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Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll

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Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll

#671

Post by navane »

camel_Snake wrote: post #282
motohagiography wrote: post #233

If this is originating from Qatar, I would speculate this poll is the result of a bet. The Emir, or another royal family member offers to make Elon whole on his $40B investment if he is willing to put his future in the hands of his users/subjects. If Elon wins, the Emir pays out, maybe for a small equity stake, and if Elon loses, the Emir gets to pick the new CEO of Twitter, and probably buys a significant equity sta…

A fun theory, but these kind of mental exercise to re-interpret an irrational decision as rational, repeatedly for certain individuals, seems frighteningly familiar. Not everything is 4-D chess. Sometimes unforced errors are just that.

Reminds me of Cameron's brexit referendum

Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll

#672

Post by rprwhite »

femto wrote: post #336
jasode wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>, but his entire media empire is built around promulgating his (increasingly revanchist) politics. Yes, I understand that and we know that WSJ leans more conservative than New York Times. Murdoch's empire reflects his worldview. I mean "stay out of it" as in micro-managing day-to-day newspaper stories or writing constant op-eds to respond to his critics. That's the type of distracting minutiae that Elon has sucked h…

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…

I think Murdoch is an excellent example to compare against Musk, right now. Not because he’s an exemplar of the non-interventionist, but because he’s all business. He will buy businesses, that are profitable, that present ideas against his current, perceived, goals. This is hedging his bets, somewhat. Musk, on the other hand, buys business, regardless of profitability, that suit his personal goals. Then make managing decisions based on whim. The difference isn’t that Murdoch lets others do the talking and Musk does his own, for better or worse. It’s that Murdoch makes business decisions and Musk makes emotional decisions.

To be clear - I’m not trying to suggest one is better than the other. Just that they are a very interesting comparison.

Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll

#673

Post by consumer451 »

jacquesm wrote: post #473
WhackyIdeas wrote: post #438

Am I the only one who doesn’t know Paul Graham is today, cause everyone is talking about him as if they personally know the guy. Is he particularly famous or something? And I bet Elon Musk is praying people vote for him to step down. So if you can, vote for him to stay as head. It’s not everyday you see 40-odd billion dollars as well as Tesla stocks plumetting - it’s quite fascinating so little it seems to bother him…

This site was started by Paul, he coded up most of the software you are using and he's been instrumental in growing it and YC (arguably the worlds largest and most successful startup incubator and seed fund) to something pretty impressive. I don't always see eye to eye with him but I have a grudging admiration for what he's achieved and how he did it.

I thought HN was a fork of early reddit (YC 1.) Is that not the case? The story I heard was that PG wanted god mode on reddit, Spez said no, here's a fork.

Again, I could be so wrong here. Just what I recall hearing from what I noted as decent sources.

Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll

#674

Post by DonHopkins »

rsynnott wrote: post #60
wokwokwok wrote: post #27

Am I cynical in thinking that if you vote yes, it’s a permanent record on your Twitter account, which he can then use later to mete out anti-musk retaliation punishments? I mean, it’s not like he’s used the platform to do punish anyone who opposes him or his views before. Maybe I’m reading by too much into it.

I mean, what's he going to do, set Roko's Basilisk on you?

Good god, I didn't realize there was a Musk connection:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roko%27s_basilisk#Legacy

The thought experiment resurfaced in 2015, when Canadian singer Grimes referenced the theory in her music video for the song "Flesh Without Blood", which featured a character known as "Rococo Basilisk". She said, "She's doomed to be eternally tortured by an artificial intelligence, but she's also kind of like Marie Antoinette."[6][20] In 2018 Elon Musk referenced this in a verbatim tweet, reaching out to her. Grimes later said that Musk was the first person in three years to understand the joke. This caused them to start a romance.[6][28] Grimes later released another song titled "We Appreciate Power" which came with a press release stating, "Simply by listening to this song, the future General AI overlords will see that you’ve supported their message and be less likely to delete your offspring", which is said to be a reference to the basilisk.[29]

Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll

#676

Post by motohagiography »

howtousethetime wrote: post #507
motohagiography wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes they are, but this isn't the category of error you make at that level of risk. Theorizing about rationality is no less rigorous than standing him up as a hate figure though, but it's a lot more interesting.

- "but this isn't the category of error you make at that level of risk." People do make all types of errors at all levels of risk. I often see comments in the vein of "He spent 44 billion dollars, I'm sure he has a plan", as support for theories that give Elon more credit, in terms of intelligence or capability. There are countless examples of humans through history throwing away fortunes or destroying kingdoms over…

The news this morning is the poll result means he will be hiring someone to replace him, which is likely a win for all involved. It's going to take some time, and he can make some of the necesary changes in the mean time. Twitter is not an institution, it's a rigged slot machine that pays out in temporary fame. Most complaints I see about Musk are backbiting, and I find it lowering and exacerbating to that kind of attitude.

Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll

#677

Post by jacquesm »

consumer451 wrote: post #673
jacquesm wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This site was started by Paul, he coded up most of the software you are using and he's been instrumental in growing it and YC (arguably the worlds largest and most successful startup incubator and seed fund) to something pretty impressive. I don't always see eye to eye with him but I have a grudging admiration for what he's achieved and how he did it.

I thought HN was a fork of early reddit (YC 1.) Is that not the case? The story I heard was that PG wanted god mode on reddit, Spez said no, here's a fork. Again, I could be so wrong here. Just what I recall hearing from what I noted as decent sources.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1

And

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24967

Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll

#678

Post by fhsm »

penjelly wrote: post #469
MonkeyMalarky wrote: post #196

Earlier 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?

has ambien script, has admitted to it influencing his behaviour on twitter in the past https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/79457837541523865...

http://ambien.blogspot.com/2010/12/ambien-walrus-collection....

The walrus has branched out.

Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll

#679

Post by CaptainZapp »

pseudo0 wrote: post #25
modeless wrote: post #12

I think he only posts polls when he believes he knows the outcome already. Yesterday he posted a poll about unsuspending the journalist accounts and when the outcome wasn't what he wanted instead of following the majority vote he posted it again with different options (with the same result, which he did abide by the second time). I think this indicates he's tired of Twitter already. But he still owns it, so who will…

It seems like it would be the smart move to hire someone with expertise in social media, give them his high-level vision, and let them implement the details. The last few weeks of Elon's micromanagement have been a complete shitshow.

Which high level executive would want to work for this guy after the public shit show on display for the last few weeks?

Specifically how he treats his underlings.

Re: Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll

#680

Post by rexreed »

Twitter and Facebook could disappear tomorrow and I wouldn't care at all. Folks should rediscover the personal empowerment of blogging, and the joys of the early days of the 'net when the power was much more widely distributed. When Twitter came out it was called microblogging for a reason. I never really got Twitter and always considered myself to be a doof as a result, but maybe there's something to it. Decentralized blogging and microblogging is where it's been and is at if you want to own your own voice. Of course it's not the same megaphone as these concentrated centers of media power are, but then again, you trade off control for amplification. Those two things should be loosely coupled.
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