Twitter presents an opportunity and challenge for Elon Musk the businessman

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It may have sounded a bit cheesy but seeing the euphoria on social media at the news of Elon Musk winning the bid for Twitter I could not help tweeting “Dum-a-Dum ‘Musk’ Kalandar”.

Going by the blow hot and cold drama of the past few weeks, since Musk bought his first stake of 9.2 percent in Twitter avowedly as a passive investor, his on and off statements about joining the Twitter board and Twitter’s own scantly veiled hostility towards its new suitor, it appeared that the maverick Musk was undecided about the move. Everyone was sceptical about how far he was willing to go for the sake of free speech evangelism.

The $44 billion deal puts all speculations about the buy-out to rest. At the same time, it opens a Pandora’s Box about what this implies for the future of Twitter both as a business entity and a communication platform. Can Twitter be the ‘Town Square’ of the world, as Musk would like to visualise it to be, without a business model? After airlifting the entity out of Wall Street would the new owner be willing to underwrite its bottom-line for the sake of upholding free speech forever? Or even he too will look at diluting his stakes at a future date when his mission is accomplished.

For now nobody has answers to these questions. Perhaps, not even Musk. In any case, as the world knows, it is not only difficult but impossible to figure out what is in Musk’s mind.

For all his idiosyncrasies, Musk is a businessman first just like any of his peers. This has been demonstrated before in his investment decisions, even minor ones such as bringing Tesla manufacturing facilities to India. He has not yet reached the stage of a George Soros or a Bill Gates, who having seen and done it all are now engaging in changing the world — for good or bad depending on from which end one looks at it.

Musk still has a lot of iron in the fire and miles to go not just on earth but even into outer space. Therefore, he can act crazy but cannot afford to go crazy. His competitors and governments around the world watching him know that well. What will add to their woes though is unlike a Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg, one doesn’t know what drives Musk — is it profit, political power, or the ultimate superman who wants to rule the world someday.

The answer to these questions will determine the future of Twitter. While the first two, profit, and power, are somewhat inter-linked, the third, which one cannot rule out in the case of Musk, would take the possibilities to an extra-terrestrial level.

If profit is Musk’s primary driver, then Twitter will have to be made more of a market square than a town-square that Musk alluded to. Markets must be free cutting across boundaries of geography, ethnicity, and language. Though Twitter may be way ahead of others in the social media space, it will still have to lead through technology, and innovation.

When it comes to power, it would be about managing the flow of information. That would call for broad basing the platform not just in terms of political opinion but also geographical representation. It will not only be about breaking the stranglehold of the Left liberal narrative but also providing the emerging powers and less affluent nations a voice.

So, it will no longer be about the return of Donald Trump on Twitter but also on-boarding the rest of the world with a commensurate share of voice. This can be both an opportunity and challenge for Musk the businessman. As he is not dependent only on Twitter for his earnings and wealth, he would be able to withstand any financial arm-twisting. Equally, his commercial stakes in countries such as China can make him more vulnerable. However, some trade-offs and adjustments are inevitable.

In either case, India and Indians too will have to recalibrate their ways of dealing with and using Twitter. Nothing comes as an unmixed blessing. Also, everything has a price tag attached. In India town squares often double as marketplaces. The government will have to balance both.

When Jack Dorsey talked of Twitter being in an “impossible situation”, he was probably referring to this conundrum. But as he said Musk is best equipped to navigate through these woods. Whether he chooses to do it riding a Tesla, a tiger, or a spaceship is to be seen.

Sandip Ghose is a current affairs commentator. Twitter: @SandipGhose. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.