In a guest essay for the New York Times, MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes claims that new Twitter owner Elon Musk has realized all his worst fears within a month of running his new social media platform.
Hayes claimed that some of the worst trolls on Elon Musk Twitter have scared away advertisers and cut off employees handling the basic functions of the platform. Hayes also expressed concern that under Elon Musk the platform could break down and stop working altogether.
Hayes begins his guest essay by describing Elon Musk’s Twitter as a “near-death experience, if not a complete end”. He wrote, “If Twitter survives, and I hope it does, does its near-death experience reveal something fundamental about our lives online.
The digital space of civic life. The public town square, as Mr. Musk understood Twitter, has been privatized for criticism of our collective loss. He said, ‘Before buying Twitter, its co-founder and former CEO. Jack Dorsey said of the platform that no one should own it, that it ‘wants to be a public good at the protocol level.’
He continued to praise Twitter before Elon Musk as “an area where something similar to a global conversation was happening.” He said it was the closest he came to implementing his original vision of what a global town square could look like. He continued, “That’s why there was so much apprehension when Mr. Elon Musk bought the site: No one person should have that much power.”
Hayes then sharply criticized Musk’s handling of the stage. Within a month, he wrote, nearly all the worst fears had manifested. In enlisting them, he said, he has solicited some of the worst trolls, sent advertisers into hordes and reduced staff so much that simple tasks like two-factor authentication have at times worked. Has stopped doing and there is a risk that it will break easily.
Hayes then dismissed the question of why Musk bought the platform, writing, Elon Musk bought Twitter because he is a Twitter addict and, in particular, an extreme online attention seeker.
Hayes continued to malign the billionaire, whom she said is someone with millions of followers who digs deep into his own replies and mentions, clearly spending too much time looking at what people are saying about him. What do I say? That said, I can tell you from experience that it is a path to insanity, although it is a path that the design of Twitter and other social networks gently guides you down.
Hayes claimed that after Musk’s purchase, the site felt like a family saying goodbye to a beloved but highly problematic uncle. He also accused Musk of making the most expensive purchase in human history.