Already, people are using Twitter itself to post information for those planning to leave the platform and calls (with varying levels of seriousness) to turn to other social platforms.

One positive outcome that we can hope to come out of Musk’s ownership is that it may catalyze the creation of more civic-minded social networks. As internet activist Eli Pariser tweeted on Tuesday, “Just saying… we don’t *have* to make our communications infrastructure a plaything for fickle, feckless billionaires. We could build public-service social platforms Elon could never buy. And I think we will.”

I have my fingers crossed that Pariser — or someone else with a vision of how to manage a social network more responsibly than Musk — will follow through.

If Musk does what he’s promised, I suspect he will destroy the platform. But here’s hoping that having him at the helm will motivate the creation of new social networks that actually serve the public interest. If that happens, the outcome will be devastating for Musk, but a win for us users over the long run.