Disney has pockets deep enough to buy out several companies many times over but according to CEO Bob Iger, it passed on purchasing Twitter. Twitter seems like a no-brain purchase given the audience the social media platform reaches but according to the New York Times, Bob Iger passed on the buying Twitter because “the nastiness is extraordinary.”
Bob Iger and the Disney board initially thought purchasing a social media network might give them a large platform in which they could sell Disney’s content. But Iger quickly found out what a cespool Twitter, and social media in general, has become.
Iger had in 2017 acknowledged looking at a Twitter acquisition. “We thought Twitter had a global reach, a pretty interesting user interface, and a compelling way that we might be able to present and sell the content our company makes to the consumer,” Iger said at the time.
But now he tells Times columnist Maureen Dowd that “the troubles were greater than I wanted to take on, greater than I thought it was responsible for us to take on.” Iger said his experience as a Twitter user was that “you turn and look at your notifications and you’re immediately saying, why am I doing this? Why do I endure this pain?”
Quartz
Bob Iger believes the toxicity of Twitter as a platform could have a negative impact on the Disney brand, which has traditionally focused on family values. Iger also commented on the impact Twitter has on the world at large stating:
“Like a lot of these platforms, they have the ability to do a lot of good in our world. They also have the ability to do a lot of bad.”
Bob Iger
Twitter declined to comment on the remarks made by Iger.
What do you think of the comments made by Bob Iger? Do you think Disney made the right choice in passing on a Twitter purchase? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, or Facebook. You can also comment on our MeWe page by joining the MeWe social network.
[button link=”https://qz.com/1713764/disneys-bob-iger-walked-away-from-a-twitter-purchase-because-of-nastiness/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Quartz[/button]Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
