Jack Dorsey has encountered major Twitter problems, but leaves many challenges for his successor

After six years as CEO (again), Jack Dorsey is leaving Twitter in a very different position from when he took over in 2015. Back then, not everyone was happy with the company’s cofounder return. Even at first he returned for a while, employees and investors worried that two CEO positions – were, and still are, the CEO of Square – would prevent him from addressing many of the company’s problems.

“A lot of opinion among Twitter staff is now scary,” he said. The New York Times he wrote in 2015 about the sudden return of Dorsey. “Many are worried that Dorsey’s role will remain stable, given the way he handles the situation and sometimes the frustrations and the fact that he was fired and returned to the company in the past.

At the time, the company was often referred to as “chaotic”. Twitter was running through administrators, and investors were concerned about the lack of users. Journalists and other experts often say that Twitter did not know how to describe what it was or why it was important. The real ministry had not changed in years. Persecution was widespread, and it was not stopped.

Much has changed since then. Shaking hands on Dorsey’s two works not really decreased, but the growth over the company declined, and Twitter began to grow again. The platform is still struggling with persecution, but it has tried to strengthen “good conversation”And has intensified its attacks on hate speech and harassment.

Recently, the company has undertaken a number of ambitions to transform its major assets and create new sources of revenue. Just last year, Twitter released a new version of live audio, groups, and payment. It produced items that only look like manufacturers Super Following, and find a mail platform for long objects. Last month, it started Twitter Blue, a direct registration function for power users. The company is also in its early years on BlueSky, a system to create a decentralized standard for social media platforms.

But the upcoming CEO Parag Agrawal will still receive major challenges along with all bright projects. While the company has done well in promoting communication “health”, it is also struggling to find the difference between free speech and violence, especially when it comes to political participation. And, like other platforms, the company struggled to lie down during the COVID-19 epidemic and the 2020 presidential election.

“Dorsey leaves a mixed legacy: a platform that is useful and effective for fast communication but used by many evil people, including former President Donald Trump, who did everything he could on Twitter to undermine democracy – until the people of Dorsey became involved. , ”Says Paul Barrett, deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, who has researched social polarization.

The fact that Twitter under Dorsey eventually banned Trump has made the company a political target. And there is no doubt that change because the new CEO of Twitter has become one of the companies lowest profile directors.

Agrawal assumes responsibility while social networking sites face a wide range of their public responsibilities. As legislators see adjusting algorithms and other changes, Twitter has begun research algorithmic amplification it’s a privilege “accidental injury”Because of its structure. It will now be up to the company’s former CTO to oversee the process under the supervision of legislators.

Agrawal will also receive an inheritance main goals Twitter was launched earlier this year: Increasing its revenue and growing to 315 million daily users (mDAU) by the end of 2023 (the company also mentioned 211 million mDAU in its most recent report). And there are some signs that he may be well prepared for this. Although Twitter under Dorsey has been slow to make decisions and release updates, Agrawal has remained supporter about new things like Bitcoin tipping. He also looked at Bluesky, a distribution project.

The company has done has been betting that moving away from advertising and relying on subscription services and other new features will help get there. But Twitter is not the only one in terms of makers and subscribers, and it is not clear that the company will be able to easily entice many users to start paying for extras or extras.

The new Twitter leader seems to be well aware of the upcoming challenges. “We have recently changed our approach to achieving the ambitious goals, and I believe the approach is bold and accurate,” Agrawal wrote. email to employees who shared it on Twitter. “But our biggest problem is how we work to prevent this and deliver results.”