In a recent interview with the Verge, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed doubts about Elon Musk’s handling of Twitter. He said that he is not sure where Musk is trying to go with the company and that he is concerned that Musk’s divisive personality could prevent X from reaching its full potential.
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Mark Zuckerberg talks Musk & X
Mark Zuckerberg’s comments come amid a series of changes at X, including layoffs, a new verification process, and a new name. Musk has said that he is trying to turn X into an “everything app,” but Zuckerberg is not convinced that this is the right direction for the company.
“I think it’s still not clear exactly what trajectory it’s on,” Mark Zuckerberg said in the interview. “But I do think he’s been pretty polarizing, so I think that the chance that it sort of reaches the full potential on the trajectory that it’s on is… I don’t know. I guess I’m probably less optimistic or just think there’s less of a chance now than there was before.”
Mark Zuckerberg’s concerns about X are not unfounded. The platform has long been criticized for its toxicity and its inability to effectively address misinformation and hate speech. Musk has promised to make changes to address these issues, but it remains to be seen whether he will be successful.
In addition to his concerns about X’s trajectory, Zuckerberg also took a jab at Musk’s divisive personality. “I think he’s been pretty polarizing,” the Meta CEO said. “I think that’s probably not the best thing for a platform that’s trying to be a common digital town square.”
Musk is a controversial figure, and his ownership of X has been met with mixed reactions. Some users are excited about the changes that Musk has promised to make, while others are concerned that he will make the platform even more toxic.
Only time will tell whether Zuckerberg’s concerns about X will be realized. However, his comments highlight the challenges that Musk faces as he tries to turn the platform around.
Code Conference 2023
At Code Conference 2023, X CEO Linda Yaccarino claimed that the company will be profitable by early 2024. Yaccarino’s claims are based on the fact that 90% of the top 100 advertisers have returned to the platform in the last 12 weeks, and that user engagement has increased since June.
However, during the conference, interviewer CNBC’s Julia Boorstin pointed to data from app analytics firm Apptopia, which shows that X downloads are down 30% in the two months after its rebrand from Twitter, and that web traffic to X has also decreased.
X has never turned an annual profit in its first 13 years, and it has struggled to maintain profitability since then. The company also recently cut its staff from 8,000 to about 1,500, and it is facing multiple lawsuits over not paying rent for office space in several countries.
The problems that plague X are beyond just trying to increase user engagement, and new features won’t help fix them all.
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