At the weekend, Elon Musk conducted a vote on his own Twitter account to allow Trump to return to the platform. Voting ended on the night of Sunday Norwegian time. 51.8 percent voted yes to allow the former president to return, while 48.2 percent voted no. “Reinstate former President Trump,” Musk wrote in the Twitter message, where users could vote either yes or no. – It surprised me a little that Musk has initiated this vote, says Ståle Lindblad, expert on social media. Elon Musk together with Donald Trump during the launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 in 2020. Photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters He points out that Elon Musk has previously tweeted that he will establish a council to decide whether people who have previously been banned should be allowed to return again. That Twitter message has now been deleted. – He has clearly changed his mind. He’s a bit Trumpian, Lindblad says of Musk. – It is typical of him to say one thing and then come up with something completely new, he adds.. Challenge for American politics Trump has previously said that he does not want to return to Twitter. He created the social media Truth Social after he was banned from Twitter in January 2021. After a lot of back and forth, it became clear that Tesla founder Elon Musk bought Twitter in October this year. The price tag? Around 44 billion dollars. Photo: Thomson Reuters (Do not use this version of the image) – But it is questionable whether Trump is able to say no to the roughly 80 million followers he had on Twitter, says Lindblad. The Trump medium Truth Social has only about 2 million active users. – What is the consequence if Trump gets back on Twitter? – You and I probably won’t notice it much. We have the feed we have, with people we follow. But it will once again become a platform where Trump can spread his propaganda. For American politics, it will present a challenge, says Lindblad. Trouble for Twitter There has been a lot of noise around Twitter since Musk took over as owner in October. Twitter has fallen in value, and Musk immediately fired 3,500 employees – close to half of the total staff. Several major advertisers have eventually withdrawn from the platform, among them the car brands Volkswagen and Audi, as well as the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Lindblad points out that no large Norwegian advertisers are present on the platform today. – Is it the beginning of the end for Twitter? – I think Twitter will continue to exist. But there is a real danger that it is becoming irrelevant. Musk also writes “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” in the Trump poll thread, meaning “Voice of the People, Voice of God.”
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