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The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging with Elon Musk’s X

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Re: The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging with Elon Musk’s X

#41

Post by worksonmine »

martindbp wrote: post #38
worksonmine wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people are just disappointed that their beloved bubble is now controlled by the opposition. Musk went from god to devil in these circles in a very short time. Meanwhile I've never cared about either and am just trying to understand the mass hysteria. Twitter was a cesspool a decade ago, just that they didn't notice because they agreed with the bullshit.

It's not a cesspool. It's exactly what you make of it. If I had to pick one social network from them all (HN, Reddit, FB, IG, excluding messaging services like WhatsApp/Signal) I would pick X every day. It's the only place where I know the the information is coming from a reputable source, because I follow people at the top of their fields.

It's not about who you personally follow, or if they have a blue check. It's about the general culture on the site. Cancel culture was born on Twitter. The short messages make any meaningful discussion pointless and it's mostly idiots venting in their bubbles.

I'm also little worried about your claim that you "know the information is coming from a reputable source". I take everything from everyone with a grain of salt, and constantly keep my own brain turned on. Many so-called "reputable sources" spread all kinds of unfounded bullshit on twitter, in media and everywhere else. I actually prefer anonymous discourse because the worst argument I know is the "reputable source" or "I have a PhD in X".

The who shouldn't matter, as long as you can verify the what. I verify.

Re: The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging with Elon Musk’s X

#42

Post by jjtheblunt »

jszymborski wrote: post #28
pizzaknife wrote: post #3

Having worked in newspaper (yes! actual paper!) space for several years, my perspective on this is : Everything is gray. For those living around mid 20th century : pot calling the kettle black. For the 00s : EverythingIsTerrible

That sort of black pilled nihilism is how the terrible win. Plenty is good, plenty is worth fighting for.

upvoted : absolutely well said.

Re: The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging with Elon Musk’s X

#43

Post by elforce002 »

hypeit wrote: post #12

I stopped using Twitter as soon as Musk bought it precisely for moral reasons. I'm not going to help someone who wrongly accuses people of being pedophiles make more money. There are of course many, many, many other moral reasons to not support Musk but the pedophile incident is so cut and dry that there was moral (non-partisan) reason to bail on day 1 of Musk ownership.

Not defending Elon here but I hope you don't use ig, fb, or any other social media platform because, from data breach to scamming, bad business is being conducted there too.

Re: The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging with Elon Musk’s X

#44

Post by sterlind »

SenAnder wrote: post #32
hypeit wrote: post #12

I stopped using Twitter as soon as Musk bought it precisely for moral reasons. I'm not going to help someone who wrongly accuses people of being pedophiles make more money. There are of course many, many, many other moral reasons to not support Musk but the pedophile incident is so cut and dry that there was moral (non-partisan) reason to bail on day 1 of Musk ownership.

Let me preface everything by saying following your moral compass is good, even if you do it inconsistently, and even if that inconsistency is biased. It is unambiguously better to do something good when motivated, even if you didn't do something that would have been even better, and just as easy for you. In other words, don't let perfect be the enemy of good. In 2019, the Twitter executive for the Middle East, Gordon…

> In 2019, the Twitter executive for the Middle East, Gordon MacMillan, was unmasked as an active duty officer in the British Army’s online psychological operations unit

Wow, so secret that he listed it on his own LinkedIn profile. His involvement with a psyops group that seems to be little more than a Middle East version of the Ad Council, posting flyers that say "you can be a Muslim and a feminist!" on various social media accounts, it seems. and yet you somehow breathlessly manage to tie this to the death toll of the Iraq war?

Re: The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging with Elon Musk’s X

#45

Post by camdenlock »

bluefishinit wrote: post #5
willcipriano wrote: post #4

[flagged]

Is he a capitalist though? He lit "his" capital on fire to buy and ruin Twitter. It seems like his goals are mostly political. He bought the site so he could push his far-right ideology. His recent trip to the border supports that. It does nothing but alienate customers and advertisers, yet he did it anyway. Same with his constant whining about trans people, that's not a business decision, it's a far-right ideologica…

[flagged]

Re: The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging with Elon Musk’s X

#46

Post by kbelder »

worksonmine wrote: post #29
grecy wrote: post #24

I am confused why people care so much, and spend so much time convicing others of their position about Twitter/X It's just a private company running a website. They come and go like myspace, tumblr and whatever else. One day nobody will use Facebook or Reddit. Why are people so caught up personally and emotionally about a single one going to crap? Use it if you like it, and stop using it if you don't. It seems extrem…

I think people are just disappointed that their beloved bubble is now controlled by the opposition. Musk went from god to devil in these circles in a very short time. Meanwhile I've never cared about either and am just trying to understand the mass hysteria. Twitter was a cesspool a decade ago, just that they didn't notice because they agreed with the bullshit.

Yeah, I think there's all sorts of reasons to avoid Twitter/X for emotional and psychological health, or even because you just have some standards of good taste. But the big exodus after Musk just seems like people outraged that the particular flavor of their cesspool has changed.

Re: The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging with Elon Musk’s X

#47

Post by [deleted] »

hypeit wrote: post #12

I stopped using Twitter as soon as Musk bought it precisely for moral reasons. I'm not going to help someone who wrongly accuses people of being pedophiles make more money. There are of course many, many, many other moral reasons to not support Musk but the pedophile incident is so cut and dry that there was moral (non-partisan) reason to bail on day 1 of Musk ownership.

[deleted]

Re: The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging with Elon Musk’s X

#48

Post by doublerabbit »

buzzlite wrote: post #39
hypeit wrote: post #12

I stopped using Twitter as soon as Musk bought it precisely for moral reasons. I'm not going to help someone who wrongly accuses people of being pedophiles make more money. There are of course many, many, many other moral reasons to not support Musk but the pedophile incident is so cut and dry that there was moral (non-partisan) reason to bail on day 1 of Musk ownership.

Same. plus Tesla.

And who inhumanely tortures animals. [0]

[0] https://www.wired.com/story/neuralink-uc-davis-monkey-photos...

Re: The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging with Elon Musk’s X

#49

Post by SenAnder »

sterlind wrote: post #44
SenAnder wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me preface everything by saying following your moral compass is good, even if you do it inconsistently, and even if that inconsistency is biased. It is unambiguously better to do something good when motivated, even if you didn't do something that would have been even better, and just as easy for you. In other words, don't let perfect be the enemy of good. In 2019, the Twitter executive for the Middle East, Gordon…

> In 2019, the Twitter executive for the Middle East, Gordon MacMillan, was unmasked as an active duty officer in the British Army’s online psychological operations unit Wow, so secret that he listed it on his own LinkedIn profile. His involvement with a psyops group that seems to be little more than a Middle East version of the Ad Council, posting flyers that say "you can be a Muslim and a feminist!" on various soci…

> you somehow breathlessly manage to tie this to the death toll of the Iraq war

He is a psyops officer in the army that bombed Iraq. It is not exactly a far-fetched link. As for your assertion that the activities of the psychological warfare unit of the British army are entirely benign.. that's like saying the only purpose of the infantry is to march in parades. It is also not something you would believe for any country that is not currently an ally. Certainly not for China or Russia.

Re: The Moral Case for No Longer Engaging with Elon Musk’s X

#50

Post by archontes »

KerrAvon wrote: post #20
bootlooped wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An argument that someone could make, although maybe it's a bit logically suspect, is that Twitter is losing money for every user, and using Twitter is costing Musk more money than it's generating for him.

Doesn't fly. He'll lose more money if there are fewer eyeballs. Users are the metric he uses to attract advertisers.

And if we reflexively block every advertiser the platform shows?
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