After Twitter users voted to remove Elon Musk as CEO, he wants to change the way polls work

New York
CNN
–

When Elon Musk polled Twitter users about whether former President Donald Trump’s account should be reinstated, he was quick followed through Most people want to do so. “Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” he tweeted in Latin, “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”

Similarly, when Twitter users voted on another of his polls to provide a “general amnesty for suspended accounts,” he said Go ahead and do it. He also responded to the votes of users in a poll for Repeat accounts Technology journalists he put out of work Friday.

But since the vast majority of Twitter users I voted for Musk to step down As Twitter’s CEO in another poll on Sunday, Musk remained conspicuously (and uncharacteristically) silent. Now, he seems to think the problem is not him, but who gets to vote at the polls.

In a tweet on Monday, roughly 12 hours after the CEO’s poll ended, Musk has suggested that he would change the way polling works on Twitter so that only those who pay for Twitter’s updated subscription service can vote. After a Twitter user said, “Blue subscribers should be the only ones who can vote in polls related to politics,” Musk replied“Good point. Twitter will make this change.”

While it’s unclear how voting will be restricted to those who pay for the company’s subscription service, such a change could significantly reduce the number of Twitter users who can vote in polls. It will also skew those who can vote for users willing to pay for Twitter Blue, which includes the controversial paid verification feature Musk pushed to introduce. Musk’s tweet on Monday immediately drew comparisons to poll taxes.

The incident is another example of the inconsistencies and chaos in Musk’s management of Twitter since acquiring the company in October. After coming under fire this weekend for A controversial new policy restricting users from posting links to rival platforms, Musk pledged to crowdsource “major policy changes” effectively on Twitter by polling users about them and quickly launched the poll on whether he should remain CEO.

Now, Musk appears to be ignoring the results of the CEO’s poll and is looking to overhaul how polls work without first polling users about what is arguably “another major policy change.”

Musk’s poll and his limited reaction to it so far could add to the growing uncertainty about his commitment to remain CEO of Twitter. Musk faced criticism from Twitter users and advertisers for his decision to exclude many of the company’s employees, to restore the accounts of a number of provocative users, and the damage resulting from the rush to apparently new policies and features to withdraw them later. The Tesla CEO is also facing pressure from the automaker’s shareholders to find a replacement at Twitter, after Tesla’s stock fell precipitously this year.

Musk did not comment directly on the user’s vote that he should step down from running Twitter. musk He said last month that he expects to “reduce my time on Twitter, and find someone else to run Twitter, over time”. But in Tweet Sunday He said, “No one wants the job that can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.”

CNBC reported Tuesday that Musk is “actively looking” for a new CEO on Twitter, citing anonymous sources. Twitter, which recently cut most of its PR team, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. musk answered to the story on Twitter with two laughing emojis.

most obvious Potential candidates for a new Twitter CEO position They are Musk’s associates who have been helping to run the company since his takeover. The shortlist likely includes investor Jason Calacanis, Kraft Ventures partner David Sachs, and Sriram Krishnan, a crypto-focused general partner Andreessen Horowitz and former Twitter consumer team lead.

And a host of other wild card candidates have publicly offered to take the job, including former T-Mobile CEO John Legere and rapper Snoop Dogg.