Twitter (1 Viewer)

[Ilov80s]

Wasn't trying to dissect anything. I didn't understand the joke that Musk was begging for money by charging a price. That seems like normal business. So I asked.

I think it's the way he goes about things. For example some random blue check was complaining about whatever thing Musk might do and replied with "$8" or "thanks for the feedback now pay me $8". He is posting things like "you can still whine and complain on here but now it costs $8". He was "bargaining" with Stephen King. He posted a meme "mocking" people who would spend $8 on a coffee but not Twitter. I don't take it as begging but it's not exactly how a normal CEO or business would announce or preview price changes. Also I can see how it comes off as a bit disingenuous when he said he was buying Twitter to support free speech and his first move is to increase monetization.

 

[Joe Schmo]

Wasn't trying to dissect anything. I didn't understand the joke that Musk was begging for money by charging a price. That seems like normal business. So I asked.

I think it's the way he goes about things. For example some random blue check was complaining about whatever thing Musk might do and replied with "$8" or "thanks for the feedback now pay me $8". He is posting things like "you can still whine and complain on here but now it costs $8". He was "bargaining" with Stephen King. He posted a meme "mocking" people who would spend $8 on a coffee but not Twitter. I don't take it as begging but it's not exactly how a normal CEO or business would announce or preview price changes. Also I can see how it comes off as a bit disingenuous when he said he was buying Twitter to support free speech and his first move is to increase monetization.

And also it was a joke

 

[dkp993]

Wasn't trying to dissect anything. I didn't understand the joke that Musk was begging for money by charging a price. That seems like normal business. So I asked.

I think it's the way he goes about things. For example some random blue check was complaining about whatever thing Musk might do and replied with "$8" or "thanks for the feedback now pay me $8". He is posting things like "you can still whine and complain on here but now it costs $8". He was "bargaining" with Stephen King. He posted a meme "mocking" people who would spend $8 on a coffee but not Twitter. I don't take it as begging but it's not exactly how a normal CEO or business would announce or preview price changes. Also I can see how it comes off as a bit disingenuous when he said he was buying Twitter to support free speech and his first move is to increase monetization.

It. Was. A. Joke.

I really can’t believe that I need to explain this. But often in jokes, people use exaggerated language to get the laugh. Joe, you’re taking this far too literally/seriously brother.

 

[Ilov80s]

And also it was a joke

Yeah I know but a joke that a lot of people have been making on Twitter this week which means there is some hint of perceived truth behind it. Maybe not from the poster here who made it but there’s people who sort of see it that way.

 

[Joe Bryant]

I really can’t believe that I need to explain this.

Sorry? Not sure what to tell you there. If I don't understand something, I usually will ask the person so I can better understand. Even when it's a joke.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Yeah I know but a joke that a lot of people have been making on Twitter this week which means there is some hint of perceived truth behind it. Maybe not from the poster here who made it but there’s people who sort of see it that way.

Thanks. That's why I asked.

 

[The Commish]

This seems like an odd decision. It appears like Musk is trying to both increase profitability (increasing subscribers, mass layoffs) and radically change the product (the everything app). I don't see how he accomplishes the 2nd goal with mass layoffs.

The everything app?

Seems like all he needs to do is get people to stop using Apple Pay and Google Wallet, and credit card apps, and Amazon app for shopping.

What's the problem?

And their secured bank websites....no biggie

 

[The General]

This seems like an odd decision. It appears like Musk is trying to both increase profitability (increasing subscribers, mass layoffs) and radically change the product (the everything app). I don't see how he accomplishes the 2nd goal with mass layoffs.

The everything app?

Seems like all he needs to do is get people to stop using Apple Pay and Google Wallet, and credit card apps, and Amazon app for shopping.

What's the problem?

And their secured bank websites....no biggie

Is this the plan for Twitter or just people speculating?

I mean Elon would need this level of ambition for this investment to pay off but this seems like pipe dream type stuff. Twitter would need some major rebranding and features no one else has to make this even remotely possible.

 

[Desert_Power]

This seems like an odd decision. It appears like Musk is trying to both increase profitability (increasing subscribers, mass layoffs) and radically change the product (the everything app). I don't see how he accomplishes the 2nd goal with mass layoffs.

The everything app?

Seems like all he needs to do is get people to stop using Apple Pay and Google Wallet, and credit card apps, and Amazon app for shopping.

What's the problem?

And their secured bank websites....no biggie

Is this the plan for Twitter or just people speculating?

I mean Elon would need this level of ambition for this investment to pay off but this seems like pipe dream type stuff. Twitter would need some major rebranding and features no one else has to make this even remotely possible.

Good article here about the current plans. Simply isn't going to have anywhere near the cashflow for that type of "everything" app.

 

[fatness]

Musk to cut half of Twitter jobs and end remote work for the rest, report says

This is pretty despicable.

 

[fatness]

Good article here about the current plans. Simply isn't going to have anywhere near the cashflow for that type of "everything" app.

Seems like it's an appeal for those with more money to use the platform in ways that those with less money cannot. The same people who try to try to manipulate public perceptions through "dark money" groups will find ways to use this.

Since closing his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last week, Mr. Musk and his advisers have discussed adding paid direct messages — which would let users send private messages to high-profile users — to the service, according to two people with knowledge of the matter and internal documents viewed by The New York Times.

They have also talked about adding “paywalled” videos, which would mean that certain videos could not be viewed unless users paid a fee, these people said.

 

[The General]

Good article here about the current plans. Simply isn't going to have anywhere near the cashflow for that type of "everything" app.

Seems like it's an appeal for those with more money to use the platform in ways that those with less money cannot. The same people who try to try to manipulate public perceptions through "dark money" groups will find ways to use this.

Since closing his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last week, Mr. Musk and his advisers have discussed adding paid direct messages — which would let users send private messages to high-profile users — to the service, according to two people with knowledge of the matter and internal documents viewed by The New York Times.

They have also talked about adding “paywalled” videos, which would mean that certain videos could not be viewed unless users paid a fee, these people said.

Who is paying for this stuff? Serious old man vibes with this post but paying to send messages to some "celebrity" or paying to watch special vids. Good luck with this

 

[Desert_Power]

Good article here about the current plans. Simply isn't going to have anywhere near the cashflow for that type of "everything" app.

Seems like it's an appeal for those with more money to use the platform in ways that those with less money cannot. The same people who try to try to manipulate public perceptions through "dark money" groups will find ways to use this.

Since closing his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last week, Mr. Musk and his advisers have discussed adding paid direct messages — which would let users send private messages to high-profile users — to the service, according to two people with knowledge of the matter and internal documents viewed by The New York Times.

They have also talked about adding “paywalled” videos, which would mean that certain videos could not be viewed unless users paid a fee, these people said.

Who is paying for this stuff? Serious old man vibes with this post but paying to send messages to some "celebrity" or paying to watch special vids. Good luck with this

Sounds like a great way to get the receivers of said DMs to leave the platform too.

 

[The General]

Good article here about the current plans. Simply isn't going to have anywhere near the cashflow for that type of "everything" app.

Seems like it's an appeal for those with more money to use the platform in ways that those with less money cannot. The same people who try to try to manipulate public perceptions through "dark money" groups will find ways to use this.

Since closing his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last week, Mr. Musk and his advisers have discussed adding paid direct messages — which would let users send private messages to high-profile users — to the service, according to two people with knowledge of the matter and internal documents viewed by The New York Times.

They have also talked about adding “paywalled” videos, which would mean that certain videos could not be viewed unless users paid a fee, these people said.

Who is paying for this stuff? Serious old man vibes with this post but paying to send messages to some "celebrity" or paying to watch special vids. Good luck with this

Sounds like a great way to get the receivers of said DMs to leave the platform too.

I assume they’d be in on it and getting paid too but who knows. People pay for all kinds of stuff but this sounds very whack and super corny.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

What a bunch of cheapskates. I've already sent Mr. Musk his money.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/9BAAAOSwaDJhEUfz/s-l500.jpg

 

[The Commish]

This seems like an odd decision. It appears like Musk is trying to both increase profitability (increasing subscribers, mass layoffs) and radically change the product (the everything app). I don't see how he accomplishes the 2nd goal with mass layoffs.

The everything app?

Seems like all he needs to do is get people to stop using Apple Pay and Google Wallet, and credit card apps, and Amazon app for shopping.

What's the problem?

And their secured bank websites....no biggie

Is this the plan for Twitter or just people speculating?

I mean Elon would need this level of ambition for this investment to pay off but this seems like pipe dream type stuff. Twitter would need some major rebranding and features no one else has to make this even remotely possible.

Dunno....I just read what's in this thread. There's a myriad of insurmountable issues to overcome to be the US version of "WeChat"...logistical, legal, and philosophical. He needs all the banking groups to agree. He needs the US Government to agree (waiving monopoly concerns). He needs people to buy into his way being safer. Again, the reason WeChat is what it is is because of HEAVY government involvement and basically forcing it to be so. He's not going to get that sort of thing in the US.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

I get that there's no easy way to lay off half your staff, but a mass email that says, "If you're fired, you'll get an email to your personal account, if not, to your work account, if you don't get anything, check with us to see whether you still have a job" seems ... suboptimal.

Though to be fair, at least it's better than the media company that announced layoffs over a Zoom call, then cut off the laid off employees' network access immediately, which had the effect of kicking them out of the Zoom where they were being notified about their layoffs

 

[IvanKaramazov]

This seems like an odd decision. It appears like Musk is trying to both increase profitability (increasing subscribers, mass layoffs) and radically change the product (the everything app). I don't see how he accomplishes the 2nd goal with mass layoffs.

The everything app?

Seems like all he needs to do is get people to stop using Apple Pay and Google Wallet, and credit card apps, and Amazon app for shopping.

What's the problem?

And their secured bank websites....no biggie

Is this the plan for Twitter or just people speculating?

I mean Elon would need this level of ambition for this investment to pay off but this seems like pipe dream type stuff. Twitter would need some major rebranding and features no one else has to make this even remotely possible.

I've never met Elon Musk or anything, but he's put enough out there about himself to know that he's not normal. A normal person probably wouldn't invest in PayPal. When PayPal was successful, a normal person would just take their profit and spend the rest of their life on an island with supermodels or something. They certainly wouldn't sink all of it into an unrelated venture involving an electric car company. And they definitely wouldn't "diversify" their portfolio by starting up a private space exploration company in their spare time. None of this is normal. All of it strongly indicates a person who a) has a vision that he believes in to an almost pathological degree and b) a nearly-pathological indifference to risk.

In an alternate universe, I could imagine Elon Musk trading places with that guy who solo'ed El Capitan and nothing else would be different. I suspect those two guys are wired almost the exact same way.

Where I'm going with this is that I kind of doubt that Musk bought Twitter because he wanted to change the way they allocate imaginary checkmarks. My guess is that he has some idea of what he wants to do here that would strike all of us as being kind of crazy but he has a track record here.

 

[massraider]

Class Action Lawsuit

Twitter is facing a class action lawsuit from former employees who say they were not given enough notice under US federal law that they had lost their jobs, finding out they had been let go when they were locked out of their work accounts on Thursday

 

[The General]

This seems like an odd decision. It appears like Musk is trying to both increase profitability (increasing subscribers, mass layoffs) and radically change the product (the everything app). I don't see how he accomplishes the 2nd goal with mass layoffs.

The everything app?

Seems like all he needs to do is get people to stop using Apple Pay and Google Wallet, and credit card apps, and Amazon app for shopping.

What's the problem?

And their secured bank websites....no biggie

Is this the plan for Twitter or just people speculating?

I mean Elon would need this level of ambition for this investment to pay off but this seems like pipe dream type stuff. Twitter would need some major rebranding and features no one else has to make this even remotely possible.

I've never met Elon Musk or anything, but he's put enough out there about himself to know that he's not normal. A normal person probably wouldn't invest in PayPal. When PayPal was successful, a normal person would just take their profit and spend the rest of their life on an island with supermodels or something. They certainly wouldn't sink all of it into an unrelated venture involving an electric car company. And they definitely wouldn't "diversify" their portfolio by starting up a private space exploration company in their spare time. None of this is normal. All of it strongly indicates a person who a) has a vision that he believes in to an almost pathological degree and b) a nearly-pathological indifference to risk.

In an alternate universe, I could imagine Elon Musk trading places with that guy who solo'ed El Capitan and nothing else would be different. I suspect those two guys are wired almost the exact same way.

Where I'm going with this is that I kind of doubt that Musk bought Twitter because he wanted to change the way they allocate imaginary checkmarks. My guess is that he has some idea of what he wants to do here that would strike all of us as being kind of crazy but he has a track record here.

The track record is certainly there.

I would mention he also has had projects like tunnels underneath cities that will change the way we travel using Hyperloop trains and pneumatic tubes that are in actuality just holes you can drive cars single file through slowly under the Vegas Strip.

I was told my Tesla was supposed to drive itself and be an Uber when I was sleeping when I bought it a few years ago.

He’s definitely an organizer of talent, project manager, marketer combination in his own class. We’ll see if he can do it again by getting engineers to work 80 hours a week for years on end to make a better app that replaces all the ones we already have.

I hope he does would make my life easier and be another great American company so I am pulling for it.

 

[TheMagus]

I know Elon is a super genius and everything, but I cannot imagine this type of exposure is good from a brand image perspective or the ability to attract top talent in the future. The timing being right before the holidays just makes it more cringey.

A Twitter employee who's 8 months pregnant says she was locked out of her company laptop

 

[The General]

I know Elon is a super genius and everything, but I cannot imagine this type of exposure is good from a brand image perspective or the ability to attract top talent in the future. The timing being right before the holidays just makes it more cringey.

A Twitter employee who's 8 months pregnant says she was locked out of her company laptop

Tough to sleep in your office with the baby crying, constant feeding, etc.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

This seems like an odd decision. It appears like Musk is trying to both increase profitability (increasing subscribers, mass layoffs) and radically change the product (the everything app). I don't see how he accomplishes the 2nd goal with mass layoffs.

The everything app?

Seems like all he needs to do is get people to stop using Apple Pay and Google Wallet, and credit card apps, and Amazon app for shopping.

What's the problem?

And their secured bank websites....no biggie

Is this the plan for Twitter or just people speculating?

I mean Elon would need this level of ambition for this investment to pay off but this seems like pipe dream type stuff. Twitter would need some major rebranding and features no one else has to make this even remotely possible.

I've never met Elon Musk or anything, but he's put enough out there about himself to know that he's not normal. A normal person probably wouldn't invest in PayPal. When PayPal was successful, a normal person would just take their profit and spend the rest of their life on an island with supermodels or something. They certainly wouldn't sink all of it into an unrelated venture involving an electric car company. And they definitely wouldn't "diversify" their portfolio by starting up a private space exploration company in their spare time. None of this is normal. All of it strongly indicates a person who a) has a vision that he believes in to an almost pathological degree and b) a nearly-pathological indifference to risk.

In an alternate universe, I could imagine Elon Musk trading places with that guy who solo'ed El Capitan and nothing else would be different. I suspect those two guys are wired almost the exact same way.

Where I'm going with this is that I kind of doubt that Musk bought Twitter because he wanted to change the way they allocate imaginary checkmarks. My guess is that he has some idea of what he wants to do here that would strike all of us as being kind of crazy but he has a track record here.

The track record is certainly there.

I would mention he also has had projects like tunnels underneath cities that will change the way we travel using Hyperloop trains and pneumatic tubes that are in actuality just holes you can drive cars single file through slowly under the Vegas Strip.

I was told my Tesla was supposed to drive itself and be an Uber when I was sleeping when I bought it a few years ago.

He’s definitely an organizer of talent, project manager, marketer combination in his own class. We’ll see if he can do it again by getting engineers to work 80 hours a week for years on end to make a better app that replaces all the ones we already have.

I hope he does would make my life easier and be another great American company so I am pulling for it.

The other thing to consider is that social media isn't just an engineering problem to be solved. Firms like Facebook, IG, and Twitter all face network effects that tend to make dominant incumbents look like their market position is more secure than it really is. Twitter is valuable because "everybody" is on Twitter. But anything that sparks an exodus, even if it's a fairly subdued exodus, lowers the value of the product to everyone else. This can snowball quickly.

For example, I aggressively don't care who owns Twitter. I didn't care that Jack owned it, I didn't care that he passed off management duties to the other guy, and I don't care that Musk owns it now. Twitter is interesting to me because of the other people on it, not its ownership. So I'm not leaving just because the ownership changed or just because they're cutting staff. But if enough other people leave, I'll leave too because it won't be worth hanging around.

Companies that build rockets don't have to worry about this kind of thing. That's just rocket science -- this is more complicated.

Not a brilliant insight or anything. Musk is surely aware of this and everybody in his little orbit is as well. It does seem like it requires a very different approach to innovation in manufacturing industries. Then again, PayPal dealt with some of this kind of thing too, albeit to a lesser extent.

 

[Summer Wheat]

Musk to cut half of Twitter jobs and end remote work for the rest, report says

This is pretty despicable.

The jobs cut or making people return to work in person?

I know Musk thinks remote working is somewhat of a joke and wants in person collaboration at Tesla.

 

[The General]

This seems like an odd decision. It appears like Musk is trying to both increase profitability (increasing subscribers, mass layoffs) and radically change the product (the everything app). I don't see how he accomplishes the 2nd goal with mass layoffs.

The everything app?

Seems like all he needs to do is get people to stop using Apple Pay and Google Wallet, and credit card apps, and Amazon app for shopping.

What's the problem?

And their secured bank websites....no biggie

Is this the plan for Twitter or just people speculating?

I mean Elon would need this level of ambition for this investment to pay off but this seems like pipe dream type stuff. Twitter would need some major rebranding and features no one else has to make this even remotely possible.

I've never met Elon Musk or anything, but he's put enough out there about himself to know that he's not normal. A normal person probably wouldn't invest in PayPal. When PayPal was successful, a normal person would just take their profit and spend the rest of their life on an island with supermodels or something. They certainly wouldn't sink all of it into an unrelated venture involving an electric car company. And they definitely wouldn't "diversify" their portfolio by starting up a private space exploration company in their spare time. None of this is normal. All of it strongly indicates a person who a) has a vision that he believes in to an almost pathological degree and b) a nearly-pathological indifference to risk.

In an alternate universe, I could imagine Elon Musk trading places with that guy who solo'ed El Capitan and nothing else would be different. I suspect those two guys are wired almost the exact same way.

Where I'm going with this is that I kind of doubt that Musk bought Twitter because he wanted to change the way they allocate imaginary checkmarks. My guess is that he has some idea of what he wants to do here that would strike all of us as being kind of crazy but he has a track record here.

The track record is certainly there.

I would mention he also has had projects like tunnels underneath cities that will change the way we travel using Hyperloop trains and pneumatic tubes that are in actuality just holes you can drive cars single file through slowly under the Vegas Strip.

I was told my Tesla was supposed to drive itself and be an Uber when I was sleeping when I bought it a few years ago.

He’s definitely an organizer of talent, project manager, marketer combination in his own class. We’ll see if he can do it again by getting engineers to work 80 hours a week for years on end to make a better app that replaces all the ones we already have.

I hope he does would make my life easier and be another great American company so I am pulling for it.

The other thing to consider is that social media isn't just an engineering problem to be solved. Firms like Facebook, IG, and Twitter all face network effects that tend to make dominant incumbents look like their market position is more secure than it really is. Twitter is valuable because "everybody" is on Twitter. But anything that sparks an exodus, even if it's a fairly subdued exodus, lowers the value of the product to everyone else. This can snowball quickly.

For example, I aggressively don't care who owns Twitter. I didn't care that Jack owned it, I didn't care that he passed off management duties to the other guy, and I don't care that Musk owns it now. Twitter is interesting to me because of the other people on it, not its ownership. So I'm not leaving just because the ownership changed or just because they're cutting staff. But if enough other people leave, I'll leave too because it won't be worth hanging around.

Companies that build rockets don't have to worry about this kind of thing. That's just rocket science -- this is more complicated.

Not a brilliant insight or anything. Musk is surely aware of this and everybody in his little orbit is as well. It does seem like it requires a very different approach to innovation in manufacturing industries. Then again, PayPal dealt with some of this kind of thing too, albeit to a lesser extent.

Right a better app that “does everything” sounds like total BS.

 

[fatness]

Musk to cut half of Twitter jobs and end remote work for the rest, report says

This is pretty despicable.

The jobs cut or making people return to work in person?

I know Musk thinks remote working is somewhat of a joke and wants in person collaboration at Tesla.

The jobs cut, which has already started. They're apparently losing their jobs because he paid too much for Twitter.

 

[Juxtatarot]

For as smart as he is, Musk can tweet such odd stuff:

Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.

Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America

It’s completely logical that many advertisers would pause until the new moderation policy is known. He’s criticized the current one. This is hardly a surprise. Don’t blame your customers for destroying free speech! Instead, make your new policy a priority as much as charging users $8.

 

[The General]

Musk to cut half of Twitter jobs and end remote work for the rest, report says

This is pretty despicable.

The jobs cut or making people return to work in person?

I know Musk thinks remote working is somewhat of a joke and wants in person collaboration at Tesla.

The jobs cut, which has already started. They're apparently losing their jobs because he paid too much for Twitter.

I mean there's something to be said if he hates the company direction he needs to tear it down to the studs...Good luck getting a bunch of new people in there pumped to work 80 hours a week for a tyrant boss.

The ol "I'll get you super rich with stock options" carrot doesn't seem to be as easy to pull off.

 

[TheMagus]

For as smart as he is, Musk can tweet such odd stuff:

Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.

Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America

It’s completely logical that many advertisers would pause until the new moderation policy is known. He’s criticized the current one. This is hardly a surprise. Don’t blame your customers for destroying free speech! Instead, make your new policy a priority as much as charging users $8.

He's also apparently in the process of laying off many of the people that manage the security and content on the site which can't possibly help advertisers get warm and fuzzies. I was thinking earlier that if any bad actor out there had a desire to hack Twitter, now would be a good time to try it.

 

[massraider]

A

I mean there's something to be said if he hates the company direction he needs to tear it down to the studs...Good luck getting a bunch of new people in there pumped to work 80 hours a week for a tyrant boss.

I'm pretty wait and see on this whole thing, I am enjoying the craziness more than anything.

There are so many unknowns. This $8 thing, people are running with it like he came down from Mt. Sinai with some stone tablets. He's floating ideas! He can say tomorrow that he looked into it, and they will have a free 'layer' of verification, and we will have people explaining why THIS is the best way to do it. Or the worst.

For SURE, we should consider the source when it comes to opinions. And I don't mean left/right, I mean, can this person benefit or take a loss depending which way it goes?

If someone has skin in the game, and their livelihood, their MONEY, depends on how this turns out, that needs to be considered.

The only hard and fast opinion I have is that I don't see how the company makes money. Turning it into a different app, or a more inclusive app will take MORE money, it's not just writing code. And he already overpaid by a lot, so there's about 20-25 billion that was spent that will not go into changing this company.

Doesn't mean Elon or investors couldn't make money. But I don't see how the company can stand on it's own two legs, starting from a hole that big.

 

[uwillbsoon]

Any marketers here? My impression is and always has been that Twitter advertising sucks. Meaning the ROI is much lower than other platforms. I've never actually run ads on Twitter, though.

To me, that's the core issue. If ad budgets shrink in the recession, I'd think Twitter is the first advertisers abandon. Feels like the ads I see are more brand awareness type ads than anything. Hard to justify ROI on those when your budget shrinks.

Less about advertisers being anti-free speech and more about the product offering low ROI. I think Elon knows that, but it's easier blaming "woke" advertisers.

Either way, odd strategy insulting the folks that pay you. $8 per verified user/mo. isn't going to net them more than 10% of their debt service. It's why all social networks earn the vast majority of their money from advertising. It's the best revenue model for services with user-generated content.

 

[uwillbsoon]

Although Twitter being terrible at ads is likely more a cultural thing. I don't think Dorsey ever wanted to go down the ad revenue route, but had to because there weren't better revenue options.

 

[Terpman22]

Its been fun, but its even more fun watching him get fact checked on his free speech take on a site he "paid $44B" for. Money can't buy you everything, indeed.

 

[urbanhack]

Any marketers here? My impression is and always has been that Twitter advertising sucks. Meaning the ROI is much lower than other platforms. I've never actually run ads on Twitter, though.

To me, that's the core issue. If ad budgets shrink in the recession, I'd think Twitter is the first advertisers abandon. Feels like the ads I see are more brand awareness type ads than anything. Hard to justify ROI on those when your budget shrinks.

Less about advertisers being anti-free speech and more about the product offering low ROI. I think Elon knows that, but it's easier blaming "woke" advertisers.

Either way, odd strategy insulting the folks that pay you. $8 per verified user/mo. isn't going to net them more than 10% of their debt service. It's why all social networks earn the vast majority of their money from advertising. It's the best revenue model for services with user-generated content.

The best branding and marketing impact on Twitter is from brands being creative with their twitter accounts and not the sponsored / paid ads.

 

[BeTheMatch]

A

I mean there's something to be said if he hates the company direction he needs to tear it down to the studs...Good luck getting a bunch of new people in there pumped to work 80 hours a week for a tyrant boss.

I'm pretty wait and see on this whole thing, I am enjoying the craziness more than anything.

There are so many unknowns. This $8 thing, people are running with it like he came down from Mt. Sinai with some stone tablets. He's floating ideas! He can say tomorrow that he looked into it, and they will have a free 'layer' of verification, and we will have people explaining why THIS is the best way to do it. Or the worst.

For SURE, we should consider the source when it comes to opinions. And I don't mean left/right, I mean, can this person benefit or take a loss depending which way it goes?

If someone has skin in the game, and their livelihood, their MONEY, depends on how this turns out, that needs to be considered.

The only hard and fast opinion I have is that I don't see how the company makes money. Turning it into a different app, or a more inclusive app will take MORE money, it's not just writing code. And he already overpaid by a lot, so there's about 20-25 billion that was spent that will not go into changing this company.

Doesn't mean Elon or investors couldn't make money. But I don't see how the company can stand on it's own two legs, starting from a hole that big.

Floating ideas? They're supposedly planning to implement it Monday - a day before a national election. What could go wrong?

 

[The General]

Sounds great!

"Already at Twitter, some employees are working late and on weekends — and a few have even spent the night in the office to keep up with Musk's demands.

He's ordered people working on "Elon-critical projects," like getting a new subscription model for verification, to work "literally 24/7" and in 12-hour shifts around the globe to get the work done on an incredibly tight timeline, according to an internal memo seen by Insider. Overall, people are expected to work at a "maniacal" pace and pitch Musk directly with new "cool" ideas, if they would like to keep their jobs."

He better figure out a way to get this stock price going up pronto...

 

[Max Power]

A

I mean there's something to be said if he hates the company direction he needs to tear it down to the studs...Good luck getting a bunch of new people in there pumped to work 80 hours a week for a tyrant boss.

I'm pretty wait and see on this whole thing, I am enjoying the craziness more than anything.

There are so many unknowns. This $8 thing, people are running with it like he came down from Mt. Sinai with some stone tablets. He's floating ideas! He can say tomorrow that he looked into it, and they will have a free 'layer' of verification, and we will have people explaining why THIS is the best way to do it. Or the worst.

For SURE, we should consider the source when it comes to opinions. And I don't mean left/right, I mean, can this person benefit or take a loss depending which way it goes?

If someone has skin in the game, and their livelihood, their MONEY, depends on how this turns out, that needs to be considered.

The only hard and fast opinion I have is that I don't see how the company makes money. Turning it into a different app, or a more inclusive app will take MORE money, it's not just writing code. And he already overpaid by a lot, so there's about 20-25 billion that was spent that will not go into changing this company.

Doesn't mean Elon or investors couldn't make money. But I don't see how the company can stand on it's own two legs, starting from a hole that big.

Floating ideas? They're supposedly planning to implement it Monday - a day before a national election. What could go wrong?

I have faith Twitter manages to pull through. This feels like the classic fighting change scenario.

 

[urbanhack]

https://twitter.com/ChrisHarihar/status/1588561353308278784

 

[The General]

A

I mean there's something to be said if he hates the company direction he needs to tear it down to the studs...Good luck getting a bunch of new people in there pumped to work 80 hours a week for a tyrant boss.

I'm pretty wait and see on this whole thing, I am enjoying the craziness more than anything.

There are so many unknowns. This $8 thing, people are running with it like he came down from Mt. Sinai with some stone tablets. He's floating ideas! He can say tomorrow that he looked into it, and they will have a free 'layer' of verification, and we will have people explaining why THIS is the best way to do it. Or the worst.

For SURE, we should consider the source when it comes to opinions. And I don't mean left/right, I mean, can this person benefit or take a loss depending which way it goes?

If someone has skin in the game, and their livelihood, their MONEY, depends on how this turns out, that needs to be considered.

The only hard and fast opinion I have is that I don't see how the company makes money. Turning it into a different app, or a more inclusive app will take MORE money, it's not just writing code. And he already overpaid by a lot, so there's about 20-25 billion that was spent that will not go into changing this company.

Doesn't mean Elon or investors couldn't make money. But I don't see how the company can stand on it's own two legs, starting from a hole that big.

Floating ideas? They're supposedly planning to implement it Monday - a day before a national election. What could go wrong?

I have faith Twitter manages to pull through. This feels like the classic fighting change scenario.

Pull through to what though? They haven’t made profit for years.

 

[GroveDiesel]

For as smart as he is, Musk can tweet such odd stuff:

Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.

Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America

It’s completely logical that many advertisers would pause until the new moderation policy is known. He’s criticized the current one. This is hardly a surprise. Don’t blame your customers for destroying free speech! Instead, make your new policy a priority as much as charging users $8.

Racist tweets went up 500% in the 12 hours after Musk made the purchase. Gee, why would advertisers not want to be associated with Twitter right now?

 

[massraider]

We saw internal docs with more insight into the new Twitter Blue: -Launch on Nov. 7 but only in current markets (US, CA, Aus, NZ) -Check marks for subscribers, no current ID authentication

Oh my goodness.

No ID authentication. $8 a month gets you @RealQueenElizabeth, with a fancy blue check mark by your name

 

[jamny]

We saw internal docs with more insight into the new Twitter Blue: -Launch on Nov. 7 but only in current markets (US, CA, Aus, NZ) -Check marks for subscribers, no current ID authentication

Oh my goodness.

No ID authentication. $8 a month gets you @RealQueenElizabeth, with a fancy blue check mark by your name

I think there should be a way for everyone to have to provide some sort of ID to post but I doubt that's possible.

 

[urbanhack]

We saw internal docs with more insight into the new Twitter Blue: -Launch on Nov. 7 but only in current markets (US, CA, Aus, NZ) -Check marks for subscribers, no current ID authentication

Oh my goodness.

No ID authentication. $8 a month gets you @RealQueenElizabeth, with a fancy blue check mark by your name

The day before the election. This is not a coincidence.

 

[Max Power]

A

I mean there's something to be said if he hates the company direction he needs to tear it down to the studs...Good luck getting a bunch of new people in there pumped to work 80 hours a week for a tyrant boss.

I'm pretty wait and see on this whole thing, I am enjoying the craziness more than anything.

There are so many unknowns. This $8 thing, people are running with it like he came down from Mt. Sinai with some stone tablets. He's floating ideas! He can say tomorrow that he looked into it, and they will have a free 'layer' of verification, and we will have people explaining why THIS is the best way to do it. Or the worst.

For SURE, we should consider the source when it comes to opinions. And I don't mean left/right, I mean, can this person benefit or take a loss depending which way it goes?

If someone has skin in the game, and their livelihood, their MONEY, depends on how this turns out, that needs to be considered.

The only hard and fast opinion I have is that I don't see how the company makes money. Turning it into a different app, or a more inclusive app will take MORE money, it's not just writing code. And he already overpaid by a lot, so there's about 20-25 billion that was spent that will not go into changing this company.

Doesn't mean Elon or investors couldn't make money. But I don't see how the company can stand on it's own two legs, starting from a hole that big.

Floating ideas? They're supposedly planning to implement it Monday - a day before a national election. What could go wrong?

I have faith Twitter manages to pull through. This feels like the classic fighting change scenario.

Pull through to what though? They haven’t made profit for years.

Being organized enough for election day.

 

[massraider]

I think there should be a way for everyone to have to provide some sort of ID to post but I doubt that's possible.

Probably not. Now, no one can be sure who anyone is.

 

[The General]

A

I mean there's something to be said if he hates the company direction he needs to tear it down to the studs...Good luck getting a bunch of new people in there pumped to work 80 hours a week for a tyrant boss.

I'm pretty wait and see on this whole thing, I am enjoying the craziness more than anything.

There are so many unknowns. This $8 thing, people are running with it like he came down from Mt. Sinai with some stone tablets. He's floating ideas! He can say tomorrow that he looked into it, and they will have a free 'layer' of verification, and we will have people explaining why THIS is the best way to do it. Or the worst.

For SURE, we should consider the source when it comes to opinions. And I don't mean left/right, I mean, can this person benefit or take a loss depending which way it goes?

If someone has skin in the game, and their livelihood, their MONEY, depends on how this turns out, that needs to be considered.

The only hard and fast opinion I have is that I don't see how the company makes money. Turning it into a different app, or a more inclusive app will take MORE money, it's not just writing code. And he already overpaid by a lot, so there's about 20-25 billion that was spent that will not go into changing this company.

Doesn't mean Elon or investors couldn't make money. But I don't see how the company can stand on it's own two legs, starting from a hole that big.

Floating ideas? They're supposedly planning to implement it Monday - a day before a national election. What could go wrong?

I have faith Twitter manages to pull through. This feels like the classic fighting change scenario.

Pull through to what though? They haven’t made profit for years.

Being organized enough for election day.

I mean I don't think they are going out of biz or anything but it certainly seems like a dumpster fire and this was quite the coup having someone pay 45 B for it.

 

[Sammy3469]

We saw internal docs with more insight into the new Twitter Blue: -Launch on Nov. 7 but only in current markets (US, CA, Aus, NZ) -Check marks for subscribers, no current ID authentication

Oh my goodness.

No ID authentication. $8 a month gets you @RealQueenElizabeth, with a fancy blue check mark by your name

I think there should be a way for everyone to have to provide some sort of ID to post but I doubt that's possible.

He's sort of caught here. The real value is to know the customer and be able to use that knowledge to make a customer's money movements and other Internet interactions as seamless as possible. There's real value in doing that well. Right now that's more Apple's or Google's domain which have tied that knowledge of the customer back to a sim card on a phone (with the accompanying credit check when you buy the thing or cell phone service). So far in America every social media company (the closest is Linkedin) has failed in getting close to that linkage (and its one of the reasons why Apple and Google are much stickier in value than Facebook which made the mistake of pivoting to Meta before getting over that hurdle).

I'll also add that one of the big reasons Apple and Google managed to do it (besides the backdoor hardware angle) is that they are seen as more or less stable and trusted by a large percentage of the population. Elon's really done nothing to build either stability or trust in the past 6 months.

 

[Juxtatarot]

We saw internal docs with more insight into the new Twitter Blue: -Launch on Nov. 7 but only in current markets (US, CA, Aus, NZ) -Check marks for subscribers, no current ID authentication

Oh my goodness.

No ID authentication. $8 a month gets you @RealQueenElizabeth, with a fancy blue check mark by your name

There will be negative stories about imposters shortly after this rolls out. I don’t know what he’s thinking. If this is true, I can’t see how this could possibly work out well for Twitter.

 

[TheMagus]

We saw internal docs with more insight into the new Twitter Blue: -Launch on Nov. 7 but only in current markets (US, CA, Aus, NZ) -Check marks for subscribers, no current ID authentication

Oh my goodness.

No ID authentication. $8 a month gets you @RealQueenElizabeth, with a fancy blue check mark by your name

There will be negative stories about imposters shortly after this rolls out. I don’t know what he’s thinking. If this is true, I can’t see how this could possibly work out well for Twitter.

I don't know if anyone was on Twitter in the very early days. I was there in the beginning and it was FULL of impersonators to the point that it was very difficult to figure out if it was a real public figure or not - especially given the relatively low overall number of users you couldn't necessarily go by number of followers. I think that is why they instituted the blue check so that you knew if a public figure was actually the person or someone impersonating them.

 

[massraider]

He's sort of caught here. The real value is to know the customer and be able to use that knowledge to make a customer's money movements and other Internet interactions as seamless as possible.

His customers are not the users. His customers are the advertisers, the users are the product.