Elon’s Twitter: why it’s time to revisit your social strategy

It’s a torrid time for Twitter.

280 characters are just not enough to cover the string of headline-making events that have unfolded since the second richest man in the world, Elon Musk, bought the platform back in October.

It’s been widely reported that the tech tycoon’s motivation to take over Twitter was fueled by concern around freedom of speech, following the suspension of several high-profile, right wing voices, including former President Donald Trump and Kanye West, the former of which Musk has now banned from the platform again.

Regardless of whether he agrees with the views of these individuals or not, it’s clear that he sees the role of Twitter as fundamental in upholding democratic free speech, describing the platform as “the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated”.

But what does this mean for brands that use the platform to build communities and spread their messages?

Well, since the takeover, half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers have left the platform with concerns over brand safety and the impact of significant cuts to the platform’s content moderation processes.

Musk’s erratic behavior when dealing with advertisers has also been widely reported. Some who have stopped or paused ads on the platform report receiving direct phone calls from him berating their decisions.

However, from an organic PR perspective, the concerns are slightly different.

It’s likely that, given Musk’s strong focus on freedom of speech and offering an open platform for ‘alternative voices’, Twitter will become ever-more politicised, with the algorithms adapted to promote contentious or controversial opinions.

This would of course mean that brands hoping to cut through the noise organically will be swimming against a rising tide, and driving engagement, especially within B2B sectors, is likely to be harder than ever before.

It’s still relatively early days for Elon’s Twitter and while there is much cause for concern for brands, the turmoil presents a good opportunity for us to sit back and re-evaluate our social media strategies, while asking the question – is Twitter really worth it?