The era where social media was built for the underdogs and was seen as a means for people to rise up and take power for themselves, ended last week when Twitter was acquired by the world's richest man. Twitter was seen as a powerful tool for activists to get messages out that weren't getting out through more official channels.
The founder of Salesforce, Marc Benioff, had made a $44 billion offer to purchase Twitter but had second thoughts, trying to back out of the deal. However, the drop in tech stock prices caused Benioff to change his mind and he finally decided to follow through with the acquisition.
This episode discusses the implications of Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, highlighting its practical significance as an important platform for public discourse and its symbolic meaning as the end of Twitter's identity as a disruptive, bottom-up force in society.
The rise of social media was considered a new way for underdogs to take power, empower dissidents, and topple tyrants. Activists across the world realized that social media sites, especially Twitter, could be used to communicate a message and bypass government censors.