— The billionaire bought Twitter to revive its business and make it less “woke.” He has succeeded at only one of those goals.
One year after billionaire Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, aiming to rid it of a “woke mind virus” that he believed was suppressing free speech, the site’s business outlook appears dire.
The number of people actively tweeting has dropped by more than 30 percent, according to previously unreported data obtained by The Washington Post, and the company — which the entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX has renamed X — is hemorrhaging advertisers and revenue, interviews show.
But in at least one respect, Musk has delivered on his original promise: Twitter has become far less “woke.”
Through dramatic product changes, sudden policy shifts and his own outsize presence on the platform, Musk has rapidly re-engineered who has a voice on a service that used to be the hub of real-time news and global debate. A site that fueled social movements such as the Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter and #MeToo has veered noticeably rightward under Musk, especially in the United States, say organizers from across the political spectrum.
Growth of influential conservative accounts since Musk’s takeover
On the day Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter closed, several conservative accounts’ follower counts accelerated — a growth spurt that has yet to abate.
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— Techmeme