It was long awaited, and some doubted that it would ever come to pass, but last week, the tech billionaire Elon Musk officially took over Twitter.The platform was once the place of underdogs, a public square that allowed users to challenge the moneyed and powerful. Is that about to change?Guest: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times, and co-host of the Times podcast “Hard Fork.”Background reading: A decade ago, Twitter was a tool for rebels and those challenging authority. But over time, the powerful learned how to use it for their own goals.Mr. Musk and a group of his advisers have been meeting with company executives, working on layoffs, ordering up product changes, talking with advertisers and reviewing content moderation policies.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
Sabrina Tavernisi talks to her colleague, Kevin Roos, about Elon Musk's ownership of Twitter and what it means for the social media platform's future.
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 biggest question surrounding Elon Musk's governance of Twitter is how he will balance opening up the platform and making it more free while also maintaining its profitability. Musk has already made steps to make Twitter more open by allowing edgy comedic voices back on the platform.
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