--- title: "Elon Musk Admits Twitter May Be Failing Under His Leadership" description: "Twitter owner Elon Musk has admitted what we all suspect: that under his leadership, the site may not thrive after all." date: "2023-08-21" modified: "2023-08-21" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-admits-twitter-may-fail" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "social networks" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Elon Musk Admits Twitter May Be Failing Under His Leadership ![Twitter owner Elon Musk has admitted what we all suspect: that under his leadership, the site may not thrive after all.]() *\Image: Joel Saget via Getty / Futurism\* ## Admit One X-formerly-Twitter owner Elon Musk has admitted what we all suspect: that under his leadership, the site may not be thriving after all. "The sad truth is that there are no great 'social networks' right now," the [multi-hyphenate billionaire posted](). "We may fail, as so many have predicted, but we will try our best to make there be at least one." This admission comes after a glitch over the weekend caused some images and links posted before December 2014 to be deleted. As [*The Verge* reports](), the issue seems to be related to the social network's built-in URL shortener. Among the deleted images was Ellen DeGeneres' famous star-studded Oscars selfie, which was apparently the most-retweeted photo of all time, though unlike most of the now-broken it was eventually restored. It was a rare moment of self-reflection for Musk, whose chaotic run at the former bird site has been characterized by swaggering bravado. Twitter's new CEO Linda Yaccarino, for her part, did retweet — or "repost," per the new branding — Musk's message and add her own touch. "There is an important place in the world for X," [the CEO wrote](). ## Fail Me Once Though his brand is built on braggadicio, this isn't the first time Musk seems to have pondered the possibility of defeat in the social media space. Shortly after Yaccarino took over as CEO over the summer, the site's owner admitted in a Twitter Spaces discussion that "[half of our advertising disappeared overnight]()" after he bought the site — though he qualified that statement by saying that it was due to his insistence on "free speech," which is Muskian code for [letting bigots back onto the platform]() and [refusing to punish hate speech](). He also appeared to concede earlier this year that buying the social network may not have been the best decision for his bottom line. "It remains to be seen as to whether this was financially smart," Musk [told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson]() during an interview in April. “Currently, it is not." Those admissions aside, however, this latest acknowledgment doesn't have the same slathering of caveats, and instead does actually give the sense that Musk may be beginning to realize that he's driving the site into the ground — though as [many]() have [conjectured](), that may have been the plan all along. **More on Elon's Twitter:** [*Brands Horrified When Their Twitter Ads Appear on Nazi Posts*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()