Twitter CEO Elon Musk released an open letter to Twitter advertisers saying that he believes “advertising, when done right, can delight, entertain and inform,” reassuring the group that makes up the bulk of Twitter’s revenue that ads are still very welcome on the platform.
The new Twitter CEO Elon Must who is the billionaire Tesla founder who will close his tortured acquisition tomorrow, has indicated in the past he will prefer to wean the service off ads, although it was never clear how that could work. Advertisers have also been wary about Musk’s being less focused on content moderation and he addressed that too, sort of.
“Twitter can obviously not become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences!” Twitter “must be warm and welcoming for all.”
He acknowledged in the letter published via tweet that it’s a tall order. “I didn’t buy Twitter because it would be easy or to make money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love, and I do so with humility recognizing that failure in pursing this goal despite our best efforts is a very real possibly.”
“There is currently great danger that social media will splinted into far right wing and far left win echo chambers that generate more hate and divide in our society,” he said. He blamed traditional media for that trend, saying it catered to “polarized extremists” in its “relentless pursuit of clicks” and cash.
Musk had a bit of guidance for marketers: ‘It is essential to show Twitter users advertising that is as relevant as possible to their needs. Low relevance ads are spam but highly relevant ads are actually content!”
“Fundamentally, Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise,” he said. “To everyone who has partners with us, I thank you. Let us build something extraordinary together.”
The new Twitter CEO Elon Musk is spending time at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters this week (carrying a sink in yesterday – to let the change in ownership “sink in”) as he prepares to close the $44 billion, or $54.20 a share, deal by a court-imposed deadline tomorrow, taking the company private. The New York Stock Exchange said it plans to suspend Twitter shares from trading before the open.