What Can We Learn From Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover?
What Can We Learn From Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover?
The New York Stock Exchange has suspended all Twitter shares as Elon Musk completes his $44M purchase of Twitter. Musk confirmed ownership with a Tweet reading “the bird is freed,” reiterating his stance on freedom of speech. But what does this mean for the social media platform now the world’s richest man is in the driver’s seat? We looked at online conversation around the takeover to find out. Our research covers a sample of 1.6M results from October 26th - 28th.
Conversation Spikes As Musk Fires Twitter Executives
Conversation spiked following news that Musk had fired a number of Twitter executives. This included the platform’s former Head of Legal Policy, Trust and Safety, Vijaya Gadde. Gadde was responsible for Donald Trump’s permanent suspension in January, citing the reason as “risk of further incitement of violence,” after the US Capitol attack. CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal are also among those believed to have been fired.This choice was largely unpopular, with negative sentiment driving almost half (47.8%) of all mentions in the hour that followed. One particular Twitter user writes, “
Elon Musk officially bought Twitter & the first thing he did was fire people. How exactly is that “helping humanity?" It’s Rupert Murdoch & Myspace all over again.
”
Trump is Trending
Our research identified Donald Trump as a key theme within the conversation. In fact, almost 20% of all results for Elon Musk also mentioned the former US President. As a self-proclaimed “freedom of speech absolutist,” Musk has promised to reverse the permanent ban. Responding to news of the takeover, Trump has reportedly said Twitter is “now in sane hands”. Despite this, it is unclear if he will return due to having founded his own social media platform, Truth Social. Though conversation around Trump is largely negative (27.8%), positive sentiment is on the rise as supporters discuss the comeback. One Tweet reads, “Former US President Donald Trump on Friday said he was happy Twitter Inc was in "sane hands" after Elon Musk formally took over, but did not say whether he would return. Come back, Don!”
Feelings Are Strong
Though male users are driving conversation for every age group, it's the older females who are making their feelings most clear. Our research revealed women aged 65+ have the highest proportion of positive mentions (31.3%). In addition, those in the 45-54 category had the highest proportion of negative mentions (34.4%). Many are leveraging the takeover to promote their political agenda. In fact, #vote is the largest trend within the negative conversation - among both sides! One Twitter user writes, “If you feel bad waking up knowing Elon Musk is in charge of Twitter, imagine how bad you'll feel waking up on Nov. 9 to find Mitch McConnell in control of the Senate, Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, Jim Jordan holding a gavel, and Kari Lake as Governor of Arizona. #Vote” while another Tweet reads, “Elon Musk is cleaning house at Twitter. TIME FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO CLEAN HOUSE! VOTE OUT THE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT EXTREMISTS. #VoteRedToSaveAmerica2022”.
Twitter is the top data source for online conversation around Elon Musk's Twitter takeover. This is perhaps ironic, considering the volume of negative results. However people are feeling about it, they're taking to Twitter to discuss the matter. We at RILA GLOBAL CONSULTING are certainly looking forward to observing if and how this might change in the coming months. To find out more about how social listening can help your business, reach out today!