“Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.” Since Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter was accepted on 25 April 2022, there have been enough twists and turns to make any attempt at predicting the final outcome of the saga, and the likelihood of Twitter’s “potential” being unlocked, unwise.
Recent months have seen the rise of alternative social media platforms. While many people are still getting to grips with TikTok, Reddit, Twitch and Discord, in the fast-paced online landscape these are now becoming the old kids on the block. The new kids are transforming the ways that social content is regulated, politicised and monetised.