Official Twitter Thread (1 Viewer)

[IvanKaramazov]

His new goal was to make Twitter more friendly for his side and less friendly for the other side while trying to minimize his financial losses.

This, and it pretty much worked. The rebrand was stupid and this thing with headlines is stupid, but the addition of "community notes" seems to me to have made a massive difference in the quality of discourse.

 

[uwillbsoon]

His new goal was to make Twitter more friendly for his side and less friendly for the other side while trying to minimize his financial losses.

This, and it pretty much worked. The rebrand was stupid and this thing with headlines is stupid, but the addition of "community notes" seems to me to have made a massive difference in the quality of discourse.

I've yet to see more than five community notes in the wild. And I bet I've seen two on musk's own posts.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

His new goal was to make Twitter more friendly for his side and less friendly for the other side while trying to minimize his financial losses.

This, and it pretty much worked. The rebrand was stupid and this thing with headlines is stupid, but the addition of "community notes" seems to me to have made a massive difference in the quality of discourse.

I've yet to see more than five community notes in the wild. And I bet I've seen two on musk's own posts.

I see them pretty regularly, but I also follow a decent number of media-focused accounts. Journalists seem to get hit with these way more than anybody else.

 

[massraider]

X rolls out new ad format that can't be reported, blocked

The new ads also don't disclose who the advertiser is or that they are even ads.

mashable.com

Super shady.

Anyone aware of these ads being allowed elsewhere where there is no sign it is an ad at all?

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Tapping out. Y'all are welcome to the hate, Elon-approved amplification algos, the trolls, the bot farms and all of it.

 

[bigbottom]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

 

[IvanKaramazov]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

 

[bigbottom]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

I’m not a Twitter user so I don’t really have an informed opinion on anything you’re saying as it pertains to that particular company/product. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone I know across most demographics appear to be losing interest in social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat even Tik Tok appear to be losing followers and traffic, and new entrants (Be Real, Twitter alternatives, etc.) appear to be struggling to come anywhere close to their ubiquitous predecessors. Of course, I haven’t studied the data - that’s just my perception.

 

[Ilov80s]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

I’m not a Twitter user so I don’t really have an informed opinion on anything you’re saying as it pertains to that particular company/product. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone I know across most demographics appear to be losing interest in social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat even Tik Tok appear to be losing followers and traffic, and new entrants (Be Real, Twitter alternatives, etc.) appear to be struggling to come anywhere close to their ubiquitous predecessors. Of course, I haven’t studied the data - that’s just my perception.

The number of average users has grown bu the amount of time they are using it is declining, even among young people.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

I’m not a Twitter user so I don’t really have an informed opinion on anything you’re saying as it pertains to that particular company/product. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone I know across most demographics appear to be losing interest in social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat even Tik Tok appear to be losing followers and traffic, and new entrants (Be Real, Twitter alternatives, etc.) appear to be struggling to come anywhere close to their ubiquitous predecessors. Of course, I haven’t studied the data - that’s just my perception.

I think there is more awareness of how damaging excessive use of/reliance on social media can be. And this is the first generation of parents who understand it as well.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

I’m not a Twitter user so I don’t really have an informed opinion on anything you’re saying as it pertains to that particular company/product. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone I know across most demographics appear to be losing interest in social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat even Tik Tok appear to be losing followers and traffic, and new entrants (Be Real, Twitter alternatives, etc.) appear to be struggling to come anywhere close to their ubiquitous predecessors. Of course, I haven’t studied the data - that’s just my perception.

I think there is more awareness of how damaging excessive use of/reliance on social media can be. And this is the first generation of parents who understand it as well.

Good, if that's the case.

 

[The Commish]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

I’m not a Twitter user so I don’t really have an informed opinion on anything you’re saying as it pertains to that particular company/product. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone I know across most demographics appear to be losing interest in social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat even Tik Tok appear to be losing followers and traffic, and new entrants (Be Real, Twitter alternatives, etc.) appear to be struggling to come anywhere close to their ubiquitous predecessors. Of course, I haven’t studied the data - that’s just my perception.

I think there is more awareness of how damaging excessive use of/reliance on social media can be. And this is the first generation of parents who understand it as well.

I can only hope this is true. In my view, what I think BB is seeing is the reality of what twitter has always been in the social media space. Their size and relevance globally has always been overstated here in the US. They've always had a fraction of the user base of several other sites.

 

[Ilov80s]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

I’m not a Twitter user so I don’t really have an informed opinion on anything you’re saying as it pertains to that particular company/product. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone I know across most demographics appear to be losing interest in social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat even Tik Tok appear to be losing followers and traffic, and new entrants (Be Real, Twitter alternatives, etc.) appear to be struggling to come anywhere close to their ubiquitous predecessors. Of course, I haven’t studied the data - that’s just my perception.

I think there is more awareness of how damaging excessive use of/reliance on social media can be. And this is the first generation of parents who understand it as well.

And kids who recognize it

 

[Ilov80s]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

I’m not a Twitter user so I don’t really have an informed opinion on anything you’re saying as it pertains to that particular company/product. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone I know across most demographics appear to be losing interest in social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat even Tik Tok appear to be losing followers and traffic, and new entrants (Be Real, Twitter alternatives, etc.) appear to be struggling to come anywhere close to their ubiquitous predecessors. Of course, I haven’t studied the data - that’s just my perception.

I think there is more awareness of how damaging excessive use of/reliance on social media can be. And this is the first generation of parents who understand it as well.

I can only hope this is true. In my view, what I think BB is seeing is the reality of what twitter has always been in the social media space. Their size and relevance globally has always been overstated here in the US. They've always had a fraction of the user base of several other sites.

Yes but the users were the tastemakers of the culture. Which is what people liked about it. You could get into like their big group chat with writers and actors and comedians and philosophers, etc. It has definitely lost its appeal in that regards.

 

[The Commish]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

I’m not a Twitter user so I don’t really have an informed opinion on anything you’re saying as it pertains to that particular company/product. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone I know across most demographics appear to be losing interest in social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat even Tik Tok appear to be losing followers and traffic, and new entrants (Be Real, Twitter alternatives, etc.) appear to be struggling to come anywhere close to their ubiquitous predecessors. Of course, I haven’t studied the data - that’s just my perception.

I think there is more awareness of how damaging excessive use of/reliance on social media can be. And this is the first generation of parents who understand it as well.

I can only hope this is true. In my view, what I think BB is seeing is the reality of what twitter has always been in the social media space. Their size and relevance globally has always been overstated here in the US. They've always had a fraction of the user base of several other sites.

Yes but the users were the tastemakers of the culture. Which is what people liked about it. You could get into like their big group chat with writers and actors and comedians and philosophers, etc. It has definitely lost its appeal in that regards.

What has changed that the users arent the tastemakers (not really sure what that means honestly) anymore?

Genuine question

 

[Ilov80s]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

I’m not a Twitter user so I don’t really have an informed opinion on anything you’re saying as it pertains to that particular company/product. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone I know across most demographics appear to be losing interest in social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat even Tik Tok appear to be losing followers and traffic, and new entrants (Be Real, Twitter alternatives, etc.) appear to be struggling to come anywhere close to their ubiquitous predecessors. Of course, I haven’t studied the data - that’s just my perception.

I think there is more awareness of how damaging excessive use of/reliance on social media can be. And this is the first generation of parents who understand it as well.

I can only hope this is true. In my view, what I think BB is seeing is the reality of what twitter has always been in the social media space. Their size and relevance globally has always been overstated here in the US. They've always had a fraction of the user base of several other sites.

Yes but the users were the tastemakers of the culture. Which is what people liked about it. You could get into like their big group chat with writers and actors and comedians and philosophers, etc. It has definitely lost its appeal in that regards.

What has changed that the users arent the tastemakers (not really sure what that means honestly) anymore?

Genuine question

I think a combo of how the algorithm promotes things and a lot of people just left/reduced use because it jumped the shark and they dislike Elon.

 

[The Commish]

I think a combo of how the algorithm promotes things and a lot of people just left/reduced use because it jumped the shark and they dislike Elon

Thanks. I agree with the algo and social backlash against elon. What does "tastemaker" mean?

 

[Ilov80s]

I think a combo of how the algorithm promotes things and a lot of people just left/reduced use because it jumped the shark and they dislike Elon

Thanks. I agree with the algo and social backlash against elon. What does "tastemaker" mean?

I don’t know exactly, the cool funny people who drive much of the mainstream culture. Writers for TV shows, popular podcast hosts, musicians, etc

 

[rockaction]

I don’t know exactly, the cool funny people who drive much of the mainstream culture.

This is pretty spot-on, but I'd add the critics, opinionistas, and artists themselves who shape pop culture through their gatekeeping function and performance/writing. They were on Twitter, too.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

I’m not a Twitter user so I don’t really have an informed opinion on anything you’re saying as it pertains to that particular company/product. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone I know across most demographics appear to be losing interest in social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat even Tik Tok appear to be losing followers and traffic, and new entrants (Be Real, Twitter alternatives, etc.) appear to be struggling to come anywhere close to their ubiquitous predecessors. Of course, I haven’t studied the data - that’s just my perception.

My anecdotal experience is usually that people pretty regularly claim to hate social media and claim they are going to quit it, but actually don't. And they're usually complaining about it.....on social media.

I think most people understand how bad it is for us, but everyone is addicted.

 

[bigbottom]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

I’m not a Twitter user so I don’t really have an informed opinion on anything you’re saying as it pertains to that particular company/product. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone I know across most demographics appear to be losing interest in social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat even Tik Tok appear to be losing followers and traffic, and new entrants (Be Real, Twitter alternatives, etc.) appear to be struggling to come anywhere close to their ubiquitous predecessors. Of course, I haven’t studied the data - that’s just my perception.

My anecdotal experience is usually that people pretty regularly claim to hate social media and claim they are going to quit it, but actually don't. And they're usually complaining about it.....on social media.

I think most people understand how bad it is for us, but everyone is addicted.

I’m not even talking about those people. I’m talking about people I know who used to be regular FB/IG users (without complaint) whose activity has dramatically decreased over the past 1-2 years. And I’m talking about people I know in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. My 21-year-old son and all his friends are hardly on social media anymore.

 

[tymarsas]

It seems like social media generally might be on the decline. Wishful thinking?

Twitter used to have a monopoly on short-form blogging. They were able to use their moderation policies to drive "the narrative" on that site. That's why everybody remembers it as a surprisingly small platform that punched way above its weight in terms of social impact. Now Twitter doesn't have that dominance any more, and also right-wing views have no problem finding a voice. So there's not as much to fight about and there's no official narrative that we have to wrestle over.

I think this is strongly positive. Viewpoint diversity is a good thing. If X and Bluesky become the Fox News and MSNBC of social media, that is vastly preferable to an MSNBC-only world (or a FNC-only world of course).

In other words, pre-Elon social media was good for people who wanted to live in a bubble. This is much better for people like me.

I’m not a Twitter user so I don’t really have an informed opinion on anything you’re saying as it pertains to that particular company/product. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone I know across most demographics appear to be losing interest in social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat even Tik Tok appear to be losing followers and traffic, and new entrants (Be Real, Twitter alternatives, etc.) appear to be struggling to come anywhere close to their ubiquitous predecessors. Of course, I haven’t studied the data - that’s just my perception.

My anecdotal experience is usually that people pretty regularly claim to hate social media and claim they are going to quit it, but actually don't. And they're usually complaining about it.....on social media.

I think most people understand how bad it is for us, but everyone is addicted.

I’m not even talking about those people. I’m talking about people I know who used to be regular FB/IG users (without complaint) whose activity has dramatically decreased over the past 1-2 years. And I’m talking about people I know in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. My 21-year-old son and all his friends are hardly on social media anymore.

FB and IG have been completely ruined by advertising imo. I see maybe 2-5 posts from friends and then an endless feed of ads. I'm not sure if the ads have an effect on others usage but it certainly has for me.

 

[BlackCrowes]

2-hour Frontline special on Elon’s history with twitter was pretty good.

 

[massraider]

X will begin charging new users $1 a year

X owner Elon Musk has long floated the idea of charging users $1 for the platform. Now the team is moving the idea into production.

fortune.com

 

[Dezbelief]

X will begin charging new users $1 a year

X owner Elon Musk has long floated the idea of charging users $1 for the platform. Now the team is moving the idea into production.

fortune.com

And it begins.

 

[BlackCrowes]

Apple and IBM suspend advertising

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

I rarely check my twitter/X feed now. I used to multiple times per day.

 

[Ilov80s]

I rarely check my twitter/X feed now. I used to multiple times per day.

It's worse in every way than it was before he got control

 

[Ilov80s]

No matter what his motivations were, Elon was totally the wrong person to takeover Twitter. He was just so wildly unpopular with the people who were driving so much of the valued content on the site. It was never going to work.

 

[rockaction]

I've been off for a while. I was never a power user, but it helped with my fantasy football and journalistic appetite. Ever since Musk took over, I've been less inclined to use the product and it comes solely from the experience of using the product. I did not want to watch human beings beaten up by or slammed around by other human beings, and I had no desire to watch violence for its own sake.

I know IK cultivates his feed, but I'm not a deep enough user to do that and have it work effectively. I was just getting crap in my feed that I don't need. Musk might have succeeded in his goals, but he effectively ruined Twitter for me. It's too bad, too, as I got some useful information from the platform.

 

[Ilov80s]

I've been off for a while. I was never a power user, but it helped with my fantasy football and journalistic appetite. Ever since Musk took over, I've been less inclined to use the product and it comes solely from the experience of using the product. I did not want to watch human beings beaten up by or slammed around by other human beings, and I had no desire to watch violence for its own sake.

I know IK cultivates his feed, but I'm not a deep enough user to do that and have it work effectively. I was just getting crap in my feed that I don't need. Musk might have succeeded in his goals, but he effectively ruined Twitter for me. It's too bad, too, as I got some useful information from the platform.

And with the verification process destroyed, it's too hard to even make a guess about the quality of any info. I know before having a checkmark didn't make the tweet 100% true but it at least gave you a baseline to go from. Now it's just the wild west, I don't believe anything I read on there. Also, I thought he wanted to fix the bot problem? It's worse than ever. Everyday I have to block bots who follow me or tweet out my name.

 

[massraider]

Apple and IBM were among the growing list of advertisers dropping social media platform X after Elon Musk supported an anti-semitic post on the site this week.

What happened: On Wednesday, a user posted that Jewish communities furthered “dialectical hatred against whites” by supporting the immigration of minorities, a common neo-Nazi talking point that has been used to justify violence against Jews. Musk replied, “You have said the actual truth,” and the interaction went viral.

Then, on Thursday, advocacy group Media Matters released a report that ads for companies like Apple, Bravo, IBM, Oracle, and Xfinity were running on the platform right next to pro-Hitler and Holocaust denial posts.

X’s response: CEO Linda Yaccarino posted on the site and said in an internal memo that the company has been “extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism,” but didn’t directly address Musk’s post.

But Yaccarino’s job just got a whole lot harder​

Brought on five months ago to woo advertisers back to the site after many jumped ship when Musk took over, Yaccarino has had a bumpier tenure than Eric Taylor. And now, following the Media Matters report and Musk’s tweet, IBM pulled roughly $1 million in ad spending, plus…

• Apple, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Lionsgate followed suit yesterday, suspending all advertising on the site.
• The EU Commission also paused ads on the site, saying disinformation was a huge concern.
• Even the White House released an official statement condemning Musk’s tweet.

It’s not just X. A number of Tesla shareholders have spoken out against Musk’s comments. Some have called for the company’s board to censure him, or at least place him on leave for a few months.

This isn’t Musk’s first strike: He blamed the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group, for X’s ad revenue dropping because the group said reports of harassment and extremist content had gone up since Musk bought the site. Last year, Musk posted and then deleted a “satirical” tweet comparing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Hitler.—MM


This is from the Morning Brew newsletter. I am unable to link to my email account, sorry.

 

[massraider]

I never would have pegged Apple and IBM (and some Tesla shareholders) as anti-free speech soy boys drinking haterade.

 

[Mitchie]

I never would have pegged Apple and IBM (and some Tesla shareholders) as anti-free speech soy boys drinking haterade.

Apple and IBM are also exercising their "free speech", no?

 

[massraider]

I never would have pegged Apple and IBM (and some Tesla shareholders) as anti-free speech soy boys drinking haterade.

Apple and IBM are also exercising their free speech, no?

Yes, I suppose they are.

 

[Ilov80s]

Elon tweeted last night that paying for X gets you no ads and that advertisers are often the greatest oppressors of free speech. Well then why are you taking their money and displaying their propaganda??? Are you trying to run a business that makes money or trying to perform some social cause? What is your goal here buddy?

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Elon tweeted last night that paying for X gets you no ads and that advertisers are often the greatest oppressors of free speech.

Advertisers aren’t against free speech. They are against having their products tied to controversial statements that may alienate their customer base.

Why does Elon hate capitalism?

 

[Mitchie]

Elon tweeted last night that paying for X gets you no ads and that advertisers are often the greatest oppressors of free speech. Well then why are you taking their money and displaying their propaganda??? Are you trying to run a business that makes money or trying to perform some social cause? What is your goal here buddy?

think it's pretty clear he's not trying to make money, he's already lost $20 or $30 billion and doesn't seem to care.

 

[Ilov80s]

Elon tweeted last night that paying for X gets you no ads and that advertisers are often the greatest oppressors of free speech. Well then why are you taking their money and displaying their propaganda??? Are you trying to run a business that makes money or trying to perform some social cause? What is your goal here buddy?

think it's pretty clear he's not trying to make money, he's already lost $20 or $30 billion and doesn't seem to care.

Then why have advertisers if he believes they are such enemies of free speech (which he is the great defender of)? Isn't that like PETA letting Tyson Chicken sell wings at their events?

 

[tymarsas]

Elon tweeted last night that paying for X gets you no ads and that advertisers are often the greatest oppressors of free speech. Well then why are you taking their money and displaying their propaganda??? Are you trying to run a business that makes money or trying to perform some social cause? What is your goal here buddy?

think it's pretty clear he's not trying to make money, he's already lost $20 or $30 billion and doesn't seem to care.

I would argue that firing 3 quarters of the employees shows that he is definitely trying to make money. He has implemented many other cost cutting measures as well.

 

[Mitchie]

Elon tweeted last night that paying for X gets you no ads and that advertisers are often the greatest oppressors of free speech. Well then why are you taking their money and displaying their propaganda??? Are you trying to run a business that makes money or trying to perform some social cause? What is your goal here buddy?

think it's pretty clear he's not trying to make money, he's already lost $20 or $30 billion and doesn't seem to care.

I would argue that firing 3 quarters of the employees shows that he is definitely trying to make money. He has implemented many other cost cutting measures as well.

you're equating getting rid of most of the workforce to trying to make a profit, if it were only that easy to make money all companies would just do that.

 

[massraider]

think it's pretty clear he's not trying to make money, he's already lost $20 or $30 billion and doesn't seem to care

He's trying to make money. It seems unlikely that will happen with Twitter.

His big mouth wrote a 44 billion dollar check that he had to cash, and now he's trying to make the best out of it.

He's not Not Making Money by choice.

 

[Mitchie]

think it's pretty clear he's not trying to make money, he's already lost $20 or $30 billion and doesn't seem to care

He's trying to make money. It seems unlikely that will happen with Twitter.

His big mouth wrote a 44 billion dollar check that he had to cash, and now he's trying to make the best out of it.

He's not Not Making Money by choice.

if he's trying to make money why is he alienating his advertisers?

he's taken a company worth 44 billion to one worth easily less than half in a year. It's possible he's the worst business person to ever live but i'm giving him the benefit of the doubt on that one.

 

[Capella]

Elon tweeted last night that paying for X gets you no ads and that advertisers are often the greatest oppressors of free speech. Well then why are you taking their money and displaying their propaganda??? Are you trying to run a business that makes money or trying to perform some social cause? What is your goal here buddy?

think it's pretty clear he's not trying to make money, he's already lost $20 or $30 billion and doesn't seem to care.

Lmao. Come on.

 

[GroveDiesel]

think it's pretty clear he's not trying to make money, he's already lost $20 or $30 billion and doesn't seem to care

He's trying to make money. It seems unlikely that will happen with Twitter.

His big mouth wrote a 44 billion dollar check that he had to cash, and now he's trying to make the best out of it.

He's not Not Making Money by choice.

if he's trying to make money why is he alienating his advertisers?

he's taken a company worth 44 billion to one worth easily less than half in a year. It's possible he's the worst business person to ever live but i'm giving him the benefit of the doubt on that one.

From his actions it’s not really clear to me what he actually IS trying to do then.

 

[⚡DEADHEAD⚡]

think it's pretty clear he's not trying to make money, he's already lost $20 or $30 billion and doesn't seem to care

He's trying to make money. It seems unlikely that will happen with Twitter.

His big mouth wrote a 44 billion dollar check that he had to cash, and now he's trying to make the best out of it.

He's not Not Making Money by choice.

His decision-making suggests otherwise.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

I didn’t really mind Elon at all before the Twitter takeover. Even respected/admired him a bit. He has become borderline irredeemable since just before the takeover basically.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

C'mon. He's obviously trying to make money. That's the whole reason for the paid verification, etc. He realized that the company his big mouth had made him accidentally buy was going to be a burden financially and needed to find ways to make it make more money, hence all the push to try and get people to start paying to use it. Monetizing Twitter has always been a huge issue compared to other social media companies and with the short form quick scrolling, companies just haven't been willing to spend nearly as much on advertising there as they do on the likes of Facebook, which has much better conversion rates on their money. That's also probably the reason Twitter increased their character limit a while back. But it wasn't enough, and he's been trying to find another way to make money since the traditional advertising model just doesn't provide good returns in Twitter's format.

He's not trying to run off advertisers. He's just socially a moron with a loud mouth that is simultaneously trying to defend his popular-among-some position of being a champion of saying controversial stuff that is not popular with the "mainstream". Politically the support of those people is important for his other businesses right now.

He didn't MEAN to lose advertisers. And he feels like he can't back down from the position because that would be backing off of what has made him popular amongst his current cult. Personally I think he could back off and apologize and all those folks would get the "wink wink, we know you don't really mean it", but he hasn't figure that out yet. But I think we eventually do end up there eventually with a half-assed apology.

 

[Chemical X]

I never would have pegged Apple and IBM (and some Tesla shareholders) as anti-free speech soy boys drinking haterade.

as an fyi, freedom of speech is the right of a person to articulate opinions and ideas without interference or retaliation from the government. i am not seeing where the government is involved here at all. also, apple and ibm have brands to protect and i am pretty sure they don’t want any association with hitler, are you telling them tough luck?
i mean, i don’t see coca-cola advertising a lot with hitler holding a coke bottle while zig heiling. not picking on you here, but i just don’t think anyone really understands what free speech means.

 

[tommyGunZ]

His new goal was to make Twitter more friendly for his side and less friendly for the other side while trying to minimize his financial losses.

This, and it pretty much worked. The rebrand was stupid and this thing with headlines is stupid, but the addition of "community notes" seems to me to have made a massive difference in the quality of discourse.

IK, in your opinion, the quality of the discourse has actually improved over the last year since Musk took over?