What Do the Changes at Twitter Mean for Business?
Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has dominated recent headlines and brought several changes to the platform. Here’s a brief synopsis of the current situation and how it may affect your business’s digital strategies.
In late October 2022, Elon Musk closed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter. Following the acquisition, Musk fired several top executives and laid off 50 percent of Twitter’s staff. Twitter also transitioned from a public entity to a private business.
Before November 6, 2022, the blue “Verified” tick on a company’s Twitter profile indicated that the profile in question was an authentic brand account. Now, the Twitter Blue subscription service allows any user to receive the verification tick for $7.99/month.
This new “Verified” system poses a significant risk to brand identity and could potentially lead to the loss of verification privileges due to malicious impersonation. The pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly & Co., was one of the first victims of a Twitter Blue account impersonator, resulting in a 6% drop in its shares.
To calm the concerns of advertisers, the new subscription package was paused days later. Musk plans to relaunch the service on November 29. As of this article’s release, the risks to established brands remain.
While several members of the Twitter executive team were fired, others resigned. The loss of these executives raises new concerns that the company may be vulnerable to security or privacy failings that may harm users.
New issues are being reported, such as copyright automation failing and slower resolution for hacked accounts. As reported by Forbes, users have uploaded large amounts of copyrighted data, which remained live for hours before being taken down by Twitter. Slowed content moderation also increases the likelihood that promoted posts may appear adjacent to unsavory or offensive content.
Many marketing professionals – BrainDo among them – recommend pausing Twitter ad spending until risks to brand, security, and privacy are directly addressed. As the landscape changes, we will continue to provide updates and advice regarding the current state of social media.
Have questions about how Twitter’s changes could impact your brand? Would you like to learn more about how BrainDo can help with your digital advertising? Contact the BrainDo team here for more information.