Live data from Hacker News

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

twitter.com

241–250 of 757 posts

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

#241
post #226

It's instructive to contrast what other billionaires did with media properties they owned: - Jeff Bezos personally bought Washington Post but he left it alone and let the editors run it. What Jeff did do was invest some money into the IT department to modernize the workflow tools (metrics dashboards, etc) for journalists. He stayed out of the decisions of what stories get run on the front page. - Rupert Murdoch owns…

But we don't have endless front page articles about those other people because those are other people.

Musk knows in his heart of hearts that he is the most interesting and newsworthy person on the planet, so it makes sense the front page articles are about him.

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

#243

Can you even turn Twitter around at all, even if he steps down and finds a replacement? It was burning money before Elon, after buyout it is technically in even bigger loss. Advertisers and many influencers have basically fled from it. Politicians are also looking into regulating or outright ban it due to recent headlines of suspending journalists and more. I still can't help but think that 40+ billion dollars probab…

I think it can be turned around.

Scrap all the moderation changes musk has made, apologise to all the advertisers, keep headcount at a sustainable level (more than they have now but less than they had when musk bought it), and look to launch some new products (reviving Vine is the obvious one).

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

#244
post #226

It's instructive to contrast what other billionaires did with media properties they owned: - Jeff Bezos personally bought Washington Post but he left it alone and let the editors run it. What Jeff did do was invest some money into the IT department to modernize the workflow tools (metrics dashboards, etc) for journalists. He stayed out of the decisions of what stories get run on the front page. - Rupert Murdoch owns…

Bezos is one thing, but I'm not sure if Murdoch is a great example: he perhaps refused to spike specific articles, but his entire media empire is built around promulgating his (increasingly revanchist) politics. His success is attributable not to "staying out of it," but to having a receptive audience that he (to waxing and waning degrees) has successfully influenced for the last 30 years.

Besides, I don't think Twitter is what did Elon's reputation as a "savior" in. The current affair is more reaffirming than opinion shifting, for everyone I've talked to.

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

#245
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also he can trivially determine the outcome of said poll if he wants too. It's incredibly insincere to even pretend to use them.

I don't think he'd dare. Everything he says internally gets leaked immediately, no way he'd order someone to mess with poll data.

I believe the ship might have sailed on the "I don't think he'd dare" argument.

I can't help but think he's in quite an unhealthy mental state at the moment.

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

#246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1604628761395138561?s=46...

He’s probably right, right? When was Twitter profitable, and was it profitable enough to pay for his leveraged buyout?

The thing is this didn't have to be his bomb to hold in the first place. He made what appeared to be an impulsive decision to offer an overpriced acquisition deal and waived due diligence leading him trapped in a position he couldn't back out of without consequences.

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

#248
The guy has become polarizing even to those who don't give a damn about Twitter but share his ideas on other things. So, what if the the purpose is to attract on Twitter those supporters of him who still don't have an account there, so that essentially he'll build a monocultural echo chamber ready to be used for politics when time comes?

"Hey, everyone sign up on Twitter right now! Elon is having a poll to decide if he should resign from head of Twitter!"

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

#249
I don't think he can quit. What does it say about you if you behave this way then flake out. People are going to start looking at Tesla and SpaceX and thinking, Jeez will this guy continue to deliver into the future. Elon is starting to become a risk, generally.

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

#250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, the guy who has blocked half of the Internet for having any kind of counter-argument whatsoever will become its new CEO? Context: https://twitter.com/search?q=%22blocked%20by%20lex%22&src=ty...

Who has he blocked? Context?

He has blocked almost everyone. He has blocked extremely well respected researchers and academics at top institutes who don't even follow him or even haven't tweeted at him just because he disagrees with his views. He once blocked someone for praising danish pastry.

https://mobile.twitter.com/search?f=top&q=lex%20fridman%20bl...

Post reply on HN