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Twitter set to accept Musk's $43B offer – sources

reuters.com

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Re: Twitter set to accept Musk's $43B offer – sources

#791

Post by andyjohnson0 »

I strongly suspect that the New Twitter will fairly rapidly turn into the world's biggest toxic waste-dump fire - when everyone on Gab, Parler etc. piles back in along with Trump and his associates. Perfect timing for the US mid-terms. I can't see how they'll be able to keep a lid on it as a functioning community and live up to Musk's publicly-stated ambitions.

Even so, it might be a commercial success if they can keep the advertisers on board. But if mainstream advertisers panic and pull out then they're going to have push a lot of gun/porn/crypto/whatever ads to keep the lights on. And that may work, or it may turn into the biggest act of wealth destruction in history.

I wonder how much of Musk's $23B Tesla bonus is going into the purchase.

Re: Twitter set to accept Musk's $43B offer – sources

#792

Post by gigel82 »

sytelus wrote: post #786

I would wish Musk would just focus on Tesla and SpaceX and not throw himself in this snake pit. There is so much to do at Tesla (primarily cheaper EVs, FSD and 10X more super chargers). There is even more to do at SpaceX. Twitter is political issue and cannot be solved using tech or features. If one is not good at politics, they should stay out of it. We don't have replacement for Musk if he gets burned in this littl…

Lol, you make it sounds like we're about to lose Einstein due to overwork. Musk is an opportunistic man-baby, not the second coming, let him burn out...

Re: Twitter set to accept Musk's $43B offer – sources

#793

Post by ulkesh »

overgard wrote: post #754

I don't really love the notion of billionaires buying up media; but given how incredibly important twitter has become to media and its influence on democracy and politics, I think it's a huge improvement that a free speech advocate will be in charge at least. I don't buy that content "moderation" (ahem, or as it should be called, censorship) is desirable when a tech company can silence people that have legit-if-undes…

> people that have legit-if-undesirable influence on the world

You can say Trump. Because that's what this buy-out is about. Musk can call it what he wants (free speech, transparency, etc), but his intention is clear to anyone with a brain -- unbanning Trump.

Once that happens, I'll be happily finding myself off of Twitter and any other platform that allows a "legit" (and proven) dangerous lying narcissist to find their way onto my browser again.

Re: Twitter set to accept Musk's $43B offer – sources

#794

Post by RockyMcNuts »

RockyMcNuts wrote: post #247

Free speech absolutism isn't really the norm in places where people come together for any shared purpose. Courts and parliaments have rules of procedure so it's not, whoever's loudest wins. Free speech is never 100% free, there are laws against libel, fraud, conspiracy, copyright, trademark, which create crimes that consist only of speech, or civil liability. And then there are social norms. It's always a balance bet…

at risk of stating the obvious, I was not making a straw man argument, Musk called himself a 'free speech absolutist', said “It’s just really important that people have the reality and the perception that they’re able to speak freely within the bounds of the law”, was in touch with Babylon Bee folks about their getting blocked, pretty clearly wants a hands-off approach to moderation, on the other hand he says they need to get rid of spam which is not illegal so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Twitter set to accept Musk's $43B offer – sources

#797

Post by Epiphany21 »

altacc wrote: post #41

He's already said that he'd follow all local laws so it would be interesting to see if he can find the elusive path of maintaining free speech, following the law and not having Twitter being a toxic cesspool used mainly to shout down those not our your "side". Personally my reservations are because I think running a social media site is a lot about understanding people and defining a healthy culture for your elusive…

>the elusive path of maintaining free speech

What's so elusive about it? Let people say what they want and give users a robust word and account filtering system.

If you think your ideas and values won't stand up to public scrutiny, then perhaps you should do some self-reflection. If it's just a matter of your own comfort, use the block/mute/blacklist controls.

Re: Twitter set to accept Musk's $43B offer – sources

#798

Post by tayo42 »

fleddr wrote: post #708

I'm optimistic from a nihilistic point of view: for Twitter the only way is up, and yet even a complete failure would be a net improvement to the world. There's a laundry list of uncontroversial improvements he can make to the product itself. Twitter as a product is broken in so many ways. Musk is the kind of outcome-driven character to get things done. And it will be done in a way that does not directly conflict wit…

> As to what this will reveal, or how this will be changed, we don't know, except for a general direction of less censorship. So far he mentioned to want to strike a balance where both extremes (left, right) are equally unhappy.

This is how uninformed internet people think things work. I think you'll all be disappointed

Re: Twitter set to accept Musk's $43B offer – sources

#799

Post by stjohnswarts »

fleddr wrote: post #708

I'm optimistic from a nihilistic point of view: for Twitter the only way is up, and yet even a complete failure would be a net improvement to the world. There's a laundry list of uncontroversial improvements he can make to the product itself. Twitter as a product is broken in so many ways. Musk is the kind of outcome-driven character to get things done. And it will be done in a way that does not directly conflict wit…

I predict Elon changes nothing but letting people like Trump and Thomas back on there, otherwise he won't interfere much. He might step in occassionally but he'll mostly be a silent partner. He just didn't want his tweets blocked because that is rough on his ego.

Re: Twitter set to accept Musk's $43B offer – sources

#800

Post by pseudosavant »

Social Media is so horrible. I'm absolutely convinced that humans haven't evolved to handle the insanity that is social media. Yet, they are the public squares. And isolating myself from the cesspools (FB, Twitter, etc) has also isolated me from everyone.

Twitter was the last one I used a very small amount (never more than 5 minutes at a time, not more than once a day). This was the final straw for me. No good options when the choice is: participate in communities I care about + my data being abused, or maintain a sliver of privacy and control over my data + social isolation.

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