Elon or Elona—it doesn’t matter how you address him on Twitter today. He wouldn’t care.
Yes, the duel with Putin didn’t happen as per the tweet or plan. Yet, Elon Musk won the decisive, behind-the-scenes combat by pocketing 9.2% of Twitter shares— making him the highest stakeholder, followed by the Vanguard Group.
And while some might think that the ascension is to accommodate the elusive ‘Edit’ button, it is but a doorway into the future—the future of crypto and tech.
Let’s dig deeper into the Elon-Twitter love affair:
The Love-Hate Thing
From shilling Dogecoin (apologies if you took offense) to rebuking Twitter’s pro-NFT approach towards profile pictures, Elon Musk wasn’t the best-behaved individual on social media. Yet, he was effective. He tweeted about Starlink, pushed the service out aggressively in support of Ukraine, and even reported the
He did bring a lot of value and fun to Twitter. However, Twitter is known for being uptight at times. And Elon would most certainly remember the 8th of January, 2021, when Sidney Powell and Donal Trump were banned from Twitter on controversial grounds.
As brave as Elon Musk would be, Twitter’s rejection is always a hard pill to swallow—even for the Alphas.
Why the Investment?
Yes, Elon Musk and Twitter weren’t always on the same page. But it’s common for couples to fight, right! So why do I think he purchased 9.2% of the Twitter shares? Was it just to woo the platform into submission? Well, not exactly.
Remember Tesla! The company, or Musk to be exact, uses Twitter as the go-to marketing platform without having to scale its advertising budget. If Twitter someday ended up showing the same sort of love to Elon—as it did to Trump— Tesla’s customer outreach plan would fall flat on the face. With a seat at the table, this doesn’t look all that possible now—does it!
Or, Elon Musk just shelled out close to $2.64 billion just to get us that ‘Edit’ button. Now that would be Philanthropily Crazy.
Where Does the Association Go from Here?
So you know why the deal happened! But the question lingers—what does this association mean for the future of Crypto and Tech—verticals that every Twitterati is bullish on?
The Effect on Crypto
Didn’t we all see how Dogecoin peaked by over 20% the moment Elon Musk broke the news of the association?
That’s just a sneak peek of what might happen if Elon Musk strategically uses his position at the table. But I am not here to offer any financial advice and nor do I want to talk about the appreciative part of crypto.
With Musk on Twitter’s board, you might see the social network revisiting the BTC/ETH tipping methodology. There was a time when he came down heavily on the approach—citing the same as ‘BS’ in one of his tweets (chuckles).
Regardless, the entire crypto-specific schema might change with Musk having decision-making capabilities. And Twitter accepting DOGE might not be far-fetched speculation anymore.
However, coins and tokens aren’t the only things this association will impact. In fact, Musk might bring in the flavors of decentralization to Twitter. No, this doesn’t mean a rapid shift to independent servers but a more democratic approach towards outing content. Simply put, the nature of content moderation might change—with a focus on free speech—something Musk tweeted about back on March 26, 2022. Hey, that was just a few weeks back, wasn’t it!
Musk is also expected to come down hard on the crypto scams that have Twitter as ground zero. And he will surely have the help of other crypto evangelists like Michael Saylor, who previously called for an Orange tick via Sat (Satoshi) deposits to keep bad actors and malice out of the threads.
With an eye on improved content moderation and security, Twitter might be an early
Unsure as to how this would pan out! Consider the following pointers:
- Additional tipping options might open up for users;
- Sensitive Twitter threads might only see comments from verified and credible sources;
- An organic approach to keep spambots at bay;
- Support for Web 3.0 projects with promise and the flexibility to interact with users and market stuff over Twitter.
And while most of these are still projections, nothing is out of the question with Elon Musk in charge of things.
The Effect on Tech
Yes, the face of crypto and Twitter’s role in it will change. But that won’t be all that Musk would bring to the table. Tech noobs might just see the Twitter Algorithm opening up progressively—even as open-source. And if this change comes to be, people will be in control of what route they want to follow over social media—Twitter for now.
And if this ability to voice and implement choices isn’t the part of the Web 3.0 kickstarter pack— I don’t know what is.
Finally, you might see an ‘Edit’ button soon as Elon Musk did endorse his views a few days back—asking for opinions.
And from a more business-specific point-of-view, Musk shall be able to push Tesla and Starlink deeper into our lives—with Twitter being his biggest marketing investment to date.
The Effect on Participation
We all know how vocal Musk is about crypto—more so Bitcoin. With the frequent Twitter ball drops out of the way, he and his companies can contribute towards making the world a more welcoming space for Bitcoin.
One such endeavor is already in the works in the form of a solar-powered, Texas-based Bitcoin mine that would use storage and solar technology from Tesla to become functional.
And with Musk being all the more powerful now on Twitter, the move surely would get advertised, marketed, and endorsed—right and left.
The Future Is Open to Debate!
With talks regarding open speech, open algorithm, a safer way to push crypto assets across the social network, and the Elon-Twitter confluence would soon become a marriage of disparate ideologies, focusing on a common decentralized goal.
And I bet he won’t be putting out any restrictions when it comes to the haters calling him Elona or hating on him just for his candid parlance. He has already achieved a lot more than the haters combined. He, sitting at the pinnacle, is proof enough.