OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
New Twitter major shareholder and board member Elon Musk led off this week with a bang, asking users if they want to see the platform add an “edit” button.
Musk first tweeted, “Oh hi lol,” to his 80.4 million followers, which racked up more than 830,000 likes by publication time.
He then put up a poll that asked, “Do you want an edit button?” the poll read, with the options intentionally misspelled as “yse” and “on.”
An edit button is something that many users on the left-wing platform have striven for.
Do you want an edit button?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
“So [Elon Musk] is just gonna influence twitter by polling millions of people on important issues,” one Twitter user said, adding a sunglasses emoji.
Musk responded, “I mean, if the people vote overwhelmingly for something, it is at least *a* data point!”
By the time of publication, more than 3.6 million people had voted.
The Daily Wire added:
Twitter shares surged on Monday after a regulator filing was released, revealing that Musk has become the platform’s largest shareholder, taking a 9.2% stake in Twitter Inc.
Musk last month teased a shakeup at Twitter, or possible plans to build a new social media platform that promotes free speech.
For example, he asked his followers to vote in a poll about free speech and Twitter’s adherence to it, emphasizing that the “consequences of this poll will be important.”
“Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?” the 50-year-old asked. “The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.”
The CEO of Twitter, Parag Agrawal, took to the platform on Monday to announce that the Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink CEO became the largest shareholder in the company and that he would be added to its board of directors.
“I’m excited to share that we’re appointing @elonmusk to our board! Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board,” he said in a tweet thread.
“He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term. Welcome Elon!” he said.
He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term. Welcome Elon!
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) April 5, 2022
Musk responded to the tweets: “Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!”
Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
Musk bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter, making him the largest shareholder of the left-leaning social media platform.
“Musk owns 73.5 million Twitter shares, valuing his passive stake in the company at up to $2.9 billion based on the stock’s Friday close. The shares are held by the Elon Musk Revocable Trust,” Newsmax reported.
“Musk, a prolific user of Twitter, has over 80 million followers on the site since joining in 2009 and has used the platform to make several announcements, including teasing a go-private deal for Tesla that landed him in regulatory scrutiny. He, however, has been critical of the social media platform and its policies of late and has said the company is undermining democracy by failing to adhere to free speech principles,” the report noted further.
