Twitter’s prospects of a potential buyer is growing slimmer as the social media service’s reputation as a haven for trolls and foul-mannered netizens is driving away would-be suitors.
Twitter’s reputation as a place where bullies and trolls congregate to make life difficult for everyone is not one to be dismissed lightly and is one of the reasons Disney and Salesforce have declined to make a bid for for the company, reports The Verge.
A Bloomberg report also stated that Disney backed out from bidding after hiring two investment banks for fear that the racist, sexist and other abusers that frequent Twitter would put the family-friendly company under a bad light and sully its image.
Salesforce reportedly backed out for the same reason. CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer mentioned that Salesforce was concerned about the number of haters that people with lots of followers had.
Apart from the unpleasant elements residing in Twitter, major investors from Disney found the $12-billion price tag a little too steep.
A lot can be said about Twitter’s inability to control the bad behavior of its users. While other social media services continuously update and implement rules to stem abuse, Twitter has largely remained paralyzed by its concept of free speech. Its wariness to implement major changes may have actually been what has held the company back from making any major growth as a social media platform and, as it stands, has made it an unattractive purchase for larger companies. Alfred Bayle