Wary Minnesota businesses, users will 'wait and see' what Twitter becomes under Elon Musk

Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter last week has many users wary of their future on the social media platform.

Both individual and business account managers are concerned Musk will diminish Twitter's content moderation too much, creating an anything-goes platform with few standards for decorum or accuracy.

But while worries abound, many of Minnesota's well-known Twitter users are taking a wait-and-see approach before deciding whether to sign off.

Media personality Jason DeRusha, a radio host on WCCO-AM, is a prolific Twitter user, having sent more than 116,000 Tweets from his main account since 2007.

"I'm watching it for sure," DeRusha said of a potentially changing climate on Twitter. "To think that it's possible for Twitter to get worse because of Elon Musk is startling for me to even get my head around. Because Twitter is pretty miserable in many ways as it is."

DeRusha, who has a large following on Twitter, said the platform already has plenty of challenges.

His analogy for Twitter? Standing outside the Vikings stadium and having random people walk by, shouting insults at you.

For other advertisers, there is concern that Twitter's porous content controls could result in their brands appearing adjacent to objectionable content.

"I think it's a good idea for advertisers to pause," said Nancy Lyons, co-founder and CEO of Clockwork, a Minneapolis-based firm with expertise in websites and digital strategy.

"I think it's going to be a danger zone for brands for a while. I think it's wise to be in 'wait and see' mode," Lyons said.

Clockwork does not advise clients on social media management, so it is not making recommendations to customers about Twitter.

Lyons said she's personally been a Twitter user since the beginning but is not "religious" about it — often taking a week or two off from tweeting.

Appearing on Meet the Press with Chuck Todd over the weekend, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she does not trust Musk as the pilot of Twitter.

"I think you have to have some content moderation. … We have to change the requirements on these companies," said Klobuchar, an outspoken critic of anticompetitive practices by America's large tech firms.

Many of Klobuchar's fellow Democrats have expressed concern about Musk's ownership of the platform, fearing he may reinstate the account of former President Donald Trump, who was kicked off Twitter following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

The issue of content moderation falls squarely in middle of the nation's ongoing debate over free speech, defamation and tech firms' culpability.

"Elon Musk to me has this naive idea that Twitter is just the town square, it's just a piece of technology. To me, that absolves the platform from the same sort of responsibility that I have as a radio host. It's a cop out — Twitter is a publisher," DeRusha said, who fears the social media outlet could get overrun by abusive people.