Consumers of social don't have much freedom of choice. If consumers don't like what Musk does with Twitter, they cannot simply switch to another Twitter-like platform. There aren't any. The largest social media platforms have grown gigantic because anyone who wants to participate in them and influence debate has to join them. After they reach a certain size, they're the only megaphone in town. Where else would consumers go to post short messages that can reach tens of millions of people other than Twitter?
With social media, the ordinary rules of competition don't apply. Once a platform is dominant it becomes even more dominant. As Donald Trump discovered with his "Truth Social" fiasco, upstarts don't stand much chance.
Musk's real goal has nothing to do with the freedom of others. His goal is his own unconstrained freedom -- the freedom to wield enormous power without having to be accountable to laws and regulations, to shareholders, or to market competition - which is why he's dead set on owning Twitter.
Unlike his ambitions to upend transportation and interstellar flight, this one is dangerous. It might well upend democracy.
What do you think?
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