Elon Musk Buys Twitter

[The Stormbringer]

I know that entering Musk's head must be an horror scenario like the movie "The Cell" Jennifer Lopez did but just out of curiosity....what the hell does blackmail mean?

No, really, what is the end game of IBM or Apple by pulling advertising? That Musk stops doing antisemitic posts? That their brand don't get damaged?. What is the actual goal of the blackmail Musk is suffering?

Now, the head that I would REALLY like to get into is Yaccarino's. Sure she laid her own bed it's not that Musk issues were not public but the woman must be in a permanent state of " Oh my god....AGAIN this fucking dumbass making my job impossible.......!!!!".

Blackmailing him INTO SILENCE! You know, so he can't tell THE TRUTH to THE PEOPLE and whatnot. It's all a conspiracy to stop HIM, the most successful man in the world, from educating THE MASSES about what's really going on!

At least, I'm sure that's what he thinks it is.

[Ihavewaffles]

So I just watched part of Andrew Ross Sorkin's interview with Elon Musk. And I gotta say...

Elon genuinely thinks he's the closest thing to a god that we have. He thinks so incredibly highly of himself, and believes he's leading some kind of silent majority that will see his actions as good and just when the history books are written, and all of his enemies were evil. He's also autistic (like legitimately on the spectrum) and very likely on a lot of drugs.

You think people prefer censorship rather than free speech?

[Orange Joe]

You think people prefer censorship rather than free speech?

I think most Americans don't understand what free speech really is.

[Edge-]

I know that entering Musk's head must be an horror scenario like the movie "The Cell" Jennifer Lopez did but just out of curiosity....what the hell does blackmail mean?

He believes that he/Twitter are entitled to those advertising dollars. Those advertising dollars are supporting FREEZE PEACH that Elon himself has repeatedly admitted doesn't exist on the platform. The universe revolves around his special brain.

No, really, what is the end game of IBM or Apple by pulling advertising? That Musk stops doing antisemitic posts? That their brand don't get damaged?. What is the actual goal of the blackmail Musk is suffering?

Advertisers don't want their ads next to unsafe brand content like white supremacist shitposting. Nor do they want their ads on platforms with expansive hate-speech problems not being addressed well. There's a reason Stormfront has never been a popular advertising platform. That's it. If Twitter becomes a brand-safe platform again, they'll be back.

Now, the head that I would REALLY like to get into is Yaccarino's. Sure she laid her own bed it's not that Musk issues were not public but the woman must be in a permanent state of " Oh my god....AGAIN this fucking dumbass making my job impossible.......!!!!".

I'm pretty sure she did a dance after the interview yesterday since she has no longer given arguably the worst tech executive interview on stage, her boss has. Otherwise I imagine she's probably just happy to continue going through the motions of "being the visible CEO" despite the reality that Elon is clearly still making decisions and extremely active.

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You think people prefer censorship rather than free speech?

Overwhelmingly, yes.

[Jastall]

You think people prefer censorship rather than free speech?

If you mean free speech as in the First Amendment, that doesn't cover Twitter in any way.

If you mean free speech as in the general principle, first Musk himself talks a big game about it but doesn't follow through at all and has no problem applying "censorship" to his platform whenever he feels like it, and second advertisers pulling out of a platform they don't like is also free speech and freedom of association at the end of the day. It's just that it's freedoms that Musk doesn't like this time around so he whines about it at every available opportunity.

[Kathranis]

You think people prefer censorship rather than free speech?

1. Free speech is a protection granted by the constitution to prevent the government from suppressing political speech, essentially.

2. The first amendment also protects a business's right to deny service to individuals so long as the motivation for denying them service isn't an immutable characteristic.

3. Elon Musk selectively enforces Twitter's policies to censor or ban left wing speech while amplifying right wing speech so he's obviously not in favor of "free speech."

4. Yes, believe it or not, people don't want to associate with bigots or hang out in spaces where they're constantly spouting hate speech without consequences. That's why so many users have left Twitter since he unbanned so many people and implemented laissez faire policies regarding hate speech, and it's why damn near every public forum has rules and moderation.

[DarkTZeratul]

I think most Americans don't understand what free speech really is.

Or censorship, for that matter.

[Endus]

You think people prefer censorship rather than free speech?

Free-speech absolutists can join the conversation the moment they can explain why their implicit endorsement of child pornography as a legitimate industry that should be legalized shouldn't be all we need to know to condemn their utterly asinine misunderstanding of basic principles.

[Rennadrel]

In case this isn't just a very sad and pathetic troll:

You're aware that not everyone engages in politics with the same sycophantic mindset as you do? You may worship the big orange and treat every word as gospel, but not everyone see politics as team sports. So while you think you made a great point sticking it to biden and you will probably be cheered on as a brave orange warrior in the deep caverns of breitbart, its quite pathetic.

Biden being old doesn't change Musk/Trump/Kayne being unhinged antisemites. Biden is old, yeah, we know. So what? Even if you tell this to actual democrats they'll probably say "Yeah, we know!"

And that's probably the difference. Here in democracy land it is fine to disagree with your own "team". But i get it, hard to grasp for you, as if you would once show one little sliver of your own thought/expression you'd be stamped as an heretic and thrown out of the cult you love so much and made a centerpiece of your life. As i said at the start: Sad and pathetic.

The fact that you got all that bullshit diatribe out of what I said, not to mention assumed that I am an American or even a conservative makes you a fucking dumbass. Are you as senile as your hero Joe Biden? Because you sure as hell come off like it. Pro tip, fuck Trump, fuck Biden, fuck your country's toxic politics impacting every other country negatively and your stupid two party system where you have no choice but to elect out of touch boomers who pander to your ignorant ideologies.


Infracted.

[The Stormbringer]

The fact that you got all that bullshit diatribe out of what I said, not to mention assumed that I am an American or even a conservative makes you a fucking dumbass. Are you as senile as your hero Joe Biden? Because you sure as hell come off like it. Pro tip, fuck Trump, fuck Biden, fuck your country's toxic politics impacting every other country negatively and your stupid two party system where you have no choice but to elect out of touch boomers who pander to your ignorant ideologies.

Lol, saying this as if it's something new that Americans aren't also saying themselves.

[Rennadrel]

This is your hot take.

Eloquent and witty old man with a stutter speaks like an eloquent and witty old man with a stutter, is exactly the same as a mentally ill black rapper who loves Hitler, an old guy who makes up adjectives and tries to strangle Secret Service officers who won't let him lead an insurrection and a billionaire who spouts Jewish question shit on Twitter.

Nice hot take.

Yeah. Biden is old. We should learn the lesson and stop nominating octogenarians, no matter how likeable or suitable they are for the job.

But old is not the same as insane or incompetent.

Yeah, old people shouldn't be allowed to run for any form of office. 65+ is for retirement, and America has it worse when it comes to having useless career politicians on both sides of the aisle. It amazes me that Americans think Biden is fit for another term. Just like the Trump idiots think cheeto has even a remote chance of getting elected given he's under trial for multiple crimes. I feel like there should be laws within the US Constitution that prevent people from seeking election while under criminal investigation and prosecution but I'm not well versed in American politics since I am not an American.

Christ I feel like politics has just become a constant pile of shit being slung back and forth. I have little faith in voting for my own candidates mostly because while I like the people on an individual level, it's the party leaders who are often the people that make me vote for someone else. Strategic voting seems pointless when you know that voting for a different flavour of liberal means your vote is wasted.

[PACOX]

So let me get this right, Twitter was already hemorrhaging and Musk tells advertisers to fuck off. I hope they don't cave.

He is about to charge the hell out of people to keep his platform afloat. Twitter went from an alternative for of media that served users and marketers a like to the wild den that it is now.

[Edge-]

So let me get this right, Twitter was already hemorrhaging and Musk tells advertisers to fuck off.

Twice. Because the first time he didn't get the laughter/applause he expected. Like that time he got booed at a Chapelle show and they were both surprised by that reaction.

Honestly, just hastens the demise of Twitter. I'll miss some bits of it at the end of the day, but the hate-speech fueled, misinformation hellscape that it's become is a lot less fun than it used to be.

[Rennadrel]

Twice. Because the first time he didn't get the laughter/applause he expected. Like that time he got booed at a Chapelle show and they were both surprised by that reaction.

Honestly, just hastens the demise of Twitter. I'll miss some bits of it at the end of the day, but the hate-speech fueled, misinformation hellscape that it's become is a lot less fun than it used to be.

Eh I think it'll hang around, at least for the time being. That said, I'm finding it easier to not use it because of all the bullshit that's been going on. Blatant holocaust and war crimes denialists, anti-Semitism, racism and just plain old misinformation has been going off like wildfire recently. It's really gotten worse and the number of bots just multiplies daily.

[Edge-]

Eh I think it'll hang around, at least for the time being.

Define "time being". Because I don't think anyone is expecting it to close even in the next calendar year. But it's very, very, very much trending in that direction and both the continued behavior of Elon and the continued extremism, bigotry, and misinformation on the platform greasing the wheels for that journey.

It's really gotten worse and the number of bots just multiplies daily.

And bots were supposedly the big problem that Elon was going to solve and part of the reason for killing off verification and selling blue checkmarks for $8/month : P

It's a wonder that Elon keeps achieving the exact opposite of his stated goals, consistently.

[PACOX]

Eh I think it'll hang around, at least for the time being. That said, I'm finding it easier to not use it because of all the bullshit that's been going on. Blatant holocaust and war crimes denialists, anti-Semitism, racism and just plain old misinformation has been going off like wildfire recently. It's really gotten worse and the number of bots just multiplies daily.

It's not going to close for sure but the perception of Twitter already changed months ago. It's now an echo chamber where people are free to spout straight lies, shut off their comments, then pay to boost their trash. Truth and criticism is buried behind paywalls and thus people have started to breakaway from Twitter as a trending news at a glance source. You could argue Twitter comments were toxic before but the algorithm actually invited challenging views and opinions as a sort of 'check and balance' system. You can't kill echo chambers but it was harder pre-Musk. A lot of people called on Twitter to get quick information about what's going on their area but it's become increasingly harder to do that since. I've seen a lot of people complain, talking about how hard it is to put their information out there even if you pay, then you better hope your users pay but what's the point if the content creator and the user don't see the value in paying?

Oh and the porn. Actual nudity and just trash in comments. So so much.

Politicians love to complain about TikTok but Twitter is actually a data and information nightmare that the politicians who whine about TikTok are the only type of people who benefit from the current Twitter landscape due there being little moderation.

[Lenonis]

You think people prefer censorship rather than free speech?

To a degree, yes. See: Child porn.

[Surfd]

You think people prefer censorship rather than free speech?

Let me put it to you in simple terms even a crayon chewer can understand. Which would you prefer:
- Random assholes having free reign to enter your home any time they chose and scream obscenities at you at all times of the day
or
- The blessed silence of the peace of knowing that you are protected from the above by "censorship" and laws.

[PACOX]

Musk doesn't actually believe in free speech though. He only believes in the freedom to express his own speech. Remember how he reacted to criticism and satire when he became in charge of Twitter?

And part of free speech is being allowed to call people on their bullshit and misinformation, a concept that doesn't exactly exist on Twitter anymore.

[Xarkan]

Yeah, old people shouldn't be allowed to run for any form of office. 65+ is for retirement,

Politics still affect them. Is the plan there soon (or probably already if we include the below 18s) to have the minority with very specific sets of interests choose those who govern so the interests of the majority can be safely ignored?

You think that is a good plan?