After Twitter banned the account of the US President Donald Trump permanently, the social media giants share prices took a dive on Monday, falling as much as eight percent in German Stock Exchange.
And as of 1011 GMT, Twitter’s US-listed shares were also down by 6.8 per cent at $47.94, according to Reuters.
And the stir might not end there.
“Expect slight user decline, though engagement erosion is a bigger question,” Berstein analysts wrote in a note looking into the issue.
Although there are arguments that far-right groups are hyperactive online, and might move over to other digital platforms like Parler, Gab, MeWe, Zello and Telegram, the challenges these alternatives are facing might not make them sustainable.
Amazon, Google, and Apple have asked Parler, for instance, to move off their platforms because of its users’ violent expression Parler is not able to manage.
Besides, Trump doesn’t need to preach to the choir again—on those alternative platforms. Otherwise he would not have been upset when Twitter suspended his account permanently.
With the rising Trumpism across America and Europe, moderation by social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and others will become more intensive—perhaps capital intensive.
“Incremental moderation may be welcome but it’s not cheap and could benefit Facebook that already employs a moderation army (around six times) larger than Twitter’s workforce,” Berstein analysts said.