Elon Musk Mocked For ‘Pathetic’ Twitter Blue Tweet Hours After Report On Cratering Ad Revenue

Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted an update this past Saturday on how business at the company is going, and… it could be better. So when another tweet touting his paid Twitter Blue service for “23 cents/day” hit everyone’s timeline, a lot of mockery was quick to follow.

In Saturday’s tweet, Musk reported that Twitter’s ad revenue had dropped 50 percent, causing a “negative cash flow” that was exacerbated by the company’s increasing debt. Quartz reported that despite Musk’s dramatic cost-cutting activities, Twitter is still in the hole by $13 billion.

Hours after that report, Musk tweeted out a promotion for Twitter Blue at the low, low cost of just “23 cents/day”:

First things first: coffee doesn’t come in a tea bag. And while that was the subject of some commentary, it was the seeming plea for cash by one of the richest people in the entire world that got people responding:

Quartz pointed out that the drop in advertisers since Musk took over Twitter in late 2022 might not have everything to do with Musk’s “absolutist free speech” policies that let disinformation run wild, but the timing points to it:

Musk implemented changes that weakened quality control on the platform, such as removing unpaid blue ticks meant to safeguard the authenticity of high-profile accounts, and the deprioritization of content moderation, including the ousting of the trust and safety council and tweaking of language meant to protect trans folk. With fewer guarantees that there are checks in place to guarantee quality content on the platform, some advertisers think twice about risking their brand name appearing next to abusive, defamatory, or offensive language.

 

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