To say Twitter is going through some changes would be understating the case. Since Elon Musk took over the platform in late October 2022, we’ve seen a topsy-turvy, tumultuous Twitterverse in near constant flux. Musk’s takeover (well, really, Musk himself) has brought a lot of drama and sweeping changes on the social media platform affecting the company internally, its users, and its employees–or, rather, former employees.
From bird to doge to Dogecoin
Musk’s latest change to the platform involves changing the Twitter icon to the once-beloved Shiba Inu doge face, a popular meme. The same doge image is the symbol used for the cryptocurrency Dogecoin. Changing the Twitter icon may be a baffling move for those who don’t follow cryptocurrency ups and downs. However, investor speculation about the change had already begun to increase the value of Dogecoin, which was up by 32.73% as of February 2023, according to The Motley Fool. Musk has famously invested in Dogecoin.
Is it a ploy to drive up Dogecoin’s value even further? If so, it’s appears to be a successful one. The price of Dogecoin surged by 30% Monday after the doge face replaced the bird icon on the web UI (only). It’s a brash tactic, to say the least, for someone who is currently being sued for $258 billion in a class-action lawsuit in federal court for allegedly participating in a pyramid scheme to promote the Dogecoin cryptocurrency. It’s merely the latest in a series of moves that have left users scratching their heads, shaking their heads, or hightailing it off of Twitter.
Random changes and monetization attempts
From charging users $8 a month for formerly earned blue checks to threatening to charge big bucks for third party businesses to access the Twitter API, to massive layoffs, it has been chaotic from the word “Go.” Musk is implementing many changes in an effort to monetize the platform he bought for $44 billion.
Earlier this week, the retweet label vanished from the site, so that people’s feeds were being flooded with tweets from people they didn’t follow. In reality, they were seeing the deluge of retweets from people they were following, only not labeled in the feed as a retweet. In order to see where the post was coming from, one had to click on it, and then the retweet label would show up. Just as quickly and mysteriously as the retweet label disappeared, it has now reappeared, sans comment or explanation from the company.
Will Musk’s actions at Twitter reap consequences for the billionaire?
Many of the changes have caused more than 1 million users to leave the platform since early November. Additionally, research and data company Insider Intelligence speculate the platform is poised to lose more than 32 million users by the end of 2024. While those changes are to be seen, one thing is certain.
We are sure to see more changes in the coming months with Musk at the helm. If we are to believe it will follow the current pattern, these changes will be abrupt and not always announced. Many of these changes will also likely be reversed as suddenly as they happened. Twitter users may continue to be confused by the changes, but increasingly fewer will be surprised.
Haphazard shifts and whiplash-inducing changes to the platform are becoming the only sure-fire thing users and investors can expect from Musk’s Twitter. For those staying on the platform, fasten your seatbelts, as they say; it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Joleen Jernigan is an ever-curious writer, grammar nerd, and social media strategist with a background in training, education, and educational publishing. A native Texan, Joleen has traveled extensively, worked in six countries, and holds an MA in Teaching English as a Second Language. She lives in Austin and constantly seeks out the best the city has to offer.
