Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors • Hacker News Board

Re: Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors

#751

Post by nonethewiser » Tue, Apr 05, 2022, 10:00 PM UTC

jasonlotito wrote: post #569

noetic_techy wrote: post #557

It's either this or one of its competitors rises to take them on at some point and we get a bifurcated society where specific companies cater to specific politics. That may be unavoidable anyways. I think people outside the SV bubble (I grew up there, don't live there anymore) don't realize how hated and despised their censorship policies really are. Musk has his pulse on that, so I'm happy to see him step in and sha…

> don't realize how hated and despised their censorship policies really are. Majority of Americans (and most people I'd imagine) do not really care about their policies. They don't give two figs about it, and just go about their life just fine without being affected by it one bit. I'm sure you can find some people on both sides of the spectrum regarding their policies, but the vast majority don't. As someone who isn'…

Doesnt seem that way from my perspective. Do you grant this is simply your impression? I tend to distrust you because you just assert this general truth that is rather controversial and you dont cite any data.

Re: Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors

#752

Post by colinmhayes » Tue, Apr 05, 2022, 10:00 PM UTC

fleddr wrote: post #678

I think people are really over-analyzing this move. I think it's motivated by prestige, not money, nor is free speech the heart of the matter. Twitter is a stagnant company. They have thousands of engineers that in the span of a decade don't seem to produce much at all, nothing visible or memorable anyway. Long-lasting Twitter problems (culture, spam, algorithm issues) never seem addressed. User growth is stagnating…

> People have been begging for an edit button for a decade.

And they haven't implemented it because it's a truly horrible idea. If you messed up your tweet delete it. If it's already got traction, then it shouldn't be changed, especially because the edit feature would mostly be used maliciously to cancel retweeters.

Re: Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors

#753

Post by raincom » Tue, Apr 05, 2022, 10:00 PM UTC

nonethewiser wrote: post #736

noetic_techy wrote: post #557

It's either this or one of its competitors rises to take them on at some point and we get a bifurcated society where specific companies cater to specific politics. That may be unavoidable anyways. I think people outside the SV bubble (I grew up there, don't live there anymore) don't realize how hated and despised their censorship policies really are. Musk has his pulse on that, so I'm happy to see him step in and sha…

"It's either this or one of its competitors rises to take them on at some point and we get a bifurcated society where specific companies cater to specific politics." Not ideal, but better than the status quo where there is 1 company catering to 1 group.

Wasn’t how Fox News born?

Re: Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors

#754

Post by yupper32 » Tue, Apr 05, 2022, 10:02 PM UTC

systemvoltage wrote: post #545

yupper32 wrote: post #523

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He compensates below market and his employees are expected to work harder than big tech companies. He can get away with it at SpaceX because, well, spaaacccceeee! I'm not sure how he gets away with it at Tesla.

They're not slaves. They have choice. In fact, an unending list of jobs available in the tech industry. Why is it Tesla's / SpaceX fault for being a cool company for many people to work at and they're willing to take a pay cut? It is 100% their choice. There is absolutely no counter argument here that I can see. I am trying.

I was responding to someone asking how they're different than any other tech company. They're known for underpaying and overworking people. That's how they're different than most others.

The implication being that if Twitter switched to that culture, then it'd generally be a really bad thing for most of those who currently work there, since they did not sign up for that.

Re: Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors

#755

Post by colinmhayes » Tue, Apr 05, 2022, 10:03 PM UTC

cbozeman wrote: post #594

and0 wrote: post #576

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what makes all of this so ironic to me. Social media platforms and their users (especially Facebook) are not left-leaning. That a vast majority of Twitter users feel he will improve it means that the bias is fictional.

I don't know how you got that sentiment from that graphic, which doesn't have jack shit to do with political affiliation. I will put $100 down right now that if you did a statistically significant, unbiased, controlled, representative sample of verified Twitter users - as in people you can provably show are actual human beings - you'll find the majority are left-leaning. Oh wait, I don't have to, Pew Research Group a…

Most of the verified users are journalists, who do lean left. I don't think that says anything about the overall user base of twitter.

Re: Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors

#756

Post by colinmhayes » Tue, Apr 05, 2022, 10:04 PM UTC

nickstinemates wrote: post #596

and0 wrote: post #576

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what makes all of this so ironic to me. Social media platforms and their users (especially Facebook) are not left-leaning. That a vast majority of Twitter users feel he will improve it means that the bias is fictional.

Honest question: have any far left politicians/celebrities/blue checkmark people been banned from twitter?

Which far leftists do you think have done things on twitter similar to what caused far rightists to be banned?

Re: Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors

#757

Post by ejb999 » Tue, Apr 05, 2022, 10:04 PM UTC

dieortin wrote: post #732

fleddr wrote: post #678

I think people are really over-analyzing this move. I think it's motivated by prestige, not money, nor is free speech the heart of the matter. Twitter is a stagnant company. They have thousands of engineers that in the span of a decade don't seem to produce much at all, nothing visible or memorable anyway. Long-lasting Twitter problems (culture, spam, algorithm issues) never seem addressed. User growth is stagnating…

In my experience Twitter is way more appealing to younger people than Facebook.

and tiktok is 100X more appealing to them than either of those.

Facebook is for grandparents, twitter is for bots.

Re: Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors

#758

Post by spsful » Tue, Apr 05, 2022, 10:06 PM UTC

fleddr wrote: post #678

I think people are really over-analyzing this move. I think it's motivated by prestige, not money, nor is free speech the heart of the matter. Twitter is a stagnant company. They have thousands of engineers that in the span of a decade don't seem to produce much at all, nothing visible or memorable anyway. Long-lasting Twitter problems (culture, spam, algorithm issues) never seem addressed. User growth is stagnating…

- Completely redesigning their UI two times over, - Launching a subscription-based service (which seems to make it the first social media network without ads) - Lengthening tweets to 280 characters - Letting users make money off their following (super followers)

I'm confused as to how any of this makes it stagnant.

Re: Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors

#759

Post by pengaru » Tue, Apr 05, 2022, 10:08 PM UTC

PostOnce wrote: post #698

fleddr wrote: post #678

I think people are really over-analyzing this move. I think it's motivated by prestige, not money, nor is free speech the heart of the matter. Twitter is a stagnant company. They have thousands of engineers that in the span of a decade don't seem to produce much at all, nothing visible or memorable anyway. Long-lasting Twitter problems (culture, spam, algorithm issues) never seem addressed. User growth is stagnating…

"stagnant company" Why must every company sustain boundless growth and 24-hour engagement? Change and growth for their own sake can be cancers. Twitter does what it does and people like it (as seen by the fact that they all use it), yet armchair generals cry out that twitter's refusal to turn into "not twitter" is somehow a failure of engineering and management, or some form of incompetence. So, I disagree, I guess.

> Twitter does what it does and people like it (as seen by the fact that they all use it)

Last I checked not even half the US population is on twitter, not even close to half. Who is this "all" in "they all use it?"

Re: Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors

#760

Post by dijonman2 » Tue, Apr 05, 2022, 10:09 PM UTC

LordDragonfang wrote: post #750

dijonman2 wrote: post #476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personal anecdote. I’m anti-woke, and I don’t discuss politics in any significant quantity. Instead I believe in being a decent person. We can talk until we’re green in the face but I welcome the day Twitter stops being a leftist authoritarian echo chamber.

You've made an awful lot of comments in threads about politics for someone who "doesn’t discuss politics in any significant quantity". Perhaps take some time to reflect as to whether that label is really true for you, and focus more on that latter belief. Being a decent person is admirable.

I fail to see how your comment is substantiative. I don’t need to reflect, but thx for your concern.