“Let that sink in!” reads a recent tweet by Elon Musk, the new CEO of Twitter. Back in April 2022, Musk wanted to buy a chunk of the company. When he made this proposal, Twitter users and others found this to be a questionable choice. All over the internet, people were making comments and even joking about Musk’s decision.

Musk was still committed to buying part of Twitter. The CEO and co-founder, Jack Dorsey, decided on letting Musk own 9% of the company. After the purchase, the public commotion quickly ended and no one thought much about it. Soon after, Musk went back to working on his other projects for the next few months.

Then last month, In October 2022, Musk came back for another round at Twitter. He purchased the entire company, which would lead him to becoming the brand new CEO.

Twitter immediately started being worked on by Musk, with some very quick changes to the company and app. One of the very first things Musk did was fire thousands upon thousands of employees. People became very upset and angry with this action. Musk’s response to this was, “Cutbacks were needed because the company loses millions of dollars everyday.” This haste decision would catch back up with Musk, as he recently made an attempt to rehire many employees he laid off. 

One of the other changes Musk made was creating an $8/mo. subscription plan for anyone who is verified on Twitter. He originally wanted to charge $20/mo. for the service, yet brought it down to $8 following widespread criticism.

Many people with the verification check mark were upset. One of these people was U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who took to Twitter writing, “Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that ‘free speech’ is actually a $8/mo subscription plan.”

Musk replied to Ocasio-Cortez with “Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8.” Musk would also post a screenshot of Ocasio-Cortez’s merchandise, seemingly criticizing her for the $58 price tag. This almost instantly went viral with thousands of retweets and likes.

Ocasio-Cortez hit back at Musk once more, stating, “My workers are union, have full healthcare + benefits like childcare help, and every one is paid a living wage. Proceeds go to community acts like tutoring undeserved kids.” Ocasio-Cortez continued, “You’re a union buster with an ego problem who pockets the change from underpaying and mistreating people. “

This is only the start to Musk’s new vision for Twitter; he has stated that he plans on making many changes to the app. Some notable changes Musk has alluded to include removing the influx of bot accounts, implementing better payouts for creators, and forming a content moderation council. Some are in support of Musk’s work so far, and others, not so much. All that’s left to do is wait and see what Musk has to bring to the platform next.