Elon Musk goes ‘private’ on Twitter, here’s why

Twitter CEO Elon Musk is in the headlines once again. The tech magnate has now decided to make his account private on Twitter. Musk is the second most followed person on the platform, with over 127 million followers as of February 2023.

Musk’s reason behind making his Twitter account private was to check the reach and engagement of his tweets. “Made my account private until tomorrow morning to test whether you see my private tweets more than my public ones,” he said in his latest tweet.

This latest experiment by Musk happened after a few users on Twitter complained about their tweets not getting enough visibility until the account privacy was switched to private. Many others also complained about being shadowbanned. In one of the replies Musk wrote, "Something is wrong" and took his profile private shortly after.

Shadowbanning is a practice used by some social media platforms or online communities to limit or restrict the visibility of a user's content without the user being explicitly notified. The content may still be accessible to the user and their followers, but it is not visible to other users or to the general public. The purpose of shadowbanning is typical to discourage spamming, trolling, or other disruptive behaviour on the platform. Shadowbanning is a controversial practice, with some seeing it as a necessary tool for moderation and others viewing it as censorship.

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Musk's tweets range from promoting his companies and projects to controversial statements and jokes. He often uses Twitter to make announcements about Tesla's electric vehicles, space missions, and other ventures. He also interacts with his followers, responding to questions and comments, and sometimes even starting debates on various topics.

However, Musk's tweets have also caused trouble for him and his companies. He has been sued for defamation, fined by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and has seen his tweets affect the stock market. In 2018, for example, he tweeted about taking Tesla private, which led to an SEC investigation and a fine. A securities fraud trial is also underway against him in San Francisco.

Despite the controversies, Musk's tweets continue to generate a lot of attention and interest. 

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