Nah, why stop now? Just run it into the ground.
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll
391–400 of 757 posts
Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll
#392Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What tech people like Paul Graham and others were hoping was for Elon to apply his scientific first principles type of thinking that he demonstrated previously at SpaceX+Tesla to Twitter. I wish one could take a step back and just see how ridiculous of a statement this is. There is nothing about Musk’s history and management style that is even remotely close to what could be called “scientific first principles type…
> There is nothing about Musk’s history and management style that is even remotely close to what could be called “scientific first principles type of thinking”. Agreed. But the interesting question for me is: what are people seeing that they would mistake for that?
I have no idea other than cult of personality. People really seem to take people like Musk and Trump at face value, as if their comments, philosophies, beliefs, positions, etc. are thoughtful things they stand behind and something more than what they really are: mouthpieces to shape what they want at a particular moment or to just blatantly confuse people. It’s a tactic out of Russia’s political playbook. I highly recommend Adam Curtis’ Hypernormalization.
Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll
#393Wish I could vote yes, but him buying twitter made me delete my account months ago already.
Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll
#394Earlier quoted context omitted.
> He is a genius I realize this is part of his narrative but I struggle to find the genius. As best i can tell he's a generally successful businessman.
I am a big Musk critic, but I think his rise demonstrates a genius for hype and PR. The amount of free media and cheap capital that Tesla got was extraordinary, and I think that was down to Musk. But I think Musk is also a good example of the reason that I would probably not work for a company whose head is a sales guy. Salespeople are great at hype, but they often do it by living in a fantasy land, and someone insuf…
> I am a big Musk critic, but I think his rise demonstrates a genius for hype and PR. The amount of free media and cheap capital that Tesla got was extraordinary, and I think that was down to Musk.
A big falsifying hypothesis from this would be to predict that there are NOT any high-up PR staff of notable quality that have been around him for a long time.
If the PR people around him evince no particular talent for it and have been in constant flux for the duration of Musk's career such that he is the only constant, then yea, there'd probably be something to this.
Otherwise, if there is at least one person that was in his inner circle for a critical period of time that can also be said to have strong PR talent, then it's questionable ... sometimes success is having, on top of other things, the right team.
Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll
#395Honestly I'd be disappointed if he stepped down. Watching this slow motion train wreck has been more entertaining than anything on Netflix. Cutting his losses and running would be like canceling the third season of some particularly compelling garbage drama show.
Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll
#396Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Him owning Twitter, the way he's currently operating, will force a critical eye toward a lot of bad behaviors that we all experience but nobody really talks about on every network. Are you talking as a communist meaning "The society has been too lenient on the class of billionaires, but now that one of them is exposed as a destructive idiot, people will be forced to ask whether the rest of them deserve their power…
How did you jump from that to Communism? I though the meaning was pretty clear: People will be more critical regarding social networks. Meaning they will more carefully assess the merits and flaws of Social Networks, instead of just assuming they're good and fun with no real drawbacks.
But the thing is, all these things are happening not because Twitter is social media; they're happening because Twitter is led by Elon Musk. I'm not saying everything is fine under Zuckerberg or Pichai, but whatever their flaws are, organizations led by other billionaires don't suffer the same kind of pathology as Musk's Twitter. They operate very differently.
So, whatever Musk does, it will not lead to people critically looking at Facebook and Reddit. It will more likely lead to people critically looking at Tesla and SpaceX.
Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll
#397Earlier quoted context omitted.
> unbiased moderation" is fundamentally impossible for an international service like Twitter with millions of users. Especially given that the pool of California tech people from which Twitter might draw moderators are to the left of 99% of that international community of users.
You can bet that in many countries the conservative right is more the left that the Democrats. Inter-cultural policy differences aren't new and being able to moderate on an international online forum like Twitter is pretty challenging.
It really depends on what metric you're talking about. That's not true of trans rights or abortion for instance.
Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll
#398Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe he's got a stimulant (or other psychoactive) prescription that renews around this time of the month and we're witnessing a periodic, chemically induced mania?
This is actually a very good guess. A vast majority of these ultra-rich population are now on simulants and psychoactive drugs.
What kind of stimulants do they use. Is it the same kind of drugs that regular people use ?
Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll
#399Earlier quoted context omitted.
What does Paul Graham have to do with my comment?
Seemed like you were comparing Elon Musk and Paul Graham's ways of thinking. I was going in your direction by saying that Paul Graham and Elon Musk have very different personas; to the point that Graham got banned because he wasn't happy with Elon's choices.
No, I was commenting on Elon supposedly having a scientific principles first thinking. I guess people assume Paul Graham does, too? I haven’t seen that either, and have been underwhelmed with basically anything I see coming from the VC corners.
Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll
#400Earlier quoted context omitted.
Murdoch is the worst possible example, being in it up to his eyeballs. It's especially the case in Australia, where his empire started and still dominates. This article is one of many, its headline and opening line being: "Special report: Rupert Murdoch, a hands-on newspaperman" "To illustrate the extent to which Rupert Murdoch used to micro-manage his newspapers,..." https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newscorp-murdo…
>"To illustrate the extent to which Rupert Murdoch used to micro-manage his newspapers,..." The 2011 article you linked emphasizes his activity with tabloid newspapers. I'm unfamiliar with those. From what I've read, he doesn't meddle with his "prestige" newspaper like WSJ. Maybe that's why the WSJ didn't censor itself on negative Theranos stories even though he invested $125 million in it and Elizabeth Holmes asked…
I can't speak to the WSJ, and perhaps it's a good example of the owner not meddling, but using Rupert Murdoch as an example of someone who doesn't meddle in their media empire invites a lot of questions.
Rupert Murdoch's influence is a very hot topic in Australia, with 2 former prime ministers from opposite sides teaming up to try to push a royal commission into his media monopoly, and in particular his influence on elections. Some of the commission is directed at the actions of his properties, but a lot of it is directed at his specific meddling as an individual. There have been many claims of directives and squashed stories coming straight from the top, whether that's from him or Lachlan Murdoch.