What will Twitter 2.0 look like under new CEO Linda Yaccarino?

Twitter has got a new CEO and it's not Elon Musk's Shiba Inu Floki. Linda Yaccarino has been confirmed as the new CEO of Twitter. Musk made the announcement with a tweet saying that Yaccarino will be focusing on the business side of Twitter's operations while he focuses on product design and new technology. 

I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!@LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.

Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app. https://t.co/TiSJtTWuky

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2023

Yaccarino has resigned as the Chairperson of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal. The advertising veteran is known for making NBCU $100 billion in ad sales in the past 11 years of her working there. She's also on the board of the World Economic Forum. 

Yaccarino's appointment as the CEO of Twitter is in line with most tech leaders choosing industry insiders to oversee business operations. But Elon Musk's decision stands out for a few reasons.  

What are Linda Yaccarino's plans for Twitter?

• In her first tweet since the announcement, Linda Yaccarino said that she's looking forward to building the new Twitter 2.0 as X, the everything app, and that she shared Elon Musk's vision for the future of the social media company. 

I see I have some new followers👀...👋 I’m not as prolific as @elonmusk (yet!), but I’m just as committed to the future of this platform.

Your feedback is VITAL to that future. I’m here for all of it.

Let’s keep the conversation going and build Twitter 2.0 together!

— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) May 13, 2023

• Given Linda Yaccarino's expertise and connections, her focus is going to be on bringing on more advertisers to the platform and the crucial ad revenue to help Twitter survive. 
• Since Elon Musk's takeover and the dismantling of the content moderation team at Twitter, most advertisers have left the platform, though some major brands remain. 
• Twitter has been struggling to even pay rent for its California office building despite firing nearly 80% of employees. 
• Incidentally, almost a month before the announcement, Linda Yaccarino had interviewed Elon Musk at a conference in Miami about Twitter and advertising's future and challenged his ideas. The clips of the interview are now going viral.

The NEW CEO Of Twitter?

Linda Yaccarino, a potential new CEO for Twitter, is an executive at NBC Universal and holds a position at the World Economic Forum.

Last month, during an interview with Elon, Yaccarino encouraged him to allow advertisers to have influence on the… pic.twitter.com/zaTBDlJRbr

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 12, 2023

• During the interview, Linda Yaccarino also asked Elon Musk whether he did consider giving advertisers the "influence" on shaping the social media company's decisions and whether he did reinstate the "influence council" made up of top advertisers to provide recommendations to the company. 
• Elon Musk did not support Yaccarino's idea of advertisers influencing the company's decision-making and reinstating the council, stating that it would put freedom of speech in jeopardy. 
• This statement has some Twitter users debating what will happen to Twitter's so-called "freedom of speech" policy with Linda Yaccarino on board. 
• Some of Elon Musk's right-wing supporters called Yaccarino a "woke-ist" CEO with connections to the WEF, which they believe is trying to set up a tyrannical world government as part of the Global Reset Conspiracy theory.  

I stand corrected, I always admit it when I do. I was notified that I had to view the “organizations” tab on LinkedIn to verify that Linda Yaccarino is an Executive Chair on the WEF. I no longer approve of Elon Musk’s Twitter CEO choice. I’m ready for the ‘I told you so’ now. pic.twitter.com/2PmUGzQA2Z

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) May 12, 2023

• Other Twitter users questioned whether Yaccarino even understood how fake news works for her to tackle the issue on Twitter. 

The new CEO of @Twitter, Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc), who was appointed by @elonmusk, does not seem to know what she's talking about when it comes to 'fake news.' She believes that fake news does not come from 'trusted' and 'traditional' sources. She hasn't read about the Hunter… pic.twitter.com/CHtYPa0VET

— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) May 14, 2023

• Yaccarino had also raised the issue of rising hate speech on Twitter since Musk's takeover during the interview and the concerns of advertisers. On the other hand, Elon Musk recently shared a 2022 tweet by the Indian far-right website OpIndia, known for spreading fake news and hateful content.     
• While Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino may not agree on the same things, they do seem to agree on the effect social media has on children. 
• Elon Musk once shared a report on research showing how social media pages of fictitious 13-year-olds were flooded with content on self-harm, eating disorders, and body image, while Yaccarino shared a report on US senators discussing the need to ban social media for children. 
• Earlier this month, Linda Yaccarino had also quote tweeted to a live broadcast by Elon Musk suggesting Twitter live streams the 2024 Paris Olympics in high-res.    

Hey @elonmusk here’s an idea for our new partnership: Periscope for #Paris2024. Let’s just go hi-res first…😉 🇺🇸🇫🇷🥇 https://t.co/Np7Bz709cv pic.twitter.com/24KTknXVJi

— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) May 3, 2023

It needs to be seen what becomes of Twitter or X, the everything app with Linda Yaccarino in the fold.