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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Technology
Matthew Cantor

‘I vote for chaos’: Twitter aflutter as users contemplate Musk era

Twitter Inc. United States Elon Musk Donald Trump Dan Crenshaw ElonMusk Marsha Blackburn
Twitter logo seen outside their headquarters in downtown San Francisco, California.
Twitter logo seen outside their headquarters in downtown San Francisco, California. Photograph: Amy Osborne/AFP/Getty Images

Elon Musk appeared to have taken control of Twitter on Thursday, after months of legal wrangling over the billionaire’s $44bn bid to take over the social media site.

People familiar with the matter said Musk completed the deal on Thursday afternoon, and terminated several top executives at the company, including the chief executive, Parag Agrawal.

Musk has said he bought the platform not to make money but to “help humanity”. The specifics of his plan remain unclear, but he has signaled that they could involve a relaxation of rules on acceptable speech – and many observers fear “helping humanity” could involve reinstating Donald Trump.

And Twitter, being Twitter, had plenty to say on the topic.

As the dust began to settle, users were weighing their options for the future, with some suggesting they would remain on the site – “for now”.

Many suggested a cautious approach to continued tweeting, with full use of Twitter’s tools for moderating one’s own feed:

Some vowed to quit:

Some wondered about a replacement service:

Others looked at the wider picture, and what the takeover means for society:

And there was, of course, speculation about Trump’s return:

Meanwhile, on the right, there was celebration, including from the Texas congressman Dan Crenshaw, who seemed impressed that Musk, who is literally the platform’s boss, was behaving accordingly:

Some hoped Musk would finally reveal the true identities of chunks of code:

And other downtrodden people whose voices are never heard, such as the US senator Marsha Blackburn, appeared to have high hopes for Musk’s content moderation policies:

And of course, plenty of people used the platform for its most noble purpose – jokes:

In summary:

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