Elon Musk and the Twitter Files

Summary: Elon Musk commissioned Matt Taiby and Bari Weiss to investigate Twitter's past actions, hyping it as a battle for civilization. The resulting "Twitter Files" proved anticlimactic, lacking the smoking gun Musk sought. Subsequently, both Weiss and Taiby fell out with Musk, their work minimized, and their reach on the platform restricted.

Insights:

• Hype can backfire, especially when the outcome doesn't match the build-up.
• Even with seemingly aligned goals, maintaining working relationships can be challenging, especially with volatile personalities.
• Control over a platform allows manipulation of narratives and suppression of dissenting voices, even those initially invited to contribute.

Proper Nouns:

• Elon Musk: Initiator and funder of the "Twitter Files", owner of Twitter.
• Matt Taiby: Journalist commissioned by Musk to investigate Twitter.
• Bari Weiss: Journalist commissioned by Musk to investigate Twitter.
• Hunter Biden: Subject of a controversial New York Post story that factored into the "Twitter Files".
• Donald Trump: Former US President, whose actions on Twitter were also scrutinized in the "Twitter Files".
• Substack: Publishing platform Taiby used, later targeted by Musk.
• Twitter Files: Name given to the collection of internal Twitter communications released by Musk.

Research:

• What were the specific allegations made in the "Twitter Files"?
• How did the public react to the release of the "Twitter Files"?
• What long-term impacts did the "Twitter Files" have on Twitter and online discourse?