Replying to a tweet suggesting voting on Twitter policy decisions should be restricted to Blue subscribers, Elon Musk says “Twitter will make that change”

Elon Musk is actively searching for a new chief executive officer for Twitter Inc., CNBC's David Faber reported …

Bloomberg 2022-12-20 Vlad Savov

Context & Ripple Effects

Twitter had framed polls as a mechanism for major policy changes, but the vote on Musk stepping down produced a majority in favor of his departure. Restricting future policy votes to Blue subscribers narrows the electorate immediately after that result.

The move also builds on Twitter’s earlier consideration of a paid Blue tier tied to verification, making subscription status a governance privilege rather than solely a product feature.

First-order effects

Blue subscribers gain exclusive access to Twitter policy votes, while non-subscribers lose participation in that decision process.
Musk’s reported search for a new Twitter CEO now sits alongside a more constrained process for using user polls to guide major policy changes.

Second-order effects

Twitter can position Blue access as carrying influence over platform decisions, adding a non-content benefit to the subscription offering.
Users who valued open polls as a direct channel to Twitter’s leadership face a choice between subscribing and losing that role, concentrating visible feedback among paying accounts.

Third-order effects

If Twitter continues to treat paid status as eligibility for governance features, platform participation shifts from broad audience polling toward subscription-gated decision rights.
The episode points to a governance model in which product monetization and policy legitimacy become more tightly linked, especially when leadership uses polls to signal major decisions.

The trend: Social platforms are increasingly testing paid tiers not only for features and identity signals, but also for privileged participation in platform governance.

Discussion

@bestofdyingtwit @bestofdyingtwit on x
... https://twitter.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@Unfilteredboss1 @KimDotcom Good point. Twitter will make that change.
@unfilteredboss1 @unfilteredboss1 on x
@elonmusk @KimDotcom Blue subscribers should be the only ones that can vote in policy related polls. We actually have skin in the game
@hasanthehun @hasanthehun on x
this man decided the polls aren't going his way so now he's only doing policy polls with his biggest simps 😂 https://twitter.com/...
@ashleyfeinberg Ashley Feinberg on x
this is getting hard to watch even for me https://twitter.com/...
@zachsilberberg Zach Silberberg on x
https://twitter.com/...
@scriban2 @scriban2 on x
Honestly kind of hilarious that Elon's going to give us extremely accurate data about just how few people on this site have paid him $8. https://twitter.com/...
@kimdotcom Kim Dotcom on x
I'm hoping that Elon did this poll as a honeypot to catch all the deep state bots. The dataset for this poll will contain most of them. Some good data-mining and he could kill them all in one go 🤣🤣🤣
@jesawyer Josh Sawyer on x
Guy who refers to twitter as the digital town square decides it's a good idea to institute a voting poll tax. Incredible mind at work. https://twitter.com/...
@t3ssash3ll3y Tessa on x
Elon is in favor of a poll tax. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@gingerest @gingerest on x
he thinks we're employees, product, AND consumers, and he can't decide how to treat us accordingly https://twitter.com/...
@james_dator James Dator on x
Elon is taking Twitter policy advice from a dude who was banned from Magic: The Gathering events for harassing women and pissed on his own floor during a live stream because he was mad his wife got pizza without him https://twitter.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@KimDotcom Interesting
@studentactivism Angus Johnston on x
Do you think he's figured out yet that if he makes his polls Blue-only, everyone will be able to see how few people have signed up? https://twitter.com/...
@thekenyeung Ken on x
Why bother even voting when the guy is gonna go based on what his ego wants to do anyways? What's with all this pretense? https://twitter.com/...
@pt Parker on x
This may be out of date info with Twitter's dropping CPMs, but aren't free users still more valuable than paid users when Blue cuts ad loads in half? I say users should get a vote for every hour of monthly active engagement, since that's what makes Twitter money. https://twitter.…
@moorehn Heidi N. Moore on x
Remember that, in the end, Elno wants payments to be thing that makes Twitter profitable — he basically wants to make it PayPal — which means he's going to try everything he can to sucker people into giving him their financial information. https://twitter.com/...
@danstapleton @danstapleton on x
I will only allow goblins who've paid to pretend to be on equal footing with celebrities and legitimate journalists (who will not pay for this) to vote on the direction of Twitter. This will go super well. https://twitter.com/...
@ventisigh @ventisigh on x
elon literally making policies that are just “only people who pay for a blue check matter” doesn't seem very ‘vox populi vox dei’ to me! remember this tweet btw lolz https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@dangolding Dan Golding on x
If he ignores the results of the poll and sticks around are we gonna call it elongate https://twitter.com/...
@ldrogen Leigh Drogen on x
So much for Musk's insane form of nonsense populism that is Twitter polls The anarchy was fun while it lasted So much for vox populi https://twitter.com/...
@jed05 Jed Whitaker on x
Nothing says “free speech” like *checks notes* a poll tax. https://twitter.com/...
@moskov Dustin Moskovitz on x
@levie Oh shit it's a DAO
@elivalley @elivalley on x
After a dozen do-overs these will be the only legitimate voters https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@wholemarsblog @wholemarsblog on x
you have to have some way to verify that the votes or else it can just be manipulated by enemies / competitors / governments https://twitter.com/...
@problemsthots Kimberly on x
so going forward you won't be able to vote for policy changes unless you pay this man $8 a month. insanity. https://twitter.com/...
@lessig @lessig on x
You realize you are just relearning in real time what 400 years of democratic experimentation has taught. Maybe just take a beat and read a book? https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life @carnage4life on x
This is even funnier than “too many options.” 😂😂😂 https://twitter.com/...
@jamisonfoser Jamison Foser on x
@elonmusk ... this seems like the kind of major decision you said you wouldn't make without a vote, sir https://twitter.com/...
@altyellonatpark @altyellonatpark on x
Didn't like a vote so let's change the rules. Unbelievable. https://twitter.com/...
@jeremyfaust Jeremy Faust on x
It isn't free speech if you have to pay to vote. https://twitter.com/...
@tedlieu Ted Lieu on x
Oh look, @elonmusk lied again. He just made another major policy change at Twitter without a vote. He announced Twitter is now going to restrict voting to only blue members. https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@drskyskull @drskyskull on x
Congratulations, Musk, you've reinvented American democracy of 1787. When only rich white men could vote. https://twitter.com/...
@davedufournba Dave DuFour on x
This is the greatest comedy bit of all time. https://twitter.com/...
@stevanzetti @stevanzetti on x
lmao https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Pure Xbox Fraser Gilbert on x
Another Nine Games Will Leave Xbox Game Pass Soon (December 31)
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won't happen again.
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
@paleofuture Matt Novak on x
A billionaire losing a “do you like me” poll on a service he paid $44 billion for is just an objectively funny way for this whole thing to end
@lexfridman Lex Fridman on x
Fun suggestion @elonmusk: Let me run Twitter for a bit. No salary. All in. Focus on great engineering and increasing the amount of love in the world. Just offering my help in the unlikely case it's useful.
@snoopdogg Snoop Dogg on x
Should I run Twitter ?
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@lexfridman You must like pain a lot. One catch: you have to invest your life savings in Twitter and it has been in the fast lane to bankruptcy since May. Still want the job?
@ryanair @ryanair on x
Who lasted the longest in 2022 https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@kimdotcom Kim Dotcom on x
Hey @elonmusk, it's unwise to run a poll like this when you are now deep state enemy #1. They have the biggest bot army on Twitter. They have 100k ‘analysts’ with 30-40 accounts all voting against you. Let's clean up and then run this poll again. The majority has faith in you. 😘 …
@garyblack00 Gary Black on x
I have to believe $TSLA outside directors are putting pressure on Elon to give up his role as $TWTR CEO. It's hard to ignore the numbers since TWTR deal closed on 10/27 ( $TSLA -33% vs NDX unch'd) while 10yrTY have DROPPED from 3.92% to 3.48% on Friday. https://twitter.com/...
@jason @jason on x
Who should be the next twitter CEO? 😂😂😂
@ryanair @ryanair on x
Let that sink out https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@WallStreetSilv No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it
@malwaretechblog Marcus Hutchins on x
In his quest for the greatest self own in history, Elon Musk has now been officially voted out of the company he paid $44bn for, by his own Twitter followers. https://twitter.com/...
@senwarren Elizabeth Warren on x
Elon Musk took over @Twitter, but he's still the CEO of @Tesla. That raises legal concerns — is he creating conflicts of interest? Is he misappropriating company resources? Tesla is not Musk's private plaything. I've got many questions for the Tesla Board. https://www.nytimes.com…
@ashleyfeinberg Ashley Feinberg on x
elon going more than six hours without tweeting for the first time in months because he can't bring himself to acknowledge that he lost the ceo poll he threw up at 2am qatar time is truly one of the funniest things that could have happened
@thevivafrei Viva Frei on x
Actually, the poll said he should “step down” as “head” of Twitter, @nytimes. Not that he should “quit”. Just a minor distinction... 😂 https://twitter.com/...
@missmandyhale Mandy Hale on x
Snoop Dogg out here casually saving the day https://twitter.com/...
@steventdennis Steven Dennis on x
10 million voted for Elon Musk to step down as CEO of Twitter in a 12-hour poll. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@karlbode Karl Bode on x
you almost feel bad for those folks that haven't yet quite processed the fact that musk's entire mythology is a fiction and has been from the start they're in for quite a ride, still
@jason @jason on x
Who would like the most miserable job in tech AND media?! Who is insane enough to run twitter?!?! 😂😂😂 https://twitter.com/...
@jesse_brenneman Jesse Brenneman on x
Sir! Please go back to doing the other stuff you're not good at, sir!! https://twitter.com/...
@sarthakgh Sar Haribhakti on x
Sheryl Sandberg is the turnaround CEO Twitter needs
@kevinakwok Kevin Kwok on x
The risks of mass exodus from Twitter are overweighted. As will the news cycle in other direction when clear there wasn't exodus. The real thing is everyone is realizing they need to find ways to diversify and backup their social capital being purely tied up in twitter
@jamesrbuk James Ball on x
The question is actually finding a CEO who could possibly keep it alive with Musk as an owner. Short of a binding affidavit from Musk that he'd be a hands-off shareholder (which would never happen, probably rightly), who would possibly take this on? https://twitter.com/...
@yourragez @yourragez on x
I just realized Elon used my Cybertruck pre order money to buy this bitch ass app 🤨
@dineshdsouza Dinesh D'Souza on x
I hope @elonmusk understands that the free speech battle he is waging at Twitter is no less important than any of his other admirable ventures. Whether he's running Twitter as CEO or not, he needs to put a team in place that will continue to lead this fight for freedom
@fadeaccompli @fadeaccompli on x
Do you all remember that great article from years ago about how some unhinged libertarian dude took over Sears, and drove the entire venerable company of high reputation straight into the ground with his ideology-produced bad management? Came to mind recently for some reason.
@briannawu Brianna Wu on x
If you're asking my opinion, the Tesla board probably had a “come to Jesus” meeting with Musk. The stock is plummeting. If something doesn't change, he'll lose both companies. This is a way for him to quit and blame it on someone else. Calacanis is my bet for new CEO.
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Reminder that Twitter was nowhere near bankruptcy in May. Q2 loss of $244 million. Around $2.7 billion of cash in the bank. Obviously not a healthy biz. But not close to a bankrupt one. https://s22.q4cdn.com/...
@wongmjane Jane Mastodon Wong on x
Final results: Yes: 10,063,044 votes (57.4%) No: 7,439,347 votes (42.5%) Total votes count: 17,502,391 https://twitter.com/...
@paulwallbank Paul Wallbank on x
The people have spoken, and they're enjoying the popcorn. https://twitter.com/...
@henrymance Henry Mance on x
Days between Liz Truss becoming prime minister and Tory backbenchers telling her to resign: 45 Days between Elon Musk taking over Twitter and Twitter poll telling him to resign: 53
@leadlagreport @leadlagreport on x
Unpopular opinion: Elon Musk put out the social media link deletion policy around Facebook and Instagram purposely, to turn Twitter against him on the poll that followed, to give him an out, and he already has a CEO successor in place.
@realsaavedra Ryan Saavedra on x
.@ElonMusk later today: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@divestech Dan Ives on x
Voters call for Elon Musk to step down as head of Twitter, 57.5%-42.5%...would be a big relief for Tesla investors...
@quinnae_moon Katherine Cross on x
The AP has called the race for the “Yes” campaign in Elon Musk's poll.
@catturd2 @catturd2 on x
The reason Twitter is the talk of the world right now - it's because @elonmusk is running it. If he hands it off to someone else - it'll instantly lose all its magic.
@phil_lewis_ Philip Lewis on x
Final results: Voters call on Elon Musk to step down as head of Twitter https://twitter.com/...
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Sequoia Capital is declining comment. Twitter is one of the largest, if not the largest, investments in its history. Like w/ FTX, there's no board of directors. Which Sequoia and others knew going in, or at least didn't require as condition of investing Fallen so far so fast.
@martinpakula Martin Pakula on x
Liz Truss lasted longer https://twitter.com/...
@awawat_trades @awawat_trades on x
Can't believe Elon did a David Cameron here. https://twitter.com/...
@deitaone @deitaone on x
TESLA SHARES MOVE HIGHER SLIGHTLY AFTER ELON MUSK'S TWITTER POLL RESULTS SHOW MAJORITY WANT HIM TO STEP DOWN AS TWITTER CEO, LAST UP 5% PREMARKET $TSLA
@ivanthek @ivanthek on x
M I S S I O N A C C O M P L I S H E D https://twitter.com/...
@loudmouthjulia Julia Alexander on x
Pre-planned statement incoming... https://twitter.com/...
@nmsonline Nick Stylianou on x
Don't be completely fooled by Musk's tweets as *the* narrative - the likely plan was to see if he could change a bunch of stuff he didn't like while being a lightning rod for criticism, then handover to a CEO. On November 16, Musk said in court he'd only be temporarily in charge.
@notabigjerk Lauren on x
@elonmusk Regardless of the outcome, this is the most insecure tweet any of us will ever live to see

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