Horror author Stephen King AFP PHOTO /BERTRAND LANGLOIS
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Stephen King, a horror author, offered his thoughts on Twitter’s chaotic state since it was purchased by Elon Musk, a billionaire.
King tweeted that he’s not a fan of the social media platform these days, writing: Twitter was more enjoyable in its pre-Musk period. Less controversy, more fun.” Musk responded directly, with a playful ghost emoji.
Musk responded, but King didn’t respond. He replied with what appeared to be a polite peace offer: “I am still a big fan of you, tbh.” Again, King didn’t bother to respond, and eventually, Musk deleted the comment.
Stephen King deleted reply from Elon MuskKing has complained about Musk’s management of Twitter before, previouslyYou can compare him to Tom Sawyer (a con artist who tricked the gullible to pay for chores).
King also threatened to leave the site if Musk’s much-mocked proposal to charge Twitter users $20 for verification came to pass, which led to Musk’s now-infamous response, in which he suggested that $8 might be a more reasonable price (as has become clear, verification exists to filter out scammers and copycat accounts, not as a status symbol for the extremely online).
Again, King didn’t respond to Musk.
In a later tweet, Musk appeared to reference his recent exchange with King, but really, he could have been alluding to several of the site’s high-profile users, many of which, such as Mark CubanThey have criticised the changes.
King is not the only Twitter user who is concerned about the management of the site. Musk, however, actually went ahead with his poorly-conceived plan and launched Twitter’s verification system on Wednesday. Trolls and pranksters quickly discovered that paid verification attracted people who wanted to create verified profiles and imitate brands, celebrities, and politicians. They then began to wreck havoc on the site (and in the stock market), with jokes and misinformation.
As the site faced the exact problem every critic warned of, the paid verification system was stopped.
Many are concerned about site fluctuations and the uncertain future. Others, however, are enjoying the chaos.
While Twitter is a lively forum for information exchange, absurd feuds, and witticisms it has been all along, the paid verification checks provided pranksters with an effective weapon.
Brands are, understandably, spooked, and being advised to pause ad spend on the platform, even as the site’s user growth spikes, as Twitter users gawk at the ongoing drama.
Musk’s Twitter has been compared to the last day of school, or the sinking Titanic; there’s a sense that it all might end abruptly, but before it does, anything could happen.
Some celebrities have already flown the bird’s nest, fearing the worst, such as Whoopi Goldberg, Shonda Rhimes, Gigi Hadid, David Simon and Stephen Fry. Steven King is, however, still available on Twitter.
Perhaps King, revered storyteller, can talk some sense into Musk; that is, if Musk is still “a big fan” after that one-sided exchange.
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