Elon Musk buys Twitter: "Can someone please tell me if I'm rich or fired?"

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Tesla boss Elon Musk: An enfant terrible is about to take over Twitter

Photo: DADO RUVIC / REUTERS

It's been more than four years since Elon Musk himself joked about a Twitter takeover.

What if it was a joke?

"I love Twitter," Tesla CEO wrote, to which a podcast host responded, "Then you should buy it." Musk responded, asking, "How much does it cost?" Musk then posted a smiling face emoji, that is upside down.

Now, at the end of April 2022, the online exchange from the end of 2017 seems surreal.

Dave Smith, the podcast host from back then, also comments: "This exchange still haunts me." As it became known on Monday evening German time, Elon Musk will probably really buy Twitter for $ 44 billion.

So the multi-billionaire who has seen Twitter as a stage for his network show for years, which often consists of memes, insinuations and provocations, could soon be in charge of the short message service.

Last weekend, for example, Musk circulated a photo showing a picture of Bill Gates next to a pregnant man emoji.

His comment: "In case you have to lose a boner quickly." Elon Musk is not a normal investor, but an enfant terrible, an "irritainer".

Twitter's user base, consisting of around 300 million people, reacted very differently to the news that his Twitter purchase might actually go ahead.

Some members were happy about Musk's hints over the past few weeks that he wanted to strengthen the freedom of expression allegedly restricted on Twitter.

Others stated that it was precisely this murmur that worried them – the moderation on Twitter had been considered unprofessional for years.

Against this background, some Twitter users called for switching to alternatives such as Mastodon.

Referring to a Forbes top list from the previous year, author David Rothkopf wrote that Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the United States at the time, owned the Washington Post newspaper.

The then number two on the list, Musk, now owns Twitter.

“Number 3 owns Facebook.

Numbers 5 and 6 founded Google.

Numbers 4 and 9 founded Microsoft.

Number 10 owns Bloomberg.” “Freedom of Speech?” Rothkopf asked.

"You have to decide that."

How big is the panic at Twitter headquarters?

Numerous Twitter users also did on Monday evening what they always do when surprising news rolls over the platform: they used the news as a template for pithy sayings and jokes.

With the help of gifs and video clips, users imagined how Twitter's headquarters could react to Musk - for example with screaming excitement.

According to reports by US journalists, this idea is not that far from reality.

Someone who works for Twitter in the UK himself tweeted Monday night: "Can someone please tell me if I'm rich or fired?"

As far as Twitter members are concerned, US TV personality Carol Roth was already convinced in mid-April that Musk's planned billion-dollar investment would hardly scare users away.

The saying "I will leave Twitter when Elon Musk takes power" is the new "I will move to Canada if Trump wins," she predicted.

Something that sounds drastic, but hardly anyone takes action.

Similar sayings also spread rapidly on Monday.

Other Twitter members use the circulating migration fantasies as an excuse to mourn the loss of platforms that have already been discontinued or are completely irrelevant.

The user @dasniveau wrote: "We all knew that the moment would come when we would regret the end of StudiVZ." StudiVZ was discontinued at the end of March - after many years of insignificance.

A young SPD politician named Tim Vollert suggested following him now on “the best social media platform”, “the SPD online topic forum”.

A screenshot of his user account states that he has had exactly two friends there so far.

Memories of Jack Dorsey

US comedian Mike Drucker addressed the self-image of Twitter users.

“Elon Musk may change Twitter,” he commented, “but one thing he can't change is our dignity (we never had it). I'm bored five minutes later and thoughtlessly open the app.«

The Twitter account "Allen Ivermectin" also warned against glorifying the previous situation on the platform.

"If you're angry that Twitter will be run by a rich libertarian nutcase, google Jack Dorsey," it said, referring to the Twitter co-founder, who was the head of the service until the end of 2021.

Another user who goes by the name "Coldplayer" imagined what Musk might be up to after the Twitter purchase - maybe a purchase from Amazon?

A purchase in the sense that Musk puts the whole store in his virtual shopping cart?

A user named Meeru Ansari preferred to spread an idea of ​​what it might look like when Musk hits Twitter with his billions.

New Twitter logos have also been invented, for example alluding to Tesla and a well-known Musk interview in which he grabbed a joint.

Comedy writer Miguel Robitzky, meanwhile, threatened Elon Musk: "KEEP YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM MY DRAFT FOLDER, MR.

MUSK!!!«

Trump reportedly wants to stay with Truth Social

On Tuesday night, many Trump parody accounts also devoted themselves to the planned Twitter takeover.

However, the real Donald Trump, who is banned from the platform, responded dismissively.

The former US President said he wanted to remain in his own network, Truth Social, which was considered a flop.

The nonsense account »Donald J. Drumpf« outlined a way out of this situation.

The following words were put into Trump's mouth: "I have no intention of ever showing my face on Twitter again!

Unless Elon Musk makes me an offer on Truth Social I can't refuse!

$99.99 and it's his."

mbo