From Twitter To X: How Elon Musk Changed The Platform In One Year

It's been a year since Elon Musk, the world's richest man, completed the purchase of Twitter - now rebranded as X. But the deal did not come before a lot of back and forth from Mr Musk, due to which it was termed by many news outlets as "the biggest, messiest tech deals ever". The billionaire first announced that he is buying the platform in April 2022 for $54.20 a share, which was accepted by then Twitter management. But by July, he wanted out. After other twists and turns, he finally became the new owner of the micro-blogging platform on October 27, 2022.

Mr Musk informed the world through tweets that he had acquired Twitter to create "a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner". In the last one year, he has reshaped the platform step by step.

Many famous people quit the platform since October 2022, accusing Mr Musk of allowing "unwelcomed" voices on Twitter and casting doubt on his management style.

The Tesla chief fired then Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, bring in Linda Yaccarino months later. He also announced the launch of paid subscription called 'Twitter Blue' to get those coveted blue tick mark for your profile.

The site's algorithm was also tweaked to ensure that Mr Musk's voice is the most prominent on a daily basis (he has 161 million followers).

Mr Musk's main plan for Twitter was to shift away from advertising and toward paid subscription. Bloomberg cited an analysis from independent researcher Travis Brown that estimates that 950,000 to 1.2 million people now pay for X's $8 monthly premium service. That means X persuaded less than one per cent of users to sign up - and translates to revenue of less than $120 million annually from the company's subscription service, not including app store fees from Apple Inc. and Google.

This is a far cry from the ad revenue that the platform relied on in the era before Mr Musk took over - about $4.5 billion.

Further, X's top five advertisers are spending 67 per cent less on ads than they did before the acquisition, according to data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

The content moderation rules have also been loosened, with several misleading photos and images circulating on X. However, the platform has added a feature where users add context to give the correct picture.

This happened because Mr Musk laid off about 80 per cent of the company's 7,500 staff, including the vast majority of those who policed the site for hate speech and conspiracy.

Mr Musk has also talked about turning the platform into an "everything app", something that caused him to rebrand the company to X. Analysts are now anxious to understand how that will pan out so there is something for users to pay for.