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Musk launches Twitter edit button poll
Tesla boss Elon Musk has 80 million followers on Twitter. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/POOL/dpa
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has secured a majority stake in Twitter. And is already starting the first user surveys. What drives the tech billionaire?
After his large-scale entry into Twitter, tech billionaire Elon Musk is taking up an old demand from many users: the ability to subsequently change tweets.
Users can comment on whether they want an edit button in a Twitter poll set up by Musk. After the first hours on Tuesday night, approval was around 75 percent.
The non-representative survey has no direct consequences, but the freshly acquired participation of 9.2 percent automatically ensures Musk a better hearing with Twitter management. Twitter never responded to years of demands for an editing option.
The boss of the electric car manufacturer Tesla has so far kept a low profile about what he wants to achieve by joining the short message service. The fact that the stake was reported to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the form “13G” also means that Musk is not seeking any active influence on Twitter’s business policy or a seat on the board of directors, at least for the time being. In such cases he would have had to fill out the more detailed “13D” form. Nevertheless, Twitter shares jumped a good 27 percent on Monday.
Twitter boss Parag Agrawal allowed himself a subtle tip against his new largest shareholder. Agrawal retweeted Musk’s poll, saying, “The ramifications of this poll will be significant. Please vote carefully.” With this sentence, Musk asked Twitter users a few days ago for their opinion on freedom of speech at the service before announcing his entry.