Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far • Hacker News Board

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#311

Post by jupp0r » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:34 PM UTC

aksss wrote: post #247

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…

These are times of tremendously unnatural opportunity for people who stick with it. If you doubt your objective value or just don’t like high-stress environments, then yes, start looking elsewhere now.

Can you elaborate what you mean by "unnatural opportunity"? The way Musk has treated employees so far seems to indicate that he doesn't really care about them.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#312

Post by _fat_santa » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:34 PM UTC

cutenewt wrote: post #289

thinkingemote wrote: post #248

They need to re-free up the API. Early adopters and hackers really did some great work using the API until they walled-gardened it and rate limited it to make it unusable. They need to do this for goodwill at the very least, but I think it will spark the fire to make it popular with techies again. Based on the recently published discovery chats we will probably see: * High def video * Focus on music publication * The…

I think it's going to be more in the other direction. He really hates the bots, so he'll probably close up the API. Until bots gets solved, no developer should expect the API to open up.

The problem isn't the bots, the problem is the lack of differentiation between bots and real accounts. I say open up the API and let people make whatever bots they wish, but if you tweet through the API then you get a big "BOT" tag next to your username on the feed.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#313

Post by williamsmj » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:34 PM UTC

I'm interested to see what happens to the drive to repeal Section 230 now. IIUC, a lot of the impetus for that came from the right (e.g. the Texas AG), but it provides a liability shield to the owner of the platform, which presumably Musk would like to retain.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#314

Post by aero-glide2 » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:34 PM UTC

petilon wrote: post #237

Covzire wrote: post #14

Musk just tweeted this 5 mins ago: "Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints. No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes."

That's a very different position than the one he stated before, i.e., everything that is not illegal will be allowed.

He never said that. He said 80% of the political spectrum in the middle would be allowed.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#315

Post by wombatpm » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:35 PM UTC

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.

There is no valuation. It's now private. And I doubt an IPO is on the horizon. He's going to have to make money the old fashioned way

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#316

Post by VBprogrammer » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:35 PM UTC

Hermitian909 wrote: post #258

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 ti…

What I want to see is Tesla come up with a sequel which is another hit. I feel like their car styling was comfortably out there when electric cars first came on to the scene but now it's become incredibly safe. Other companies, now they are building specific EVs rather than throwing some batteries in the back of an existing car and calling it an EV, are really starting to play with the concept and are making some great looking cars. Cars like the Ionic 5 and the Honda-E for example are making the Tesla's look old hat.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#317

Post by concinds » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:36 PM UTC

HillRat wrote: post #216

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…

Twitter is also a risk, not just a distraction; now foreign governments can demand access and control in Twitter by holding Tesla revenue hostage (e.g., China's approval or disapproval of Tesla purchase tax exemptions), so he's basically paid a lot of cash to give bad actors additional levers to affect his other businesses.

I don't buy that at all. Twitter has been able to withhold tweets from certain countries (e.g. EU) based on local laws, for many years. They can just keep doing that with China. You can't be held hostage if you just comply with the law and take a bunch of tweets down in China, which every company must do.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#318

Post by superfrank » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:36 PM UTC

memish wrote: post #29

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.

Prediction: Twitter becomes more efficient, focused and profitable than they ever have been. And it will return to the platform neutrality and free speech ideals it had prior to 2015ish.

> And it will return to the platform neutrality and free speech ideals it had prior to 2015ish.

I'm not sure that's possible. Even if you could magically roll back Twitter to pre-2015 (staff, code, rules, etc.), the world has changed and the average Twitter user has changed.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#319

Post by phpisthebest » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:37 PM UTC

phailhaus wrote: post #110

hn8305823 wrote: post #69

He literally said it will not be a free for all. He may be chaotic, but he's not stupid. There is a huge difference between no moderation (anarchy), and not targeting conservative voices solely based on ideology.

> not targeting conservative voices solely based on ideology. This literally does not happen, and is entirely made up in a form of projection. In fact, Twitter has been found to be biased towards recommending right-wing sources. [1] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/22/twitter-a...

No post body was provided.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#320

Post by mullingitover » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:37 PM UTC

julianeon wrote: post #57

In the spirit of trying to be high-information and add value: Where Musk is going, there are no maps. So it's very very hard to project. But we can predict likely developments. At a very high level, it's going to involve: bringing back controversial personalities like Donald Trump; increasing Twitter's commitment to 'free speech'; assuaging skittish advertisers; retaining users who might be concerned, while bringing…

> managing the exodus of users (size:?) that will happen regardless;

This is probably the biggest risk in this acquisition. Twitter wasn't doing anything special, and it's easy to launch a clone of their business model. Elon's talking about taking an axe to the things that keep the lights on at Twitter: effective content moderation and talent.