The takeover of Twitter is associated with high financial pressure for Elon Musk. That’s why he got into a fight with Stephen King on Tuesday. Now he follows up – and compares Musk with Tom Sawyer.
How to make Twitter profitable? This question should have given new owner Elon Musk sleepless nights in the last few days. Mostly because his takeover has only increased the financial pressure (read more here). The employees felt it first. But something will probably change for the users in the near future. Stephen King sees this as a problem.
The horror king made that clear on Twitter on Friday. Above all, Musk’s plan to only verify accounts for a fee clearly goes against the grain. “Musk reminds me of Tom Sawyer,” he explains. “His job is to get a fence clean white. But he tricks his friends into doing the work for him. And paying for the privilege. That’s what Musk wants with Twitter too. No, no, no,” he says his position on the plans clear.
Klare Twitter-Critical
King’s argument: Because he and others filled the service with content in the first place and made it so attractive, Musk couldn’t ask them to pay for it. He reaffirms this with a retweet of a post by journalist Laura Lippmann. “Twitter’s business model has always been to use its users as volunteers who let the mob eat them alive. But wanting to make us pay for it is okay far,” summarizes the view.
But he is not interested in a fundamental criticism of Musk, King emphasized even before his Tom Sawyer comparison. “My respects to Elon Musk, who started a revolution in the way the world drives and who has an incredibly visionary talent. I had a Tesla early on and traded it for another. Wonderful cars (No autopilot for me, thanks)” the author expressly praised the Tesla boss. “But when it comes to Twitter…”
Musk himself has not yet responded to King’s settlement. Last time, though, King’s word carried weight. After criticizing Musk’s plans to introduce a $20 monthly fee on Tuesday, the self-proclaimed “Chief Twit” quickly chimed in. And bargained himself down to $8 a month (read the full story here). King’s demand to pay him instead is likely to go too far for Musk.
Quelle: Stephen King