Elon Musk's Unpredictability Is Driving Away Twitter's Influencers

The frequent changes to Twitter Inc.'s content policies, which have been used to ban the accounts of several well-known journalists who report on Elon Musk, have caused outrage among regulators and those who support freedom of speech.

The recent changes have caused many of the most prolific content creators to leave the social network, which could have a negative impact on the business.

Twitter is a platform where a small portion of users are responsible for the majority of posts. According to Pew Research, 97% of tweets come from 25% of the users. Those in the media, who use Twitter to stay informed, are among the most active users. Twitter has long worked with media companies to get their journalists signed up and verified on the site. This is an important demographic for the platform, and was especially so before Elon Musk's involvement.

Lara Cohen, former vice president of partners and marketing, referred to reporters as the "heartbeat" of the user base. This team was among those affected by the layoffs recently implemented by Musk.

Twitter relies on its power users to create interesting content that will draw in other users to share and comment on those posts. This increases the number of tweets, which in turn creates more potential for advertising revenue.

Elon Musk is introducing a subscription service that will cost $8 a month, the success of which will be contingent on Twitter providing regular useful content and amusement to its subscribers. For Musk to be able to pay back the banks that loaned him billions to acquire the platform, Twitter must expand and be successful financially.

Elon Musk appears to comprehend the importance of this concept. During his initial Q&A session with staff members as their new proprietor in November, he pointed out that Twitter should bring in the best talent from YouTube and TikTok and devise a way for them to be rewarded for their efforts.

When he made public internal documents that detailed decisions by Twitter's former leadership, he asked the reporters who had access to the #TwitterFiles to publish their discoveries on the social media platform first.

Despite his public persona, Elon Musk is making life more difficult for his most popular content creators. On Thursday, several reporters from the New York Times, Washington Post, and other outlets had their accounts suspended while they were covering the ban of an account that was tracking his private jet. Some of these journalists had amassed followings of tens or even hundreds of thousands.

Twitter recently took action against several journalists after Elon Musk expressed concern about their tweets potentially endangering his safety. The social media platform suspended the accounts of the journalists in question.

On Saturday and Sunday, after restoring some of the users, he proceeded to block more prominent reporters who were covering stories about Musk. This caused a sense of alarm among the top users, who began to share links to their alternative accounts in case they were banned.

This did not sit well with Musk, so Twitter implemented a new rule that prohibited users from directing their followers to other social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and more.

Paul Graham, a well-known venture capitalist with 1.5 million followers, took to Twitter to express his frustration, saying, "This is the last straw. I'm done. You can find a link to my new Mastodon profile on my website." Shortly after, his account became temporarily inaccessible.

It is common for social media sites to discourage users from linking to their competitors. Facebook has been known to do this through their algorithms, which has been the subject of a federal antitrust case. Instagram, another property of Meta Platforms Inc., has made it difficult for large accounts to receive a verified check mark if they link to a competitive account in their profile. On TikTok, most accounts are not allowed to link anything in their profiles.

Twitter, which is mainly composed of text, has been a platform for creators to promote their work, regardless of where it is hosted. Jason Goldman, a former Twitter executive, commented that the company's broad policy against this is "unprecedented". He went on to say that the company is "terrified of the exodus".

The criticism from Twitter's most influential users has not been slowing down, so Elon Musk has taken some steps to address it. On Sunday, he apologized and declared that he will be holding votes on major decisions in the future. Additionally, he posted a poll asking people if he should resign from his position as head of Twitter.

Taylor Lorenz, a Washington Post journalist who covers the creator economy, noted that any platform that fails to recognize or appreciate its most influential creators usually does not survive for long. Lorenz experienced a temporary ban over the weekend after inquiring of Elon Musk for a comment on a story.