All that Elon Musk did on Twitter (so far)

It's not easy to summarize what happened on Twitter since Elon Musk took the reins, but it's necessary to try. But why do we care about what happens on that platform? Controversies fill news portals - such as part of the staff sleeping in offices to work more - and amidst all the noise, the underlying issues go unnoticed.

"The problems with Twitter are not engineering problems, they are political problems," summarizes The Verge. The value of the platform is not in its technology but in the people (in large numbers) who use it: celebrities, politicians, institutions, brands, and everyday people, and the conversations that are generated.

Therefore, it is an important stage for public discourse where debates are held, information is disseminated, connections are made, and actions are taken. And now it is in the hands of a person who already has a lot of power and little desire to share it. Nevertheless, after conducting a poll where people voted for him to step down as CEO, he seems to have committed to leaving that position.

The first thing Musk did was to implement a paid verification system, which lasted only a week. For $8, people opened accounts that looked official and began posting things that real brands wouldn't tweet. The one that had the worst time was a pharmaceutical company that had to clarify that insulin is not free, sparking a debate about equal access to healthcare. Its stock plummeted.

In addition, the magnate launched changes in content moderation with the promise of "ensuring freedom of expression," but with an escalation of racist content as an immediate result.

In this unstable environment, it is risky to invest in Twitter, and rumors of its closure have been circulating for weeks. But it is still standing, for now.