Elon Musk Buys Twitter

[The Stormbringer]

I want to watch Zuck ground and pound Elon's face into paste. It's a real shame he's too much of a pussy to actually step into the ring.

I bet it all on Zuck. He's half-robot, half-lizard. There's no way he could possibly lose. I don't think he even feels pain...

[Breccia]

Elon Musk urges Twitter users to stick around for the laughs and occasional ‘negative stuff’ as Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads races to record signups

“You will get more laughs from this app than everything else combined,” Musk tweeted as Threads reached 100 million users in record time over the weekend. “But I have to warn you … don’t be shocked … there’s some negative stuff too,” the billionaire added with a hint of satire.

When asked what "negative stuff" was, Musk responded with a poop emoji.

"Hah hah, funny running joke."

Um...no.

Twitter responded to Fortune’s request for comment with its customary poop emoji.

Yeah. Again, this wasn't some nobody asshole like me trolling Musk. This is a major newspaper that's taken seriously. And, yep, same response. Musk is insisting on being treated as a spoiled, immature child. Who would defend someone like that? Oh hey, @Winter Blossom, I didn't see you there.

The Facebook founder declared—in a series of posts on Threads, of course—that his app will be a kinder space than its rival Twitter, which has become more accepting of extreme views since the Tesla boss acquired it.

“The goal is to keep it friendly as it expands. I think it’s possible and will ultimately be the key to its success,” he wrote. “That’s one reason why Twitter never succeeded as much as I think it should have, and we want to do it differently.”

“It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram,” Musk hit back at the time.

Oh, also this:

On Twitter, everyone's voice matters.

-- Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, overseeing the $8/month "verified" blue check program which directly refutes "everyone's voice matters" with "but some matter more than others" in the increasing Animal Farm that is Twitter's slow march to the glue factory.

This is a Fortune article, by the way. It was hard to sift through all the articles for a source that usually handles things with dignity and respect, and even this article calls out Twitter (including Yaccarino) for becoming a festering pool of hate speech, while Threads hit 100M faster than...anyone?

You know how badly Musk's lost the culture war he started? I already quoted Fortune. Now I'll quote Business Insider.

Twitter runs a "dick pic bot" that scans the platform for not-safe-for-work posts, according to a tweet by the social media company's owner, Elon Musk.

The billionaire mentioned the apparent tool in a Sunday evening tweet when the account @libsoftiktok asked if the platform was quietly limiting their posts.

"Your account was labeled as NSFW by our dick pic bot on 6/26, because you posted media with nudity from Pride parades," Musk replied. "Corrective action is to label the individual posts as NSFW, rather than the whole account. Should be fixed now."

Musk later added that the bot sometimes mistakes images of rockets as phalluses. "Which is crazy of course," he wrote.

"Okay, that doesn't sound all that bad, really."

*ahem*

Until.

The bot's full capabilities and scope are not immediately clear. Nor is it clear if the detector truly exists, given Musk's penchant for cracking jokes on Twitter.

Business Insider did not take Musk at his word. Again, serious, respected source. Flat-out says in public "We don't know if Elon Musk is telling the truth".

If anything, this is worse than Musk being mocked.

Oh, and I stumbled into that story because I was legit looking for anything saying Musk has clamped down on bots in Twitter. I found this instead. I don't think Musk has kept his promise on that, either. And even if he claimed he has, considering he blocks monitoring apps and jokes all the time, I would not believe him.

Why would I?

[PrimiOne]

This Zuck vs Musk , this Twitter vs Threads reminds me of Wilde's definition of the fox hunt: the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.

[Edge-]

Wait, is Elom trying to pivot Twitter to being like, the "comedy" social media platform now?

Anyways I'm skeptical of any tool or technology Elom says exists because if probably doesn't actually, and if it does he doesn't understand it.

[Edge-]

I think it says a lot when a grown ass billionaire tweets school yard insults and people applaud him for it.

We're entering the President Camacho era of reality.

Elom simps have been really obnoxious, mindless drones for a while now. Honestly I'm kinda waiting for one of his ex wives/girlfriends to come out and talk in detail about his unimpressive penis later this week given the trajectory of reality right now. And then he'll post a dick pick and force it to remain on Twitter or something.

Watch this space.

[Karreck]

Twitter runs a "dick pic bot" that scans the platform for not-safe-for-work posts, according to a tweet by the social media company's owner, Elon Musk.

The billionaire mentioned the apparent tool in a Sunday evening tweet when the account @libsoftiktok asked if the platform was quietly limiting their posts.

"Your account was labeled as NSFW by our dick pic bot on 6/26, because you posted media with nudity from Pride parades," Musk replied. "Corrective action is to label the individual posts as NSFW, rather than the whole account. Should be fixed now."

Dicks are bad, but unbridled hate and harassment at the LGBTQ+ community is perfectly okay.

No wonder why conservatives love Twitter and only get their news from there. Oh, and from "European News Sources".

[ringpriest]

We're entering the President Camacho era of reality.

Elom simps have been really obnoxious, mindless drones for a while now. Honestly I'm kinda waiting for one of his ex wives/girlfriends to come out and talk in detail about his unimpressive penis later this week given the trajectory of reality right now. And then he'll post a dick pick and force it to remain on Twitter or something.

Watch this space.

The United States has been there for years - at least since Trump (a vulgar "reality tv" Richie Rich pastiche) was taken seriously by the American media and political establishments (and then the voters).

[D Luniz]

*snip*

Oh, and I stumbled into that story because I was legit looking for anything saying Musk has clamped down on bots in Twitter. I found this instead. I don't think Musk has kept his promise on that, either. And even if he claimed he has, considering he blocks monitoring apps and jokes all the time, I would not believe him.

Why would I?

since about 3 months ago, every post I make with in a day gets liked by a porn site bot. So Im gonna anecdotally go with "No, he hasnt dealt with the bots"

- - - Updated - - -

Wait, is Elom trying to pivot Twitter to being like, the "comedy" social media platform now?

Anyways I'm skeptical of any tool or technology Elom says exists because if probably doesn't actually, and if it does he doesn't understand it.

remember when the go to defense for any bigoted comment was "it was a joke"

rather sure thats what Musk is trying for

[Edge-]

Ironically, Hunter Biden's dick pics are acceptable on Twitter.

Not just that they should be acceptable, but that IT IS A MATTER OF FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTED FREE SPEACH, apparently.

Really, maybe he's just got a nice dick and Republicans want a guilt-free way of being able to look at it on the regular? I have pretty specifically avoided pictures of his dick since I'm generally uninterested in the dicks of random dudes and all, but maybe they're all just really impressed?

[Breccia]

since about 3 months ago, every post I make with in a day gets liked by a porn site bot. So Im gonna anecdotally go with "No, he hasnt dealt with the bots"

Really? What's the add*cough* that sucks for the people who want to use Twitter for actual communication. But then, I guess people who stayed this long on Twitter know what the deal is by now.

I guess he hasn't owned it long enough to make good on the one promise he made. I wonder if the lawyers he's suing will bring him to court for that, too?

[Rasulis]

Taliban leader endorses Elon Musk's Twitter, accuses Mark Zuckerberg's Threads of having an 'intolerant' policy on free speech

Bwa ha ha ha! My stomach hurts so much.

Yeah. Endorsement from a senior Taliban leader is the last thing cash burning Twitter needs right now.

[Edge-]

Taliban leader endorses Elon Musk's Twitter, accuses Mark Zuckerberg's Threads of having an 'intolerant' policy on free speech

Bwa ha ha ha! My stomach hurts so much.

Yeah. Endorsement from a senior Taliban leader is the last thing cash burning Twitter needs right now.

Toby Faire I believe they were on the platform before Elon bought it so it's not like he let them on.

I wonder if they'll put this in their advertising decks they send out? Does anyone think, "Taliban Approved" will help make Twitter a more appealing place for brands to spend their money?

- - - Updated - - -



Is being a reply-guy for people more popular than yourself and more liked than yourself a viable strategy for running a social media platform?

IIRC YouTube is still struggling to actually make money and all that and they're far more financially sound than Twitter is. I'm not sure how Twitter, who are already losing money hand over fist apparently (worth around 1/3 of what was paid for them less than a year ago), could afford to sink major money into promoting it as a content creation platform, supporting the tools and tech needed for that, and also granting a competitive cut of ad revenue etc. to creators.

[Karreck]

Is being a reply-guy for people more popular than yourself and more liked than yourself a viable strategy for running a social media platform?

IIRC YouTube is still struggling to actually make money and all that and they're far more financially sound than Twitter is. I'm not sure how Twitter, who are already losing money hand over fist apparently (worth around 1/3 of what was paid for them less than a year ago), could afford to sink major money into promoting it as a content creation platform, supporting the tools and tech needed for that, and also granting a competitive cut of ad revenue etc. to creators.

The desperation is overwhelming. Musk is, to quote the kids these days, top tier cringe.

[Rasulis]

The sound of water going down the drain. That is brutal.

[Kathranis]

I bet it all on Zuck. He's half-robot, half-lizard. There's no way he could possibly lose. I don't think he even feels pain...

I mean, yeah. Look at this freak. I've seen that expression before... Anton Chigurh at the start of No Country for Old Men.

Meanwhile Elon looks like this:

[Edge-]

My favorite was Zuckerbot dunking on Musk because Zuckerbot is actually building relationships with his kids so they will still want to speak with him when they're adults.

He's still responsible for creating a platform that allowed itself to be used for ethnic cleansing because having local moderators is just too expensive and it's easier to ignore that extremists are using your platform to play a whole lot of mass murder in a small country and stuff, but we all have our personal flaws. Some of us like pineapple on pizza, even.

[Edge-]

You're a monster!!!

I didn't say I did. I mean I don't. But some of us do. No judgement.

(yes judgement, they're monsters but nothing compared to what Sweden has done to pizza. but this is a topic for another thread)

[Breccia]

(nothing compared to what Sweden has done to pizza)

If you even think about criticizing kebab pizza at 4AM, you and I will have a cage match.

On topic: How Twitter lost its place as the global town square

WaPo, so, quoting a chunk.

Since taking the helm last fall promising to champion “free speech,” Musk has alienated users with a relentless stream of updates that are hostile to the app’s heaviest users. He removed all legacy check marks — Twitter’s years-old way to assure users that posters are really who they say they are — sowing distrust and leading to significant financial consequences for major brands that were easily impersonated under the new system. He then sold blue check marks, which ensured amplification to anyone willing to pay $8 a month, allowing scammers and grifters to crowd out the replies to popular tweets. Interesting content has been down-ranked in favor of pay-to-play blue check mark replies, some of which push crypto scams and pornography.

Musk also flooded the “for you” timeline with his own tweets, driving away users who came to the service to follow friends and interests outside of the platform’s billionaire owner.

“Before, if I saw someone was verified, they’d have to have done something of note to get it,” said Ryan Fay, a theater director in Atlanta. “Now, I can’t trust anyone who claims to be a journalist and has a check mark because they paid for it, and I don’t know if they have any credentials or knowledge. Seeing a blue check now means this person is using Twitter to try to sell me something or some sort of scamming.”

Musk also fired Twitter’s trust and safety team, allowing harassment and abuse to explode across the platform unchecked. He’s banned prominent journalists and liberal activists. He’s railed against LGTBQ people and declared the word “cisgender” a slur. If that wasn’t enough to drive the most dedicated Twitter users to greener pastures, last week he began limiting the number of tweets users could read, blocking nonpaying users from being served more than 600 tweets per day.

As part of its role as the internet’s “global town square,” Twitter also served up pop culture and comedy. But the boom in hate speech and harassment since Musk took over has permanently altered the tone of Twitter, many users say.

The article goes on from there with the comparison to TikTok and sometimes Threads. But this is WaPo saying Twitter's town square is collecting trash.

[Edge-]

If you even think about criticizing kebab pizza at 4AM, you and I will have a cage match.

On topic: How Twitter lost its place as the global town square

WaPo, so, quoting a chunk.



The article goes on from there with the comparison to TikTok and sometimes Threads. But this is WaPo saying Twitter's town square is collecting trash.

Honestly watching Elom tank the company because he hired a bunch of people smarter than him to run his other companies and now he thinks he's the real genius is fucking hilarious.

He could have swiftly appointed a competent CEO to take over and washed his hands of it, but he's just spent the past 9 months diving deeper and deeper into this and owning every aspect of the platforms ongoing failure.

Yes sir, you have the best stolen memes. You have funniest stolen memes. They are triggering the user who you are stealing them from sir, they are so triggered. Your idea of claiming them as your own is all the more hilarious, sir. This is a wise and effective use of your time and this is great to be doing in front of cameras recording this interaction so it can be posted to the internet later. You will absolutely appear like a stable, normal person and we will seem like we are offering wise counsel and critical feedback.

[Karreck]

You're a monster!!!

I'm telling you, pineapple and good salty ham pieces on a well made pizza is a wonderful combination of flavors. But you gotta be ready for it. Can't go in expecting standard pizza flavor.

But we should stop talking about pineapples and pizza since it does not contribute to the topic of Elon Musk and the continued self-destruction of Twitter. Apparently off topic posts are infractable. Also, we can not comment about posters who have a personal preference for pineapple or not, as that would be discussing individual posters, and not the topic of how much of a failure Elon Musk is at running a social media company. In fact, calling Edge a monster might also be infractable. Now, defending the dumpster fire of a human being that is Elon Musk in a way that reasonable people might consider bad faith, that is surprisingly okay! So if someone were to dishonestly defend Elon Musk's sloppy horking down of pineapple pizza, they would have absolute free reign to do so. But if you called them out for it, that's infractable. It's all really confusing, kind of like Elon Musk's series of bad business decisions regarding Twitter! Look at that. I masterfully steered us back on topic. I am an asset to this website.

So, Elon Musk is pretty trash at running Twitter right?