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Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors

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

#991

Post by inglor_cz »

planetsprite wrote: post #849
memish wrote: post #699

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He could do that with any number of stagnant companies. Think bigger picture. Tesla: Sustainable transport SpaceX: Becoming a multiplanetary species Twitter: Free speech in the public square IMO it's actually the most important mission of the 3 since it's the basis for societal progress.

Here's a more sane interpretation of Musk's "mission" for these companies: Tesla: Gimmicky electric cars as a status symbol SpaceX: Maximizing profits on government space contracts Twitter: Tactical manipulation of stock prices All of them are about increasing Musk's clout and net worth.

"Maximizing profits on government space contracts"

That would be the United Launch Alliance, Sir.

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

#993

Post by timtas »

tedivm wrote: post #568
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…

Outside of the SV bubble people have actual lives that don't resolve around tech companies. Until someone shows actual evidence with real numbers behind it it's hard to take the whole "people don't realize how much people do or think X" seriously.

He's not asking you to take him seriously. He's taking executive action while others wait infinitely for some kind of "real numbers" to come in. Analysts make terrible entrepreneurs.

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

#994

Post by Breza »

systemvoltage wrote: post #749
mywittyname wrote: post #673

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet, they all have Facebook, Google, and Apple accounts. You can hate them all you want, but you're not going to change them by shoveling money into their pockets. They care enough to bitch, but not enough to do anything about it. These people who hate Twitter probably don't even use Twitter. If you're not interesting or important, then nobody on Twitter cares what you have to say. It's not like Facebook, where y…

Twitter is a monopoly. When the only way for government officials to relay messages to their constituents is through a private platform such as Twitter, it ceases to have the same privilege as a private corporation. It is a de facto public square. This is not up for debate.

I don't think they're a monopoly. If Twitter vanished tomorrow, people would quickly move on to a host of other platforms. That's the sad truth about network effects: they can unravel shockingly quickly. My mayor tweets, but her office also uses email, text messages, postal mail, press conferences, and other tools to communicate.

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

#995

Post by Breza »

choward wrote: post #599
taf2 wrote: post #565

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean like the news? As an experiment try this for two months. On month 1 - watch only CNN. On month 2 - watch only Fox. Maybe take a 1 week break between both and write down your thoughts on the world... very interesting how it evolves based on what you watch/listen too... From what I hear if you just watched Russian state media it'd be an even more extreme version. The great thing about our free society is you h…

> as I understand it you can't do this in Russia today... Or Ukraine or many other countries. Not sure why you singled out Russia specifically. However, if you are just watching corporate media you're not getting the full picture either. CNN and Fox News have very similar opinions on non-culture war issues.

Russia has lots of people with access to technology and it also has wildly repressive speech laws. That combination makes it great for this example.

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

#996

Post by Breza »

bliteben wrote: post #718
Broken_Hippo wrote: post #651

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't even imagine how the Founders would react to things like the PATRIOT Act. I can't even take this seriously. These are the same folks that kept people as property. Didn't make sure everyone could vote (male land owners only). They founded the country on land stolen from folks already living here. It isn't like the founders were really beacons of freedom, at least not if you use today's standards and honestly,…

Imagine being born into several flawed systems, risking everything, and many had a lot to risk to fix one aspect of a system and being judged because you didn't fix everything. You act like the founding fathers created slavery on their own. The freedom given to the world by the US and by extension Napoleon was not some inevitable thing and its not something that will necessarily persist either as we can easily judge…

Well said. Judging historical figures by modern standards isn't fair. We should look at each person as a flawed human being and take away lessons from what they did right and what they did wrong.

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

#997

Post by Breza »

cbozeman wrote: post #605
jasonlotito wrote: post #569

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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'…

> 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. That's the problem with not giving a shit. When things finally do become bad enough that it affects you personally, it's too late. When it comes to standing up for what's right - and I define what's "right" as mos…

"I can't even imagine how the Founders would react to things like the PATRIOT Act."

That might not be the best argument. Remember that the First Amendment passed only a few years before the awful Sedition Act, which would never pass modern judicial review.

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

#998

Post by yhoiseth »

ladyattis wrote: post #960
axg11 wrote: post #922

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reusable rockets.

That's not a new technology. You can find examples of research going back to the Apollo program where such things were being considered and discussed.

Considering/discussing is very different from actually making it happen.

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

#1000

Post by octodog »

spanktheuser wrote: post #916
octodog wrote: post #911

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can disagree but you're wrong. Twitter is the definition of a stagnant company. The stock has gone nowhere since its IPO and Twitter has never paid a dividend. It has revenue of $5bn but cannot seem to turn a meaningful profit and is not growing. So far it has been a massive failure for shareholders, who are the stakeholders that the board and management are actually there to serve.

> The stock has gone nowhere since its IPO and Twitter has never paid a dividend. This is a terribly short-sighted and impoverished definition of stagnation. If Elon shakes things up and Twitter generates 2x the profit and 2x the social destruction as Facebook would you call them a vibrant and successful concern?

If things were radically different would I describe Twitter differently? Yes.

Is Twitter currently generating twice the profit of Facebook? No. Pretty straightforward.

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