Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / Elon Musk's Twitter's new CEO finally speaks
Transcript
- 0:01Linda Yacarino, the newly appointed CEO of Twitter, is
- 0:04doubling down on the company's contentious policy of limiting
- 0:08the number of tweets that some users can view, despite the
- 0:11backlash from the platform's ever shrinking user base.
- 0:14And over the past weekend, a multitude of site visitors
- 0:17reported receiving error messages indicating rate limit
- 0:20exceeded or cannot retrieve tweets.
- 0:23Twitter owner Elon must deter the temporary limitations.
- 0:27Verified Twitter accounts were reduced to reading only 6000
- 0:30tweets per day, while unverified accounts were capped to 600 and
- 0:33newly unverified accounts at a mere 300.
- 0:37He indicated plans to raise these numbers to 10 thousand
- 0:401400 respectively. Yucca Reno in a tweet on Tuesday
- 0:45defended Twitter's decision, a move that has been greeted with
- 0:47a flurry of user discontent errors reported numbered in 1000
- 0:52and help the hashtag Twitter down trend globally.
- 0:57When you have a mission like Twitter, they said, you need to
- 0:59make big moves to keep strengthening the platform.
- 1:02This work is meaningful and ongoing.
- 1:06Now, we're going to get more into this story in just a
- 1:09moment, but first we're going to pay some bills and listen to a
- 1:12few sponsor messages. Her defense of the initiative
- 1:15coincided with the company's release of a statement.
- 1:18Updating users on the reasons behind the new rate limits.
- 1:21To ensure the authenticity of our user base, we must take
- 1:24extreme measures to remove spam and bots from our platform.
- 1:29That's why we temporarily limited usage so we could detect
- 1:33and eliminate bots and other bad actors that are harming the
- 1:36platform. Any advance notice on these
- 1:39actions would have allowed bad actors to alter their behavior
- 1:43to evade detection. Musk, the world's wealthiest
- 1:46person, acquired Twitter in a landmark $44 billion deal in
- 1:502022, has been a vocal critic of the prevalence of fake or bot
- 1:54accounts on the platform. He has publicly voiced concerns
- 1:58that he was misled about the extent of such accounts when he
- 2:01purchased the company, and the statement further clarified
- 2:04Twitter's ongoing effort to prevent fake accounts from
- 2:07scraping public user data to construct a I models and
- 2:10manipulate discourse on the platform.
- 2:13Twitter conceded that the current Counterbot actions were
- 2:16affecting a quote small percentage of users, but
- 2:19underscored that the impact on advertising was minimal.
- 2:22Whilst this work will never be done, we're all deeply committed
- 2:26to making Twitter a better place for everyone, the company added.
- 2:29At times, even for a brief moment, you must slow down to
- 2:33speed up. However, despite these
- 2:35reassurances, Twitter and its CEO continue to face significant
- 2:39user discontent. Some users have declared that
- 2:42the platform. Has never been worse.
- 2:44While others have branded it as the reason for their impending
- 2:47exit from the site, Yakorino's task is far from
- 2:50straightforward. Though.
- 2:52The former advertising chief of media Titan NBC Universal not
- 2:56only has to quell user discontent but also rebuild
- 2:59revenue after an advertiser exodus.
- 3:02Critics had dubbed Twitter a far right social network under
- 3:05Musk's leadership, causing many to flee the platform as well.
- 3:09And it wasn't just advertisers who departed.
- 3:12Many users also chose to abandon Twitter, disenchanted with the
- 3:16direction of the site was taking under Musk's management now.
- 3:21Newer social media platforms benefited from this exodus,
- 3:25gaining users discontented with Twitter.
- 3:28Additionally, a recent study revealed A worrying trend for
- 3:31the social media giant. Top users were posting less
- 3:34frequently after Musk's acquisition, a May 2023 Pew
- 3:39Research Center report. This closed that 60% of US
- 3:42Twitter users had, quote, taken a break from the platform over
- 3:45the previous year. Twitter's current struggles
- 3:48aren't confined to user and advertiser losses.
- 3:51The company is grappling with the aftermath of shedding four
- 3:54and five workers, whether through mass layoffs or
- 3:57voluntary resignations, and the platform has also been hit with
- 4:02a series of technical hiccups, leading to further user
- 4:05frustration and negative press. And this mail strip of
- 4:09challenges has been further complicated by a series of
- 4:12internal leaks. The senior management team has
- 4:14been grappling with insider information being shared
- 4:17publicly, damaging both the company's public image and
- 4:20internal morale. Perhaps more shockingly, reports
- 4:23have emerged of Musk refusing to pay the company's bills, a
- 4:26surprising turn of events considering the status of the
- 4:29world's wealthiest individual. And one can't help but note the
- 4:33irony of a platform like Twitter, which thrives on its
- 4:36users free expression. Embroiled in a controversy
- 4:39around limiting the very tweets, the form, its core identity and
- 4:43the rate limits imposed by Musk and Yacorino have caused
- 4:46consternation in a sown discord within the Twitter community,
- 4:51leaving users to wonder what's next for the platform now.
- 4:55This role for Yacorino has never been more critical as she
- 5:00navigates these turbulent waters and her decisions.
- 5:03Will shape not only the company's future, but could also
- 5:05have far reaching implications for the broader social media
- 5:08landscape. Critics have argued that
- 5:10Twitter's problems are largely of its own making, and they are
- 5:14not entirely wrong. In the months following Musk's
- 5:17takeover, the platform saw an exodus of users and advertisers,
- 5:21driven by concerns over the platform's political leanings
- 5:24and management changes. These departures have hit
- 5:27Twitter's bottom line, with falling ad revenues leading to
- 5:30financial strain. But Yakorino?
- 5:32Ever the Optimist sees this as an opportunity.
- 5:35With her vast experience in the media industry, she aims to
- 5:38steer Twitter back towards growth.
- 5:40Addressing the bot issue is a critical part of the strategy,
- 5:43as it is the bots that have long been a thorn in Twitter's side,
- 5:47skewing user metrics, spreading disinformation, and undermining
- 5:51the platform's credibility. Now, despite the challenges,
- 5:54Decarina maintains an unwavering belief in Twitter's potential.
- 5:58Her challenge is to convince the platform's remaining user base.
- 6:02And the wider public? That Twitter is still a vital
- 6:04forum for discourse, despite its recent struggles and the
- 6:08controversy surrounding Twitter's recent move to limit
- 6:11tweets, underscores the delicate balance social media platforms
- 6:15must strike. They must foster an environment
- 6:18that encourages free expression while also ensuring the
- 6:21authenticity and safety of their user base.
- 6:23And in an age of increasing concerns about misinformation
- 6:27and, quote, fake news, these goals have never been more
- 6:30important. Or more challenging to achieve.
- 6:33For Yakarina, the task at hand is not just about maintaining A
- 6:37thriving social media platform. It's about building trust in a
- 6:41platform that was once considered the epitome of free
- 6:43speech and real time news. And in a company whose recent
- 6:46reputation has been mired in controversy, she's already taken
- 6:51a tough stance on bots. But this is just one step and a
- 6:54long road ahead. Now Twitter Journey is going to
- 6:58be a huge one in the future. Twitter's journey is going to be
- 7:02difficult, and its future depends on how effectively it
- 7:06can navigate going forward. The decisions of Yacarino and
- 7:10her team in the coming months could very well determine if
- 7:13Twitter continues to be a relevant force in the social
- 7:15media landscape or becomes a tale of a tech giant undone by
- 7:20its own miscalculations. Thank you so much for listening
- 7:23to the show today. I really do appreciate all of
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