Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

911–920 of 1001 posts

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#911

Post by [deleted] »

hedora wrote: post #847
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…

Musk has media attention, but I'm not sure it's much of an advantage at this point. I tried getting a solar system from Tesla, and it convinced me not to consider their cars. I know it is a different side of the company, but I ended up with a used electric BMW. I was resigned to dealing with the B-hole stigma around having a beamer, but whatever. It's a nice car, environmentally friendly, and was inexpensive. That's…

[deleted]

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#912

Post by quickthrower2 »

randomsearch wrote: post #573
mullingitover wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

If you think Twitter can be easily cloned then you know everything about tech and nothing about business.

Exactly! Every web dev framework beginner tutorial is a “twitter clone”

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#913

Post by Heyso »

giobox wrote: post #836
cutenewt wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think you hugely over-estimate the importance of “developer APIs” to the number of bots on twitter. You’re never going to really fully defeat browser automation or HTTP request playback with automatically generated payloads. No one technically needs an API if a web interface exists to automate something. It’s easier with an official API sure, but not super hard without. Indeed, a truly malicious bot farm would avoi…

How about making changes to the interface html structure/ids and same for the api. Will break any program using it, but won't bother users. Now record what accounts are silenced by that, do it multiples times and ypu have an idea who is a bot ?

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#914

Post by origin_path »

halfjoking wrote: post #889
from wrote: post #810

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> satisfied governments globally This is the easy part if he really wants to choose the free speech absolutist route. Close the European offices (which will probably happen anyways due to mass firings), bank accounts and move it all to America or other friendly jurisdiction if needed for tax purposes. They can sue all they want in Europe but American courts won't enforce a judgement that isn't compatible with America…

You're worried about Europe, but how is the US a friendly jurisdiction for free speech? The Biden Admin targeted specific users on Twitter, and insisted those users were banned: https://reclaimthenet.org/biden-admin-alex-berenson-twitter-... What if Musk's Twitter doesn't listen to those requests? Don't you think the DOJ would apply pressure to Google/Apple to ban Twitter from the App Store? What happened to Parler?…

Parler is back in the play store.

Yes, left wing parties are not particularly keen on free speech, but the difference is that in the EU they've placed themselves in an unassailable dictatorship which had just announced it will censor content with a China style system in which bureaucrats sure in dedicated committees inside the organization. The USA has a long way to go to match even a fraction of that level of censorship.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#915

Post by origin_path »

EMM_386 wrote: post #864

I am not sure what Elon's vision of a "free speech" platform is, but if you allow absolutely all legal free speech, with limited/no moderation, it will turn into a cesspool. This "Welcome to Hell, Elon" article sums up most of my points so I won't bother to repeat them all here. https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/28/23428132/elon-musk-twitt...

That's the left wing perspective, not some universal truth. Obvious counterexamples: America, the internet, e2e encrypted messaging.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#916

Post by Heyso »

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…

There is not only personalities like Trump, peoples like Silvano Trotta, Christian Perronne, Astrid Stuckelberger, Christine Cotton, should also be unbanned if he do things right. All theses peoples have switched to Telegram, but they might come back on twitter if Musk is serious about free speech and unban them. With their followers...

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#917

Post by shkkmo »

planetsprite wrote: post #768

As much as people dislike Musk, he draws excitement and captivation not only to himself, but to whatever he touches. Now for the first time people actually care about the "future" of Twitter, or in a sense, have a vision for its future that isn't defined by its frequent moderation-related controversies. Is Musk's financial success and unparalleled cultural relevance a science that can be replicated? I mean, as much a…

> Even a man for a while much richer than Elon, Bezos, couldn't muster much in terms of cultural relevance for Blue Origin than a PR stunt with William Shatner.

When/if Blue Origin starts actually launching ships to orbit and then landing them, they'll gain a lot of relevance.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#919

Post by machiaweliczny »

_fat_santa wrote: post #312
cutenewt wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

this is brilliant

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#920

Post by madeofpalk »

kjksf wrote: post #684
JasserInicide wrote: post #649

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Musk is going to discover (and maybe admit?) that fixing Twitter is harder than he thought. Yeah I think he's going to intensely focus on Twitter for ~6 months, not change much, get bored, and then move onto something else.

The way he got bored running Tesla and SpaceX for ~20 years? I really don't get where this meme of "impulsive, erratic, hotheaded Musk" comes from given he demonstrated ability to stick with a business in the toughest of times. Tesla was literally days away from bankruptcy at one time and Musk made it work. After first 3 failed launches he was about to run out of money and yet he financed another launch, which worked…

Twitter has always been a failed business, which he bought, so...?
Post reply on HN