and for a social platform, which depends on getting folks to return and listen to the newest, that, a minimum of in principle, could possibly be very beneficial.

The problem for Elon then is that he must preserve arising with controversial issues to say, as a way to preserve triggering mass protection, bringing extra folks to the app.

That could be working up to now, however as Elon continues to stoke political division, and skirt the perimeters of social platform laws, it does appear to be, finally, it can come to a head.

Which can be why now is an effective time for Elon to step away, if he does so, although regardless of him stepping again, that also does not imply he will not be answerable for the app. 

Elon taking a backseat is smart, if he does it. And his previous historical past doesn’t recommend that he is overly nice at taking a extra passive position at his corporations.