[Merged] Musk buys Twitter!/ Elon Musk puts Twitter deal on hold.... - Page 2

Shalamar · 25th April 2022, 06:27 PM

Originally Posted by junkshop

It's almost certainly not what you meant, but I'm now imagining a 'Future Shock', wherein an army of sentient back-issues dox their on-line critics.

Will twitter be the new Parler, where 'free speech' means only cons get to speak?

Warp12 · 25th April 2022, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by Venom

Last thing we need is a greedy, narcissistic piece of **** like Elon Musk wanting to ingratiate himself with that crowd.

Not everyone likes a winner, I guess.

rdwight · 25th April 2022, 08:02 PM

I haven't actually heard any suggestions from him so far that sounds like something progs should be complaining about. I think the worst and most commonly overlooked thing about twitter is that fringe voices are amplified to encompass right/left. Daily trends started by a couple of users with thousands denouncing their views and painting them as mainstream with *the other side*. I don't even use twitter and randomly I will get pulled into it to. Once you step back and look at the numbers, things get brought back in perspective.

BobTheCoward · 25th April 2022, 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by Warp12

Not everyone likes a winner, I guess.

I wouldn't say he has won very much

TragicMonkey · 25th April 2022, 08:47 PM

Stupid jerk who says stupid jerk things purchases global platform of stupid jerks saying stupid jerk things. Seems eminently suitable. I hope everybody involved sues each other penniless and the damn thing dies and no replacement is ever made. Humans are simply not meant to communicate that much with each other, it leads to very foolish outcomes.

Robin · 25th April 2022, 08:53 PM

I am guessing there is room now for a new platform for some person or group who can get it together and soak up the disaffected.

I closed my twitter account a while ago but I am sure there are a lot on there that won't wish to be on a platform that is the plaything of an alt-right billionaire.

The Great Zaganza · 25th April 2022, 09:11 PM

Every ... Single ... Time someone claims to have "free speech" on their platform, nazi/porn/childporn shows up until they have to moderate it into oblivion.
musk is either very stupid or he thinks he can 'motivate' Twitter employees into solving the problem somehow - which means he is stupid.

Twitters' value is going to drop like a stone, since the best&brightest will jump ship and users will look for something different.

I wonder if this was not just some way for musk to pay less taxes ... if that was possible.

Robin · 25th April 2022, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by sir drinks-a-lot

The progs are mad because they’re worried they won’t be able to cancel people on Twitter anymore.

Having one billionaire doing all the cancelling will be real progress.

Brainster · 25th April 2022, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by Robin

I am guessing there is room now for a new platform for some person or group who can get it together and soak up the disaffected.

I closed my twitter account a while ago but I am sure there are a lot on there that won't wish to be on a platform that is the plaything of an alt-right billionaire.

Musk is not alt-right, not by a mile. From what I can see his political instincts are libertarian, and definitely not authoritarian.

The Great Zaganza · 25th April 2022, 11:33 PM

Originally Posted by Brainster

Musk is not alt-right, not by a mile. From what I can see his political instincts are libertarian, and definitely not authoritarian.

Nope.

He is a typical Corporate Risk Socialist Private Wealth Libertarian (i.e. a LINO) in that he wants to government to finance his projects but doesn't want to pay taxes - or his workers.
He totally onboard with Authoritarianism as long as he gets rich and gets to talk ****.

Norman Alexander · 25th April 2022, 11:54 PM

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

Nope.

He is a typical Corporate Risk Socialist Private Wealth Libertarian (i.e. a LINO) in that he wants to government to finance his projects but doesn't want to pay taxes - or his workers.
He totally onboard with Authoritarianism as long as he gets rich and gets to talk ****.

Like what I said before. This is a money-making venture only. He won't give two square ***** what people do or do not say on the platform. But when it starts to lose him cash, it will have a "For Sale' sign on it faster than you can launch a penis-rocket.

arthwollipot · 26th April 2022, 12:02 AM

I'm waiting to see exactly how Twitter changes before passing judgement on whether this is a Good Thing or a Bad Thing.

zooterkin · 26th April 2022, 12:16 AM

Originally Posted by sir drinks-a-lot

Then what you’re saying is that the progs who are getting upset are delusional.

That’s a new one on me. Who are “the progs”?

Robin · 26th April 2022, 12:28 AM

Originally Posted by Brainster

Musk is not alt-right, not by a mile. From what I can see his political instincts are libertarian, and definitely not authoritarian.

Isn't "take the red pill" an expression co-opted by the alt-right?

arthwollipot · 26th April 2022, 12:36 AM

Originally Posted by Robin

Isn't "take the red pill" an expression co-opted by the alt-right?

More by the MRAs and MGTOWs, I thought.

ETA: Of course, there is a decent overlap there.

Darat · 26th April 2022, 02:05 AM

Originally Posted by Norman Alexander

Like what I said before. This is a money-making venture only. He won't give two square ***** what people do or do not say on the platform. But when it starts to lose him cash, it will have a "For Sale' sign on it faster than you can launch a penis-rocket.

But not in the sense of a sound company, making good consistent profits with long term prospects of strong profits continuing. He'll make money from stock sell off and so on.

Twitter has name recognition, but not much else going for it.

The Don · 26th April 2022, 02:11 AM

Originally Posted by zooterkin

That’s a new one on me. Who are “the progs”?

I'm assuming "Progressives" - i.e. those on the left who want society to make progress

Rolfe · 26th April 2022, 02:23 AM

A lot of people hoping they might no longer be banned for saying things like "only women can get pregnant" and "if you have a penis you're a man", and even that people banned for saying things like that might be unbanned, but I suspect that's a relatively minor issue.

Captain_Swoop · 26th April 2022, 02:53 AM

A media company owned by a rich philistine?
It finally happened.

Warp12 · 26th April 2022, 03:51 AM

Originally Posted by Rolfe

A lot of people hoping they might no longer be banned for saying things like "only women can get pregnant" and "if you have a penis you're a man", and even that people banned for saying things like that might be unbanned, but I suspect that's a relatively minor issue.

Yes, hopefully it will remain free of such alt-right hate speech.

jeremyp · 26th April 2022, 04:20 AM

Originally Posted by Puppycow

Interesting. I seem to recall Thunderf00t made a video recently claiming that Musk could not buy Twitter because he didn’t have enough money and this was just a PR stunt. I didn’t watch the whole video because frankly he was taking waaay too long to make whatever point or cite whatever evidence he was going to cite, and I just ran out of patience.

Here is what he said on twitter though:

https://mobile.twitter.com/thunderf0...7Ctwgr%5Etweet

ETA:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AFWKXe221L0

Thuderf00t made some flawed assumptions. It's true that most of Musk's wealth exists on paper only, in the form of Tesla stock which is grossly overpriced, but that doesn't mean he can't raise the money to buy Twitter. He can just take out loans secured against the Tesla stock.

Darat · 26th April 2022, 04:23 AM

If I was a large stock holder in Twitter (may be a small one god knows where all the pension funds I'm part of are invested) I would snatch his hand off. It is a ridiculous offer.

jeremyp · 26th April 2022, 04:28 AM

Originally Posted by Norman Alexander

Like what I said before. This is a money-making venture only. He won't give two square ***** what people do or do not say on the platform. But when it starts to lose him cash, it will have a "For Sale' sign on it faster than you can launch a penis-rocket.

If it starts losing him money, he'll probably sell it to Tesla. That's what he normally* does.

*where "normally" means he did it with Solar City.

Robin · 26th April 2022, 04:33 AM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

I'm waiting to see exactly how Twitter changes before passing judgement on whether this is a Good Thing or a Bad Thing.

I suspect the US mid terms will be the time that becomes clear one way or another.

Norman Alexander · 26th April 2022, 05:09 AM

Originally Posted by Darat

But not in the sense of a sound company, making good consistent profits with long term prospects of strong profits continuing. He'll make money from stock sell off and so on.

Twitter has name recognition, but not much else going for it.

However he does it, he has not bought it to make a loss. It is for his benefit.

Vixen · 26th April 2022, 05:38 AM

Twitter when it first started was good for 'breaking news': all the journalists kept an eye on it. Then it became a personal opinion type alternative to FB, for people who wanted to spout off but not get into debate. Then it became some kind of popularity contest, with people actually 'buying' followers. It is now at the 'Follow Back Friday' stage where everyone scrambles to get more followers, as they once aspired to number of 'friends' on FaceBook (I was always happy with a small circle and was shocked to discover my son and his friends with an automatic 700+ friends). It's the Instagram and Amazon thing, where people constantly check the numbers. For example, what ranking your book has on Amazon today. Then the advertisers zoomed in. Having been ripped off a couple of times by such advertisers - many of them opportunists - on Twitter (and had had an anxious long wait for some trainers from Instagram, advertised as being by a local firm but was now actually going to come all the way from China, in about six weeks [they turned out to be OK]), I will never order any goods advertised on Twitter (or Instagram) again. Although my personal preference is Twitter over FB, I like the two line quickie stuff, I can't say Elon Musk is going to do much to mess it up as it never was anything all that special anyway, albeit brilliant in some ways. Who remembers the days when it regularly crashed because of too many people logging in? It is still good for breaking news and politics IMV. I can't see that Musk is going to reverse that aspect of it. It'll probably go the same way as Friends Reunited as everything reaches a peak and then dies. Even FB is dying.

Fast Eddie B · 26th April 2022, 05:42 AM

Musk is a strange bird. He can certainly be erratic, and even mean.

But before we assume he’ll ruin Twitter, at least consider his track record with other endeavors:

Making Tesla a major, successful player in the EV world, pushing other manufacturers to play catch up, all of which overall reduce carbon emissions.

Making reusable boosters a reality, drastically reducing the cost of getting a payload into orbit, allowing…

Launching a gazillion small satellites into orbit to provide reliable access to relatively high speed internet to millions who could not otherwise get it.

I could relate to the doomsaying about Twitter’s future if Musk’s past was littered with ill conceived business plans that resulted in failure. As it is, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on Twitter.

Darat · 26th April 2022, 06:03 AM

Originally Posted by Fast Eddie B

Musk is a strange bird. He can certainly be erratic, and even mean.

But before we assume he’ll ruin Twitter, at least consider his track record with other endeavors:

Making Tesla a major, successful player in the EV world, pushing other manufacturers to play catch up, all of which overall reduce carbon emissions.

Making reusable boosters a reality, drastically reducing the cost of getting a payload into orbit, allowing…

Launching a gazillion small satellites into orbit to provide reliable access to relatively high speed internet to millions who could not otherwise get it.

I could relate to the doomsaying about Twitter’s future if Musk’s past was littered with ill conceived business plans that resulted in failure. As it is, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on Twitter.

That seems to be ignoring his "not quite as successful" endeavours (even if I give you his satellites )- if I only count my hits my god I'm legendary!

Segnosaur · 26th April 2022, 06:41 AM

On one hand, Musk's purchase of Twitter may have caused the value of the Trump-Linked twitter replacement Truth Social to drop. (I mean, it was always a scam and was probably going to crash in value anyways, but its nice to see it happen sooner than later, when the failure is more visible.)

From: CNN
Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, the controversial blank-check firm that plans to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, fell 13%.....the selloff comes as Musk reaches a deal to take over Twitter...Trump Media & Technology Group recently launched Truth Social, a Twitter clone aimed at conservatives whom Trump claims Twitter has silenced.

(I guess people are thinking "why go to Truth Media for my daily dose of white nationalism and russian spam bots when I can go to the much more established Twitter")

On the other hand, we have this:

From: Reuters
Republican lawmakers welcomed news that billionaire Elon Musk, who calls himself a free speech absolutist, was purchasing Twitter...

Be warry of anything that MAGAchud congress critters like Gym Jordan think is a "good thing".

Fast Eddie B · 26th April 2022, 06:44 AM

Originally Posted by Darat

That seems to be ignoring his "not quite as successful" endeavours (even if I give you his satellites )- if I only count my hits my god I'm legendary!

I’ll plead guilty to cherry picking. It’s just in this case the “hits” are so huge!

I’m not really aware of any big “misses”. Care to elucidate me?

Fast Eddie B · 26th April 2022, 06:47 AM

Originally Posted by Segnosaur

On one hand, Musk's purchase of Twitter may have caused the value of the Trump-Linked twitter replacement Truth Social to drop. (I mean, it was always a scam and was probably going to crash in value anyways, but its nice to see it happen sooner than later, when the failure is more visible.)

Trump is so personally involved with his new platform that he called it “Truth Central” the other day. Might be better to just rename it Pravda.

Segnosaur · 26th April 2022, 06:52 AM

Originally Posted by Fast Eddie B

But before we assume he’ll ruin Twitter, at least consider his track record with other endeavors:

(References to SpaceX/Tesla)

I could relate to the doomsaying about Twitter’s future if Musk’s past was littered with ill conceived business plans that resulted in failure. As it is, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on Twitter.

The issue here is that there are multiple measures of "success" when dealing with an influential organization like Twitter.... Will it be financially successful, and will it be best for society as a whole. Success by one measure does not mean that you are successful in all measures.

Musk certainly has had some pretty big financial/technological successes. But when it comes to Twitter, it is possible that he will continue to make Twitter profitable, while at the same time allowing it to spread misinformation, death threats, and other negative social aspects.

Musk seems to be described as a "free speech absolutist". But he has also talked about wanting to get rid of twitter-bots. (Whether he has a reasonable chance to get rid of twitter-bots remains to be seen.) Overall, I would love to see a reporter ask him a basic question: what will Twitter's policy be towards threats of violence and misinformation. If he says "I will maintain Twitter's policies" then there is less need to worry.

plague311 · 26th April 2022, 06:53 AM

Originally Posted by Darat

That seems to be ignoring his "not quite as successful" endeavours (even if I give you his satellites )- if I only count my hits my god I'm legendary!

And the satellites haven't been all that helpful to others occupying space. They almost had a collision recently, and a few dropped from the sky not that long ago.

I don't mess with Twitter, or social media in general, much anymore. Anyone with half a brain can predict what the comments on every thread, from politics to sports, are going to consist of. It was a hoot for the first few weeks I was on it though.

Ziggurat · 26th April 2022, 07:06 AM

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

Twitters' value is going to drop like a stone, since the best&brightest will jump ship and users will look for something different.

I see no evidence that Twitter had the best and brightest to begin with.

As for its value dropping... is that even a bad thing?

Segnosaur · 26th April 2022, 07:07 AM

Originally Posted by plague311

Quote:

That seems to be ignoring his "not quite as successful" endeavours (even if I give you his satellites )

And the satellites haven't been all that helpful to others occupying space. They almost had a collision recently, and a few dropped from the sky not that long ago.

Not to mention they seem to be negatively impacting astronomy....

From: Vox
Over five minutes, a train of 19 satellites had crossed into the telescopes’ view, scarring the observation with bright parallel marks... (it didn't take) long to figure out whose satellites they were: A week earlier, Elon Musk’s SpaceX had launched 60 small satellites into low Earth orbit.
...
the constellation satellites are a cause for straight-up alarm among many astronomers. In the next decade, they have been hoping to capture an even wider, deeper view of the cosmos from the Earth. And the satellites will get in the way.

Ziggurat · 26th April 2022, 07:11 AM

Originally Posted by jeremyp

Thuderf00t made some flawed assumptions.

That's an evergreen statement. Even when I agree with him, I don't trust his analysis.

The Great Zaganza · 26th April 2022, 07:13 AM

Originally Posted by Ziggurat

I see no evidence that Twitter had the best and brightest to begin with.

As for its value dropping... is that even a bad thing?

twitter going down in flames would be a great thing.

plague311 · 26th April 2022, 07:18 AM

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

twitter going down in flames would be a great thing.

I'd supply the marshmallows.

Fast Eddie B · 26th April 2022, 07:20 AM

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

twitter going down in flames would be a great thing.

It's just a tool. One that can be configured to suit different needs.

My Twitter feed is mainly used as a news feed. As such, it works pretty well. Most often I'll tweet responses to tweets, maybe once or twice a day. Rarely, if ever, do I tweet something "unprovoked". Anyway, I'd miss it and for me it serves a useful function.

Ziggurat · 26th April 2022, 07:53 AM

Originally Posted by Fast Eddie B

It's just a tool. One that can be configured to suit different needs.

That functionality is very unlikely to go away.

25th April 2022, 06:27 PM	#41
Shalamar Dark Lord of the JREF Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Somewhere Else Posts: 5,689	Originally Posted by junkshop It's almost certainly not what you meant, but I'm now imagining a 'Future Shock', wherein an army of sentient back-issues dox their on-line critics. Will twitter be the new Parler, where 'free speech' means only cons get to speak?
	__________________ "The truth is out there. But the lies are inside your head."

25th April 2022, 08:02 PM	#43
rdwight Graduate Poster Join Date: Dec 2016 Posts: 1,008	I haven't actually heard any suggestions from him so far that sounds like something progs should be complaining about. I think the worst and most commonly overlooked thing about twitter is that fringe voices are amplified to encompass right/left. Daily trends started by a couple of users with thousands denouncing their views and painting them as mainstream with the other side. I don't even use twitter and randomly I will get pulled into it to. Once you step back and look at the numbers, things get brought back in perspective.
rdwight Graduate Poster Join Date: Dec 2016 Posts: 1,008

25th April 2022, 08:20 PM	#44
BobTheCoward Banned Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 22,789	Originally Posted by Warp12 Not everyone likes a winner, I guess. I wouldn't say he has won very much
BobTheCoward Banned Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 22,789

25th April 2022, 08:47 PM	#45
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 66,007	Stupid jerk who says stupid jerk things purchases global platform of stupid jerks saying stupid jerk things. Seems eminently suitable. I hope everybody involved sues each other penniless and the damn thing dies and no replacement is ever made. Humans are simply not meant to communicate that much with each other, it leads to very foolish outcomes.
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25th April 2022, 09:11 PM	#47
The Great Zaganza Maledictorian Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 19,888	Every ... Single ... Time someone claims to have "free speech" on their platform, nazi/porn/childporn shows up until they have to moderate it into oblivion. musk is either very stupid or he thinks he can 'motivate' Twitter employees into solving the problem somehow - which means he is stupid. Twitters' value is going to drop like a stone, since the best&brightest will jump ship and users will look for something different. I wonder if this was not just some way for musk to pay less taxes ... if that was possible.
	__________________ “Don’t blame me. I voted for Kodos.”

25th April 2022, 06:38 PM	#42
Warp12 Banned Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: USA Posts: 7,583	Originally Posted by Venom Last thing we need is a greedy, narcissistic piece of **** like Elon Musk wanting to ingratiate himself with that crowd. Not everyone likes a winner, I guess.

25th April 2022, 08:53 PM	#46
Robin Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 14,969	I am guessing there is room now for a new platform for some person or group who can get it together and soak up the disaffected. I closed my twitter account a while ago but I am sure there are a lot on there that won't wish to be on a platform that is the plaything of an alt-right billionaire.

25th April 2022, 09:48 PM	#48
Robin Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 14,969	Originally Posted by sir drinks-a-lot The progs are mad because they’re worried they won’t be able to cancel people on Twitter anymore. Having one billionaire doing all the cancelling will be real progress.

25th April 2022, 11:22 PM	#49
Brainster Penultimate Amazing Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 19,880	Originally Posted by Robin I am guessing there is room now for a new platform for some person or group who can get it together and soak up the disaffected. I closed my twitter account a while ago but I am sure there are a lot on there that won't wish to be on a platform that is the plaything of an alt-right billionaire. Musk is not alt-right, not by a mile. From what I can see his political instincts are libertarian, and definitely not authoritarian.
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25th April 2022, 11:33 PM	#50
The Great Zaganza Maledictorian Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 19,888	Originally Posted by Brainster Musk is not alt-right, not by a mile. From what I can see his political instincts are libertarian, and definitely not authoritarian. Nope. He is a typical Corporate Risk Socialist Private Wealth Libertarian (i.e. a LINO) in that he wants to government to finance his projects but doesn't want to pay taxes - or his workers. He totally onboard with Authoritarianism as long as he gets rich and gets to talk ****.
	__________________ “Don’t blame me. I voted for Kodos.”

25th April 2022, 11:54 PM	#51
Norman Alexander Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Dharug & Gundungurra Posts: 14,963	Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza Nope. He is a typical Corporate Risk Socialist Private Wealth Libertarian (i.e. a LINO) in that he wants to government to finance his projects but doesn't want to pay taxes - or his workers. He totally onboard with Authoritarianism as long as he gets rich and gets to talk **. Like what I said before. This is a money-making venture only. He won't give two square *** what people do or do not say on the platform. But when it starts to lose him cash, it will have a "For Sale' sign on it faster than you can launch a penis-rocket.
	__________________ _{...our governments are just trying to protect us from terror. In the same way that someone banging a hornets’ nest with a stick is trying to protect us from hornets. Frankie Boyle, Guardian, July 2015}

26th April 2022, 12:02 AM	#52
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 82,020	I'm waiting to see exactly how Twitter changes before passing judgement on whether this is a Good Thing or a Bad Thing.
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26th April 2022, 12:16 AM	#53
zooterkin Nitpicking dilettante Administrator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Berkshire, mostly Posts: 55,815	Originally Posted by sir drinks-a-lot Then what you’re saying is that the progs who are getting upset are delusional. That’s a new one on me. Who are “the progs”?
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26th April 2022, 12:28 AM	#54
Robin Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 14,969	Originally Posted by Brainster Musk is not alt-right, not by a mile. From what I can see his political instincts are libertarian, and definitely not authoritarian. Isn't "take the red pill" an expression co-opted by the alt-right?

26th April 2022, 12:36 AM	#55
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 82,020	Originally Posted by Robin Isn't "take the red pill" an expression co-opted by the alt-right? More by the MRAs and MGTOWs, I thought. ETA: Of course, there is a decent overlap there.
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26th April 2022, 02:05 AM	#56
Darat Lackey Administrator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: South East, UK Posts: 109,587	Originally Posted by Norman Alexander Like what I said before. This is a money-making venture only. He won't give two square ***** what people do or do not say on the platform. But when it starts to lose him cash, it will have a "For Sale' sign on it faster than you can launch a penis-rocket. But not in the sense of a sound company, making good consistent profits with long term prospects of strong profits continuing. He'll make money from stock sell off and so on. Twitter has name recognition, but not much else going for it.
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26th April 2022, 02:11 AM	#57
The Don Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Sir Fynwy Posts: 36,611	Originally Posted by zooterkin That’s a new one on me. Who are “the progs”? I'm assuming "Progressives" - i.e. those on the left who want society to make progress

26th April 2022, 02:23 AM	#58
Rolfe Adult human female Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NT 150 511 Posts: 50,593	A lot of people hoping they might no longer be banned for saying things like "only women can get pregnant" and "if you have a penis you're a man", and even that people banned for saying things like that might be unbanned, but I suspect that's a relatively minor issue.
	__________________ "The way we vote will depend, ultimately, on whether we are persuaded to hope or to fear." - Aonghas MacNeacail, June 2012.

26th April 2022, 02:53 AM	#59
Captain_Swoop Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 43,373	A media company owned by a rich philistine? It finally happened.

26th April 2022, 03:51 AM	#60
Warp12 Banned Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: USA Posts: 7,583	Originally Posted by Rolfe A lot of people hoping they might no longer be banned for saying things like "only women can get pregnant" and "if you have a penis you're a man", and even that people banned for saying things like that might be unbanned, but I suspect that's a relatively minor issue. Yes, hopefully it will remain free of such alt-right hate speech.
	Last edited by Warp12; 26th April 2022 at 04:03 AM.

26th April 2022, 04:20 AM	#61
jeremyp Master Poster Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha Posts: 2,799	Originally Posted by Puppycow Interesting. I seem to recall Thunderf00t made a video recently claiming that Musk could not buy Twitter because he didn’t have enough money and this was just a PR stunt. I didn’t watch the whole video because frankly he was taking waaay too long to make whatever point or cite whatever evidence he was going to cite, and I just ran out of patience. Here is what he said on twitter though: https://mobile.twitter.com/thunderf0...7Ctwgr%5Etweet ETA: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AFWKXe221L0 Thuderf00t made some flawed assumptions. It's true that most of Musk's wealth exists on paper only, in the form of Tesla stock which is grossly overpriced, but that doesn't mean he can't raise the money to buy Twitter. He can just take out loans secured against the Tesla stock.

26th April 2022, 04:23 AM	#62
Darat Lackey Administrator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: South East, UK Posts: 109,587	If I was a large stock holder in Twitter (may be a small one god knows where all the pension funds I'm part of are invested) I would snatch his hand off. It is a ridiculous offer.
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26th April 2022, 04:28 AM	#63
jeremyp Master Poster Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha Posts: 2,799	Originally Posted by Norman Alexander Like what I said before. This is a money-making venture only. He won't give two square ***** what people do or do not say on the platform. But when it starts to lose him cash, it will have a "For Sale' sign on it faster than you can launch a penis-rocket. If it starts losing him money, he'll probably sell it to Tesla. That's what he normally* does. *where "normally" means he did it with Solar City.

26th April 2022, 04:33 AM	#64
Robin Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 14,969	Originally Posted by arthwollipot I'm waiting to see exactly how Twitter changes before passing judgement on whether this is a Good Thing or a Bad Thing. I suspect the US mid terms will be the time that becomes clear one way or another.

26th April 2022, 05:09 AM	#65
Norman Alexander Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Dharug & Gundungurra Posts: 14,963	Originally Posted by Darat But not in the sense of a sound company, making good consistent profits with long term prospects of strong profits continuing. He'll make money from stock sell off and so on. Twitter has name recognition, but not much else going for it. However he does it, he has not bought it to make a loss. It is for his benefit.
	__________________ _{...our governments are just trying to protect us from terror. In the same way that someone banging a hornets’ nest with a stick is trying to protect us from hornets. Frankie Boyle, Guardian, July 2015}

26th April 2022, 05:38 AM	#66
Vixen Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 32,715	Twitter when it first started was good for 'breaking news': all the journalists kept an eye on it. Then it became a personal opinion type alternative to FB, for people who wanted to spout off but not get into debate. Then it became some kind of popularity contest, with people actually 'buying' followers. It is now at the 'Follow Back Friday' stage where everyone scrambles to get more followers, as they once aspired to number of 'friends' on FaceBook (I was always happy with a small circle and was shocked to discover my son and his friends with an automatic 700+ friends). It's the Instagram and Amazon thing, where people constantly check the numbers. For example, what ranking your book has on Amazon today. Then the advertisers zoomed in. Having been ripped off a couple of times by such advertisers - many of them opportunists - on Twitter (and had had an anxious long wait for some trainers from Instagram, advertised as being by a local firm but was now actually going to come all the way from China, in about six weeks [they turned out to be OK]), I will never order any goods advertised on Twitter (or Instagram) again. Although my personal preference is Twitter over FB, I like the two line quickie stuff, I can't say Elon Musk is going to do much to mess it up as it never was anything all that special anyway, albeit brilliant in some ways. Who remembers the days when it regularly crashed because of too many people logging in? It is still good for breaking news and politics IMV. I can't see that Musk is going to reverse that aspect of it. It'll probably go the same way as Friends Reunited as everything reaches a peak and then dies. Even FB is dying.
	__________________ The parting on the Left Is now parting on the Right ~ Pete Townshend

26th April 2022, 05:42 AM	#67
Fast Eddie B Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Lenoir City, TN/Mineral Bluff, GA Posts: 7,558	Musk is a strange bird. He can certainly be erratic, and even mean. But before we assume he’ll ruin Twitter, at least consider his track record with other endeavors: Making Tesla a major, successful player in the EV world, pushing other manufacturers to play catch up, all of which overall reduce carbon emissions. Making reusable boosters a reality, drastically reducing the cost of getting a payload into orbit, allowing… Launching a gazillion small satellites into orbit to provide reliable access to relatively high speed internet to millions who could not otherwise get it. I could relate to the doomsaying about Twitter’s future if Musk’s past was littered with ill conceived business plans that resulted in failure. As it is, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on Twitter.

26th April 2022, 06:03 AM	#68
Darat Lackey Administrator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: South East, UK Posts: 109,587	Originally Posted by Fast Eddie B Musk is a strange bird. He can certainly be erratic, and even mean. But before we assume he’ll ruin Twitter, at least consider his track record with other endeavors: Making Tesla a major, successful player in the EV world, pushing other manufacturers to play catch up, all of which overall reduce carbon emissions. Making reusable boosters a reality, drastically reducing the cost of getting a payload into orbit, allowing… Launching a gazillion small satellites into orbit to provide reliable access to relatively high speed internet to millions who could not otherwise get it. I could relate to the doomsaying about Twitter’s future if Musk’s past was littered with ill conceived business plans that resulted in failure. As it is, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on Twitter. That seems to be ignoring his "not quite as successful" endeavours (even if I give you his satellites )- if I only count my hits my god I'm legendary!
	__________________ I wish I knew how to quit you

26th April 2022, 06:41 AM	#69
Segnosaur Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Canada, eh? Posts: 19,893	On one hand, Musk's purchase of Twitter may have caused the value of the Trump-Linked twitter replacement Truth Social to drop. (I mean, it was always a scam and was probably going to crash in value anyways, but its nice to see it happen sooner than later, when the failure is more visible.) From: CNN Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, the controversial blank-check firm that plans to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, fell 13%.....the selloff comes as Musk reaches a deal to take over Twitter...Trump Media & Technology Group recently launched Truth Social, a Twitter clone aimed at conservatives whom Trump claims Twitter has silenced. (I guess people are thinking "why go to Truth Media for my daily dose of white nationalism and russian spam bots when I can go to the much more established Twitter") On the other hand, we have this: From: Reuters Republican lawmakers welcomed news that billionaire Elon Musk, who calls himself a free speech absolutist, was purchasing Twitter... Be warry of anything that MAGAchud congress critters like Gym Jordan think is a "good thing".
	__________________ Trust me, I know what I'm doing. - Sledgehammer I'm Mary Poppins Y'all! - Yondu We are Groot - Groot

26th April 2022, 06:44 AM	#70
Fast Eddie B Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Lenoir City, TN/Mineral Bluff, GA Posts: 7,558	Originally Posted by Darat That seems to be ignoring his "not quite as successful" endeavours (even if I give you his satellites )- if I only count my hits my god I'm legendary! I’ll plead guilty to cherry picking. It’s just in this case the “hits” are so huge! I’m not really aware of any big “misses”. Care to elucidate me?

26th April 2022, 06:47 AM	#71
Fast Eddie B Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Lenoir City, TN/Mineral Bluff, GA Posts: 7,558	Originally Posted by Segnosaur On one hand, Musk's purchase of Twitter may have caused the value of the Trump-Linked twitter replacement Truth Social to drop. (I mean, it was always a scam and was probably going to crash in value anyways, but its nice to see it happen sooner than later, when the failure is more visible.) Trump is so personally involved with his new platform that he called it “Truth Central” the other day. Might be better to just rename it Pravda.

26th April 2022, 06:52 AM	#72
Segnosaur Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Canada, eh? Posts: 19,893	Originally Posted by Fast Eddie B But before we assume he’ll ruin Twitter, at least consider his track record with other endeavors: (References to SpaceX/Tesla) I could relate to the doomsaying about Twitter’s future if Musk’s past was littered with ill conceived business plans that resulted in failure. As it is, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on Twitter. The issue here is that there are multiple measures of "success" when dealing with an influential organization like Twitter.... Will it be financially successful, and will it be best for society as a whole. Success by one measure does not mean that you are successful in all measures. Musk certainly has had some pretty big financial/technological successes. But when it comes to Twitter, it is possible that he will continue to make Twitter profitable, while at the same time allowing it to spread misinformation, death threats, and other negative social aspects. Musk seems to be described as a "free speech absolutist". But he has also talked about wanting to get rid of twitter-bots. (Whether he has a reasonable chance to get rid of twitter-bots remains to be seen.) Overall, I would love to see a reporter ask him a basic question: what will Twitter's policy be towards threats of violence and misinformation. If he says "I will maintain Twitter's policies" then there is less need to worry.
	__________________ Trust me, I know what I'm doing. - Sledgehammer I'm Mary Poppins Y'all! - Yondu We are Groot - Groot

26th April 2022, 06:53 AM	#73
plague311 Great minds think... Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: North Dakota Posts: 13,790	Originally Posted by Darat That seems to be ignoring his "not quite as successful" endeavours (even if I give you his satellites )- if I only count my hits my god I'm legendary! And the satellites haven't been all that helpful to others occupying space. They almost had a collision recently, and a few dropped from the sky not that long ago. I don't mess with Twitter, or social media in general, much anymore. Anyone with half a brain can predict what the comments on every thread, from politics to sports, are going to consist of. It was a hoot for the first few weeks I was on it though.
	__________________ “There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind.” - Patrick Rothfuss

26th April 2022, 07:06 AM	#74
Ziggurat Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 53,886	Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza Twitters' value is going to drop like a stone, since the best&brightest will jump ship and users will look for something different. I see no evidence that Twitter had the best and brightest to begin with. As for its value dropping... is that even a bad thing?
	__________________ "As long as it is admitted that the law may be diverted from its true purpose -- that it may violate property instead of protecting it -- then everyone will want to participate in making the law, either to protect himself against plunder or to use it for plunder. Political questions will always be prejudicial, dominant, and all-absorbing. There will be fighting at the door of the Legislative Palace, and the struggle within will be no less furious." - Bastiat, The Law

26th April 2022, 07:07 AM	#75
Segnosaur Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Canada, eh? Posts: 19,893	Originally Posted by plague311 Quote: That seems to be ignoring his "not quite as successful" endeavours (even if I give you his satellites ) And the satellites haven't been all that helpful to others occupying space. They almost had a collision recently, and a few dropped from the sky not that long ago. Not to mention they seem to be negatively impacting astronomy.... From: Vox Over five minutes, a train of 19 satellites had crossed into the telescopes’ view, scarring the observation with bright parallel marks... (it didn't take) long to figure out whose satellites they were: A week earlier, Elon Musk’s SpaceX had launched 60 small satellites into low Earth orbit. ... the constellation satellites are a cause for straight-up alarm among many astronomers. In the next decade, they have been hoping to capture an even wider, deeper view of the cosmos from the Earth. And the satellites will get in the way.
	__________________ Trust me, I know what I'm doing. - Sledgehammer I'm Mary Poppins Y'all! - Yondu We are Groot - Groot