Three of the most honest words in journalism are “I don’t know.” Those words come in handy right now, as the entire tech and media universe turns its attention to the ever-unpredictable Elon Musk’s bizarre deal to take Twitter private. What will Elon Musk do? What will Twitter become? I do not know. Nobody knows. I suspect that not even Musk himself knows.

So whether the best era of Twitter is about to begin or whether this is the beginning of the end of the service, let’s be honest, no one knows. Here’s what we know, in bursts of tweets:

>> This deal “puts the world’s richest man in charge of one of the most influential social networks,” Clare Duffy and Donie O’Sullivan of CNN wrote.

>> [The deal] “Would mark one of the largest acquisitions by a technology company and will likely affect the direction of social media,” The Wall Street Journal team wrote.

Twitter: the agreement with Musk triggers the doubts of some employees

>> Musk said his initial offer, $54.20 per share, was his “best and last offer” and sure enough, that’s exactly what Twitter’s board agreed to 11 days later.

>> Nothing changes in the short term. The negotiation process will take several months. Musk may not take control of Twitter until the fall.

>> Musk has made certain promises to users, including “open source algorithms to increase trust, defeat spam bots, and authenticate all humans.” Now he will be subject to these.

>> In the US, ideological reactions to the deal veered largely off predictable lines. A headline on the front page of The Wall Street Journal put it this way: “Republicans Applaud Deal; Democrats see the dangers.”

>> Regarding questions about whether Musk will reinstate Donald Trump’s account, CEO Parag Agrawal told employees, “Once the deal closes, we’ll know which way the platform is going.”

Twitter: beginning and early years of the company that will become Elon Musk

Elon Musk in 2001: I’m a little tired of the internet 3:26

Eight questions left by the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk

>> How was Twitter’s first quarter? The company will still report first-quarter earnings this Thursday, but in light of the deal, there will be no conference call for analysts.

>> “What does Musk think Twitter is for?” That’s what Casey Newton asked in his Platformer newsletter on Monday night. “All we have to follow is a series of cryptic tweets and statements that are brief enough to allow for broad interpretation.”

>> So: When will Musk come up with his plans? Will he do it through Twitter or through methods that allow for more detail and nuance?

>> Will Twitter employees want to work for Musk? Some reacted to Musk’s inauguration “with shock and dismay,” Elizabeth Dwoskin of The Washington Post reported. “Some tweeted tearful emojis and memes of people having emotional breakdowns, while others told The Post they were too shocked to speak.”

>> What will happen to the current Twitter leadership team? At a town hall meeting on Monday, Agrawal said he was “optimistic” about the company’s future and said Musk “wants Twitter to be a powerful and positive force in the world, like all of us.” But it’s hard to imagine Agrawal staying.

>> What will be the role of Jack Dorsey? On Monday night, he tweeted that “Elon’s goal of creating a platform that is ‘maximally trustworthy and broadly inclusive’ is the right one. This is also [Agrawal’s] goal and why I chose him. Thank you both for getting the company out of an impossible situation. This is the right path… I believe it with all my heart.”

>> What about Twitter headquarters? The SF Chronicle’s Roland Li pointed to the potential ramifications for the city, as Musk has expressed “skepticism around remote work.”

>> How controversial will Musk v. Jeff Bezos? As The Verge’s Richard Lawler noted, “Jeff Bezos is already testing Elon Musk’s commitment to free speech by trolling” Musk with some Monday night tweets about China…

Who is Elon Musk? What companies does he own? The life of the billionaire behind Tesla, SpaceX (and now Twitter)

The changes that Elon Musk would implement on Twitter 0:35

Further reading on the transaction

“A timeline of how this unfolded in a matter of about 20 days…” (CNN)

“I have no idea what Twitter will be like under Elon’s leadership and neither do you. But that is the point”. Read the thread (in English) by researcher Ethan Zuckerman… (Twitter)

“What can Elon do to make Twitter more valuable?” Peter Kafka weighed in on a number of suggestions… (Recode)

Charlie Warzel outlined three possible scenarios for Musk’s Twitter, including the “darkest timeline…” (The Atlantic)

Katie Notopoulos wrote a letter to fellow Twitter addicts: “We crave the bad tweets, the bad shots, the proportions, the stacks, the tweet quotes.” She says: “The truth is, it doesn’t matter what Musk does to Twitter. We’ll all still be here like the disgusting little goblins we know we are…” (BuzzFeed News)

It’s hard to top that, but NBC compiled some of the best memes of the day… (NBC)

“Liberals go absolutely nuts over Musk’s takeover of Twitter…” (Daily Caller)

Matt Egan notes that Trump’s SPAC is down 44% since Musk revealed his involvement on Twitter… (CNN)

Will Trump return to Twitter?

By Oliver Darcy:

The short answer is that it is too early to tell. Trump himself insisted to Fox in a story published Monday that even if he were allowed back on the platform, he would not go back and would opt instead to use his own Truth Social app. But it’s hard to see the former president, someone clearly addicted to Twitter, turning down the opportunity to use the platform if he were allowed to. The question really is this: Will Twitter, under Musk’s ownership, reverse its decision to block him? When it comes to free speech, Musk has made it pretty clear what direction the platform wants to take…

>> Brian Lowry adds: “For what it’s worth, put me in the column of people who think that for conservatives who have been protesting being discriminated against on social media, Musk’s acquisition of Twitter could end up being a moment “Be careful what you wish for”. And because there is a marketing aspect to that concept of being victimized by Big Tech, it might be hard to let it go, regardless of what changes the new ownership brings to the platform…”

crunching the numbers

By Harry Enten:

Musk’s purchase of Twitter put the man most beloved by Republicans in charge of a platform disproportionately used by Democrats. Musk’s net favorability score (i.e., how much higher favorable than unfavorable is his rating) in recent polls is roughly +50 points among Republicans compared to -10 points among Democrats. This is very different from previous polls on the topic that showed little partisan gap in Musk’s attractiveness.

There is no doubt that Musk’s recent statements on many issues (including negative comments about Biden) have caused a partisan split.

The shifting views come just as Musk is poised to take over predominantly Democratic-leaning Twitter. A Pew Research Center poll from last summer reveals that 67% of Twitter users lean Democratic compared to 30% who lean Republican. We’ll see if buying Musk changes the numbers. In any case, it is important to keep two things in mind. First, Musk remains fairly popular overall with positive sentiments among those with an opinion outweighing the negative by a 3-2 margin. Two, only 23% of Americans use Twitter, making it tiny in comparison. with 66% using Facebook…

Some elements to reflect on this negotiation:

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that “overall, no matter who owns or runs Twitter, the president has long been concerned about the power of the big social media platforms…”

Emily Bell, Professor at Columbia University said: “Taking a moment to think about how completely crazy it is that in 2022 a company with a significant dataset of public and private communications, that has cities, businesses and governments on the platform , you can change ownership with virtually zero scrutiny.”

Edward Perez, a Twitter employee, said: “Most of us deeply believe that Twitter is much more than a technology platform; We have a deep responsibility to society. I hope our new owner understands.”

Kara Swisher, columnist for The New York Times wrote: “The real story here, in the midst of everything going on with Elon Musk, is how poorly the business has done and also his stock for such a high-profile product. Musk just saw that and took the opportunity from him.”

Analyst Michael Nathanson wrote: “Twitter’s sale for $54.20 per share is definitive proof that the idea of Twitter has been far more valuable than Twitter’s actual long-term operations.”

THR’s Alex Weprin recalls Musk saying that “as a kid, my favorite book was The Lord of the Rings.” Says Weprin, “Twitter may be the closest thing to magic when it comes to the flow of information, with all of the world’s brightest minds, its biggest figures, and a cesspool of trolls all sharing the same stage. Now Musk gets to be his sorcerer.”