Why Elon Musk s Twitter Won t Be What Fans or Critics Expect – WSJ

If there s a safe bet about the future of Twitter TWTR -2.09%¼, it s that Elon Musk s changes to the platform will confound prognosticators, fans and critics alike.

Mr. Musk s intention to loosen the restraints on what people can say on Twitter have gotten the most attention, drawing praise from many on the right and concern on the left. But the world s richest man, who has built a reputation as one of the most unorthodox business leaders of our time, seems likely to unleash changes to the platform that go well beyond revamping its content policies.

There are signs that the technically minded Mr. Musk is thinking about structural changes to Twitter if his $44 billion acquisition goes through that could have significant and sometimes contradictory impacts. Among them: his declaration that Twitter should make the algorithm that determines what users see open source and therefore more transparent. These changes could reach deep into Twitter s fundamental infrastructure as well as its policies of self-governance. If they work, they could increase Twitter s reach, or, if not, diminish it.

In shaping the future of Twitter, Mr. Musk has a range of possibilities to consider. One alternative is being incubated by Twitter itself: a project called Bluesky. It is an independent corporation that Twitter launched in 2019 and has been funding with the goal of developing standards and protocols for social-media services to communicate with one another and, ultimately, of separating the display of the contents of social media from the data they contain, giving users more flexibility about what they see and with whom they interact.

via www.wsj.com

This could be interesting.