Elon Musk takeover likely to attract GenZ users to Twitter

Musk is pretty much the poster child of Web3.0 and the new decentralised world, which resonates with GenZ or people born between the mid- to late-1990s and early 2010.

The company’s user base will get a fillip after stagnating for years and more advertisers would flock to the platform, they added.

“This change in ownership will attract a whole new set of users – mainly people who look up to Musk – who were earlier not on the platform, making it more attractive for advertisers,” said Mitesh Kothari, co-founder of White Rivers Media, a brand and digital agency.

A survey conducted by its research lab, WRM GenZ lab, among chief marketing officers of brands focused on GenZ found that these brands were now more likely to consider Twitter as a more serious contender for their ad spends, Kothari said.

This was largely across brands in the banking and financial services, retail and consumer goods space.

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Twitter is among the older social media platforms whose new user additions have been steadily on the decline, and this change in ownership is like a midlife makeover for the brand.

Brand consultant Harish Bijoor said the takeover by Musk would result in a revival for the microblogging platform.

“Twitter has been around for a very long time – it is many generations old in social media terms,” he said. “Social media gets excited by Musk, and this will rub off on the platform in terms of renewed interest and new users.”

Musk has said that he intends to reinstate the accounts that were banned by the earlier management on grounds of spreading misinformation.

This is good news, as it is a nod towards free speech, said brand consultants.

“This could be a game-changer,” said Vishal Sengar, CEO, Brand Provoke Consultants.

Reinstating controversial accounts would not scare away advertisers, he said.

“They have the option to select who they want to target with their advertising; so, that should not be a concern,” he said.

Musk has often said that Twitter can be the internet’s town square, where everyone can have a voice. This doesn’t mean that it would be a free-for-all. Some level of content moderation is likely to remain, but the earlier management’s approach of banning controversial accounts would be a thing of the past.

Twitter has so far struggled to monetise the platform when compared to Meta, with Facebook and Instagram.

Advertisers now seem to be in a wait-and-watch mode to see what changes Musk would roll but look more keen on Twitter than they have been in the past, said marketers.