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Elon Musk’s $44B Twitter bid approved by board of directors
Aside from his conditions to know how much Twitter’s user base is bots, Elon Musk doesn’t have much standing in his way of ownership.
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Elon Musk followed through on everything he planned to do — he’s basically bought Twitter. The social media platform is one of the leading popular websites, with over 229 million users worldwide.
These users are active on the platform and contribute to Twitter’s daily discussions, regardless of their niche or interests. Now, the whole platform is set to belong to Elon Musk.
Elon Musk made good in all his comments about purchasing the platform. While he doesn’t own Twitter yet, Twitter’s board of directors has unanimously approved the proposed sale, taking him one step closer to sealing the deal.
Twitter’s board approves Elon Musk’s Twitter bid
According to a new SEC filing, the board “unanimously recommends that [shareholders] vote [for] the adoption of the merger agreement,” as they state the merger is “fair to, advisable and in the best interests of Twitter and its stockholders.”
Musk’s driving motivation behind buying Twitter was that he wanted users to feel like they could speak more freely on social media.
He is also considering converting the platform to subscription-only — leaving less room for advertisers to pressure Twitter, as it will be getting its revenue elsewhere.
Many people wonder where this transition will leave them. Will Twitter see even more misinformation due to the platform going private? Because public companies are regulated more than private ones, Twitter users could possibly see increased misinformation going forward.
Nobody will know for sure until Musk implements all his new guidelines. Only time will tell his plans for the platform.
Musk’s doubts about Twitter’s user base composition
One of Elon Musk’s stipulations about buying Twitter was that he needed to know how many fake users were on the platform.
He’s threatened to put the deal on hold until he finds out the composition of real Twitter users versus bots. That way, he can know whether it’s worth the investment for revenue purposes.
A Twitter bot is a bot software that controls an automated Twitter account using the Twitter API. These bots can interact with users and tweets, as well as autonomously create their own tweets on their accounts.
Not all of these bots are harmful — in fact, many are helpful tools that can broadcast useful information such as weather emergencies in real-time. Many bots, however, can be detrimental or hold an underlying threat.
Bots can be dangerous for several reasons. For one thing, they can incite violence if developers make them inflammatory. They could also spread malware through links — ones that not every user knows not to click on.
Keeping users and their sensitive files and information safe from dangerous links is more important than ever as, in just one year, security breaches exposed 52% more records and files than the year previous.
Over 80% of the top influential accounts on Twitter are bots, meaning that fewer retweets and interactions are organic.
When the most popular users are primarily bots, they can say just about anything their creator wants them to — and Musk wants them gone because of this.
Musk still has a few hurdles to jump
Aside from his conditions to know how much Twitter’s user base is bots, Elon Musk doesn’t have much standing in his way of ownership.
He is worth nearly $230 billion, making him the world’s richest person and leaving little to nothing unable to buy. One such thing just happens to be one of the largest social media sites.
Once Musk knows how much of the Twitter user base is bots, he’ll be able to make a final decision and close the deal. Although, many people are unsure if Musk will go through with it if he finds something he doesn’t like.
Either way, if you’re interested in Twitter shares, get them before the company goes private so you can also benefit from the transition.
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