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Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

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Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#251

Post by pmoriarty »

nightski wrote: post #130

We can argue about free speech & all that jazz to no end. But at the end of the day it's as simple as not banning elected officials. I don't care how divisive they are, we need to know what they say and do. These are people chosen by the people whether you love or hate them. Secondly, I just visited Twitter today and at the top it has statements about false accusations and fact checking prominently displayed. I follo…

It's not like the news media stopped quoting every little controversial thing Trump said after he was banned from Twitter... they thrive on sensationalism.

The only thing that's stopped him from being quoted even more is that he's no longer President, so for anything unrelated to his lawsuits or his potential run for Presidency it matters a lot less what he says.

If the Republicans do poorly in the midterms and/or they don't manage to win the Presidency back under Trump's leadership, he'll be ignored even more.

His presence or absence from Twitter has nothing to do with it.

He has his own social network now anyway, so it's not like journalists and his fans don't know where to find him.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#252

Post by Kye »

mooreds wrote: post #62
davidw wrote: post #11

I think the thing to watch will be ads and other revenue streams. Most companies aren't going to want their ads next to 'free for all' content, so we'll see what happens.

I agree. I think he understands that, as indicated by https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585619322239561728 That doesn't sound like someone burning Twitter to the ground. Also, many are acting like Musk has free rein in running the company. Yes and no. Beyond needing employees to actually run the thing, he also has loans to pay back ($13B!) and investors to maintain good relationships with. More on that here: https…

Firing the person who fought against government censorship and worked to establish a balanced content policy for almost a quarter billion people across the planet is not a great move if he wants anyone to believe that. The only people who even know who she is either know the good work she does or had it out for her over the reluctant and long-delayed ban of Trump. She just kind of quietly kept Twitter from turning into a complete snake pit while making sure the maximum number of people could speak. Evidence that keeping your head down and doing good work isn't enough if the people who decide these things don't know about it.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#253

Post by MichaelCollins »

fitzroy wrote: post #76

I'm still surprised that Google didn't just clone or buy Twitter in the 2009 "Fail Whale" era. Seems like they had 95% of the work done already: a highly-scalabile real-time infrastructure that took Twitter years to catch up to. (Yes, Google+ came later, but the UX of the boundaries, of where the network started and stopped on the web, felt too amorphous for most people as a social media destination)

Remember when Google tried to make their own video website? It flopped hard and some company called "youtube" started doing it better, so Google bought them.

When is the last time Google started their own truly successful project, rather than buying it?

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#254

Post by norwalkbear »

halfmatthalfcat wrote: post #9

Prediction: Brain drain at Twitter begins as Elon starts enacting unpopular policies. Valuation tanks. Morale becomes non-existent and Twitter slowly starts to fade from existence while competitors begin to fill the void. I give it 3-5 years before it's gone full husk.

Doubtful, a day in the life of Twitter employee went viral.

It was clear she didn't do much of anything. Twitter could probably trim all the adult daycare shit.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#255

Post by quest88 »

Animats wrote: post #129

OK, so far, not much. Musk is getting stretched rather thin. Space-X seems to be doing OK with Gwynne Shotwell running things. Tesla, which Musk apparently does really run personally, is doing OK, but their side ventures are not. Self-driving is a mess. Solar panels (yes, Tesla has a solar panel business) are not doing well. The Cybertruck is years late. (Maybe next year.[1]) So is the Tesla Model 2, the low-end vehi…

Don’t forget the Roadster! Or whatever the really fast one is called.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#256

Post by linkjuice4all »

skohan wrote: post #174
mooreds wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I think he understands that, as indicated by https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585619322239561728 That doesn't sound like someone burning Twitter to the ground. Also, many are acting like Musk has free rein in running the company. Yes and no. Beyond needing employees to actually run the thing, he also has loans to pay back ($13B!) and investors to maintain good relationships with. More on that here: https…

It's a good sentiment, but he kind of has to say that right? He just spent $44B taking this company private, if advertisers flee and it starts running at a substantial loss, it could mean financial ruin for him

I would think that advertisers would eventually notice anyway. If lead quality decreases due to poor ad targeting or high-value users leaving the platform then they'll start pulling their advertising dollars back.

I have to wonder if there was already some pushback from larger advertisers that prompted Elon's tweet in the first place. Time will tell but we've already got 4chan and some users and advertisers would rather go to a "mall-like" experience to not have to deal with the "crap".

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#257

Post by paganel »

davidw wrote: post #11

I think the thing to watch will be ads and other revenue streams. Most companies aren't going to want their ads next to 'free for all' content, so we'll see what happens.

They'll go where the eyeballs are, this is capitalism, in the end. If Twitter manages to attract more eyeballs, the advertisers will come.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#258

Post by Hermitian909 »

Animats wrote: post #129

OK, so far, not much. Musk is getting stretched rather thin. Space-X seems to be doing OK with Gwynne Shotwell running things. Tesla, which Musk apparently does really run personally, is doing OK, but their side ventures are not. Self-driving is a mess. Solar panels (yes, Tesla has a solar panel business) are not doing well. The Cybertruck is years late. (Maybe next year.[1]) So is the Tesla Model 2, the low-end vehi…

Disclaimer: Previously worked in Toyota's EV R&D division, opinions my own.

> Remember, Tesla has to become bigger than Toyota to justify the stock price. It is not possible to do that at Tesla's current price points. It is not possible to do that at Tesla's current price points.

Long term Tesla has to create a balance sheet and a narrative that convince people that it's current valuation is justified. Based on my time in R&D I think Tesla might achieve that through lower cost vehicles - they were taking some very bold steps in manufacturing that might be hard for others to catch up to - but could also achieve it through other means.

One thing I was very aware of at my time at Toyota was how many of the nascent supplies of Lithium and Cobalt Tesla was snatching up directly or indirectly. Even if other companies can deliver a lower cost of production it may not matter if they can't supply the batteries. 3-5 years from now those investments might pay off substantially in lower costs for Tesla's rather than other vehicles even if the bets in manufacturing don't work out.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#259

Post by treeman79 »

thethethethe wrote: post #156

If I was working at Twitter right now I would be looking for a different job, regardless of what I think of Elon's politics/motives. The talk of layoffs and major policy changes creates massive uncertainty and I don't think I'd risk sticking out the transition. I bet many inside the company feel the same. This begs the question: If there is a major exodus, will it even matter? And, if it does, how will the problems m…

More profit. It’s a message board.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#260

Post by concinds »

BashiBazouk wrote: post #99
lake_vincent wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, speaking in those terms, I think the thing to watch will in fact be censorship. Elon is extremely idealistic, so it will be fascinating to watch him melt down when confronted with the reality of how complex free speech and censorship issues really are. I predict that he will succeed in turning Twitter into the rightwing safehaven that "Truth" Social, Parlor, etc have all been trying to become. He's making a dea…

And what if China requests a tweet removed or user banned and puts a Tesla factory or those sweet tax cuts on the line?

The simple (and inevitable) solution is for some accounts or tweets to be withheld in certain countries. No company can avoid complying with the law; but they can't be forced to take down a tweet worldwide either.
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