If somebody would’ve guessed that Elon Musk would eventually cause Twitter to do a complete 360 and that Twitter Blue take-up would significantly increase, leveling its heavily tilted financial standing, then no one would essentially be dismissing that claim outright. However, the reality is that it’s getting a bit harder to see the light at the end of Twitter’s somewhat elongating tunnel; the more Musk and Co. proceed with their plan, the narrower this tunnel gets.

No Parachute

This week, reports have emerged that amid a major outage, and various explorations of concerns that the app simply isn’t working as it should, Musk pulled a group of engineers aside to instead talk about engagement on his own profile instead. As Platformer reported:

“This is ridiculous,” [Musk] said, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the meeting. “I have more than 100 million followers, and I’m only getting tens of thousands of impressions.”

Musk was so incensed, delusional even, by his declining engagement rates that he demanded an investigation to get a better understanding of why people weren’t interacting with his every thought like they used to. Of course, this could also have been an exploration of broader algorithmic issues. Meanwhile, Musk could also be exploring a bigger issue with Tweet reach and engagement, which could impact all users. Apparently, Mr. Musk has taken the “issue” quite personally.

Of course, many people do follow Musk for different reasons, but really, follower count isn’t indicative of anything. Musk seems to have intertwined his ego with his engagement numbers, which is likely why he bought the platform in the first place, while it’s also why his recent engagement declines have been very harrying to him.

But Twitter ain’t no Musk simp; the platform has far more pressing issues than his whims. Just this week, Twitter experienced a major outage, on top of experiencing ongoing problems including load drop-outs, incorrect error messages, issues with the new Twitter Blue, and much more. On top of all this, Twitter also needs money, which is more in line with Musk’s targets.

The Wrap

It’s really difficult to convince ourselves why people would ever pay to use Twitter, especially now, given its current state, and it’s also difficult to maximize engagement when users are struggling to undertake basic functions. So while Musk can potentially turn things around, it’s going to take a lot of effort and better incentives to prove that paying for Twitter is actually worth it. Musk might really be a genius in certain areas, but as a Social Media head honcho, not so much. If Twitter is to make it over the following months, then he has to focus on the bigger picture, and not just on his personal gripes.

Sources

http://bit.ly/3RXqthh