In just over a month, Linda Yaccarino is set to step into the position of Twitter CEO, filling the shoes of Elon Musk, the second wealthiest individual globally. Twitter’s journey has been a roller coaster since Musk’s $44 billion acquisition seven months ago, presenting a series of hurdles for the soon-to-be CEO.
With Musk’s tenure marked by various reversals and unfulfilled pledges, Yaccarino will have her hands full as she prepares for her role as Twitter’s new leader. Below, we explore the major challenges Yaccarino will face in her new role.
One of the primary tasks for Yaccarino is to form a content moderation council. Musk had earlier promised to create this council following his acquisition of Twitter but has yet to deliver on this commitment. During Musk’s reign, several account bans were lifted, including those of Neo-Nazis, and the existing Trust and Safety Council was disbanded.
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Yaccarino has been in discussions with Musk about this issue, and their conversation at a marketing conference in Miami Beach, Florida last month was cordial but marked by some clear differences in opinion, particularly around content moderation and the rise of hate speech on the platform since Musk’s takeover.
Another pressing issue for Yaccarino is to revive Twitter’s advertising revenue. After Musk’s takeover, numerous brands pulled their advertisements from the platform following concerns raised by civil society organizations about the company’s direction under Musk. This move resulted in a significant revenue loss for Twitter, despite Musk’s claims that advertisers are gradually returning.
Yaccarino has a considerable challenge ahead, as she aims to reassure advertisers and encourage them to reinvest in the platform. However, her suggestions about letting advertisers influence Twitter’s direction were firmly shut down by Musk.
On top of these, the frequency of Twitter outages has increased under Musk’s leadership, a problem Yaccarino needs to address promptly. A misconfiguration of Twitter’s API, which allows computer programs to interact and is responsible for automated bots on Twitter, was identified as the cause of these disruptions.
During their conversation, Musk acknowledged the importance of feedback and suggested a balanced approach that would allow public voices while enabling advertisers to focus on improving sales and their brand image. He proposed a policy to limit the spread of hate speech without removing rule-breaking tweets, a plan Yaccarino questioned if it would apply to his tweets, which have a history of misinformation and occasional offensiveness.
As Yaccarino prepares to take on her new role, it remains to be seen how she navigates these challenges and shapes Twitter’s future direction.
