Digital Media Industry Update Q4 2022

Now to address Musk’s question “What should Twitter do next”? Lofty goals such as a $171 billion valuation in five years necessitates an equally soaring product roadmap. One approach that Twitter could take is executing upon a dual track strategic plan. Track A would double down onto key problems that Twitter needs to solve to grow the current app, while also opening those modules up to create building blocks for the metaverse. If Twitter were to develop a best-in-class proof of identity leveraging existing and novel payment rails, they could spread their identity standard across not only the internet (much like Google, Facebook, and Apple log-ins) but the pending metaverse. At the moment, a key obstacle to bringing anyone’s vision of the metaverse to reality is the lack of an interoperable, cross-platform unique identifier. Twitter, with it’s hundreds of millions of user's scale, and freedom from any existing operating system ecosystem, could step into this gap. Also, this moves Twitter closer to a natural strategic partnership with Meta, which is also striving to break free of the Apple and Google power position over the mobile internet. Below is one potential strategic roadmap for Twitter that matches the level of aspirations Musk’s other endeavors including Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink. Track B would execute on Musk’s disclosed grand super app strategy following Tencent’s model, including video, payments, gaming, and a vibrant app ecosystem.