*By Carlo Versano*
Twitter has never been more relevant in the national conversation and, despite an uproar over misuse of its platform, it remains the social network to beat in terms of influence, said Citron Research's executive editor Andrew Left.
"Dollars will follow relevancy," the short-seller said Thursday in an interview on Cheddar. "\[CEO Jack Dorsey\] has made it clear what kind of platform he wants."
Even as Dorsey shoulders criticism for his refusal to ban the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, Twitter's continued global presence in the media landscape will be what ultimately pushes the stock up, Left said.
Left also said he's major fan of Twitter's video product, which the company has used to make streaming partnership deals for [high school football] (https://www.ubergizmo.com/2018/08/adidas-to-live-stream-high-school-football-games-on-twitter/), [live concerts] (https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/01/twitter-stream-concerts/), and [Cheddar's own network](https://www.pscp.tv/cheddar/1DXxyYyAolLxM).
In an [analyst note](https://citronresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/TWTR-Just-Made-the-Turn-and-Is-Hitting-Stride.pdf) earlier this week, Citron cited Elon Musk's use of the platform to report Tesla news and raised Twitter's price target to $52. It's the preferred form of communication for President Trump, the note said, and a place for elementary school teachers to communicate with parents. Twitter "has become such a part of the fabric of global communication with limited competition" that it's able to weather storms like the current one with Jones, Left's note read.
Twitter, Left said, isn't the worst privacy offender. "Facebook is the most egregious," he said.
Left said it's only a matter of time before a tech giant ー his money's on Microsoft, Google, or Apple ー makes a move.
"Twitter has nothing but market share to gain from its competitors," he said. "Dorsey's my horsey."
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/citron-researchs-andrew-left-on-why-raised-twitter-target).
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