The ongoing X and Elon Musk Transgressions Thread

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

He's one of many.

The Elon clone army is the concerning part of all of this. It's a decentralized cult.

it's like when Trump said he could kill people on 5th Avenue and not lose any votes. The cult of personality is fascinating, yet scary at the same time.

[Ozy_Flame]

The market is rife for a new kind of social network, one that is secure, free of misinformation and bots, and community-driven. Not sure if Mastadon is the answer but I do have faith that the tech community can rally to put something next-generation together.

I am interested in Jack Dorsey's "Bluesky" technology which pivots from platform-adherence to content creation independence, and decentralizes social networking hosting.

Additionally, I think platforms need socially-responsible objectives. Particularly, industry self-regulation and standards implementation across platforms is long overdue. Here is an academic paper by Nina Brown at Syracuse University about the need for such industry regulation and what that might look like: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/cgi...text=lawreview

I personally don't think there there is a silver bullet technology to solve all of the social media woes we endure today. It has to be a combination of things, and the will to 'do better' from users, corporations, governments, and institutions alike.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Yeah, that's what I keep thinking too. He's bringing a lot more attention to the platform, and it's an attention economy. It's the most relevant Twitter has been since Trump got banned.

I don't really know what to make of it on the whole. He has made a big mess so far, and it's a huge risk to take on in terms of profitability, but it's a much more powerful platform than just buying WaPo like Bezos.

When Trump was running and in power Twitter was basically the source of info that shaped a lot of the political news across all other platforms and outlets every day, and now Elon has private ownership of that platform with Trump set to run again.

His other businesses have depended a lot upon government support and relationships for their growth and success. With Twitter he has a tool to influence discourse and policy to benefit Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and the Boring Company, potentially giving them a competitive advantage or policy protection going forward.

Also, it's also an enormous source of data to make use of, and he has the AI resources to make use of that data, in a company that is now privately held.

So, what did he really pay for, and what's the potential value of that extended out over the next decade for someone who owns numerous government-dependent businesses in what may be Trump's America?

These are all very good points. I think he'll see the real benefit once Trump gets back in a couple years from now.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

The market is rife for a new kind of social network, one that is secure, free of misinformation and bots, and community-driven. Not sure if Mastadon is the answer but I do have faith that the tech community can rally to put something next-generation together.

I am interested in Jack Dorsey's "Bluesky" technology which pivots from platform-adherence to content creation independence, and decentralizes social networking hosting.

Additionally, I think platforms need socially-responsible objectives. Particularly, industry self-regulation and standards implementation across platforms is long overdue. Here is an academic paper by Nina Brown at Syracuse University about the need for such industry regulation and what that might look like: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/cgi...text=lawreview

I personally don't think there there is a silver bullet technology to solve all of the social media woes we endure today. It has to be a combination of things, and the will to 'do better' from users, corporations, governments, and institutions alike.

The move to Mastodon seems to be getting led by concerned and serious people. It apparently did just hit one million monthly active users, but I don't see it continuing that growth. The masses never follow the concerned and serious people, and eventually the concerned and serious people who actually want a public platform go back to where the attention of the masses is.

Any new platform that wants to succeed is going to need to offer more than just decentralization and social responsibility. Those things may be valuable, but they're boring, and boring doesn't win attention.

[Ozy_Flame]

Well yeah, but those are just the underpinnings of fun features, rapid content creation, and a good UX. Those underpinnings are what needs dire attention at the moment.

[Wastedyouth]

I shut down my Twitter account today.

I just dont see the point of it anymore. It was already trash before, but at least if you only followed people you wanted to, you could curate out the garbage.

Elon has taken a troubled, yet useful tool, and turned it into a dumpster fire.

[Senator Clay Davis]

There's still virtually no viable path to Elon making this profitable enough to not lose a significant amount of his $44 billion investment. As has been pointed out before, even at it's absolute peak, Twitter was a niche social media platform. I know people want to know what his plan is, but sometimes the most obvious answer is the simplest one: He got baited into this deal, and now has no idea what to do with it. He's throwing #### at the wall and seeing what sticks. Maybe, eventually, he can make it work, but probably in a way that allows him to lose $25 billion instead of $44 billion.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Yoho

Then imagine how successful everyone of his company’s have been to date.

He's not gonna #### you, dude.

[Fuzz]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1519415674111672325

https://twitter.com/user/status/1589639376186724354

Well he is very consistent at holding 2 opposing thoughts in his mind at all times.

[Roughneck]

A story in 5 parts

Spoiler!

-Supreme Court Amicus Brief of The Babylon Bee, October 28, 2022

[Cecil Terwilliger]

What a raging lunatic. He's giving Kanye and Kyrie a run for their money.

[tony-soprano]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1589401140482883584

https://twitter.com/user/status/1589450155723722752

https://twitter.com/user/status/1589450301916213248

https://twitter.com/user/status/1589459528575504384

Lol, some funny ####..reminds me Ari Gold.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

So I’m guessing Elon will tell everyone to vote Democrat in every state vote that has a Republican governor? You know, so there’s balance and all. I’ll hold my breath for that tweet.

[Itse]

Well, there's a lot of money to be made from suckers if you can successfully make yourself a champion of the conservatives.

He's also doing his best to alienate the liberal crowd anyway, so who knows. Maybe there's money in being THE conservative social media platform.

If he actually sticks to that path... It could be an actual plan.

[Wastedyouth]

Ads will continue to dry up, and the site will continue to die. He will have to sell it for pennies on the dollar.

Meanwhile his other companies will face the backlash, and in the end, he will lose.

As all pieces of #### like him should.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Itse

Well, there's a lot of money to be made from suckers if you can successfully make yourself a champion of the conservatives.

He's also doing his best to alienate the liberal crowd anyway, so who knows. Maybe there's money in being THE conservative social media platform.

If he actually sticks to that path... It could be an actual plan.

There's money in that.. but would be shocked if there is $42 billion or whatever dollars in that.

[pylon]

I don't see Musk as the big bad wolf as the Ultra left does. In fact, I believe once the histrionics stop and the dust settles, Twitter will be better for it. The absolute hypocrisy that we keep hearing "Without censorship, democracy will fail!" is so out of touch with what democracy actually is, it's mind numbing.

I believe fully and completely in free speech, right up to hateful and racist speech. Inciting violence, murder or criminal activity is where the line should be drawn. But saying "I hate (insert slur)" shouldn't be a crime. Society will judge that individual, throttle their opportunities and tarnish their image as adequate punishment. Look what's happening to Kanye West. We didn't need laws to punish his vitriol. Kanye could have backed down and thoughtfully apologized. He didn't, and now he's paying the price. And an uncensored platform is what outed him and lead to his downfall. Kinda neat how that works. Isn't it? Donald Trump lost the election, and he wasn't booted off Twitter until after he lost. He was free to spew his nonsense, and it contributed to his downfall. I'd say that's another win for free speech.

I've lost count on how many people I've corrected on Jew slurs over the years in my presence. Instead of 'cancelling' them, or firing them, I'll simply say. "Hey man, I'm Jewish, not nice...." They apologize, that's the end of it, and we clink glasses in an unspoken agreement that doesn't happen around me again. Someone actually learned a little lesson and just might be better for it, without their life being ruined, and their rights infringed upon. And I've had my share of offsides in relation to other cultures. And learned a valuable lesson without losing it all as well.

Will some feelings get hurt? Sure. But Western Societies biggest handicap in my opinion, and what has weakened it more than anything, is how we have absolutely lost the ability to accept criticism or dust off insults and we are trying to control free thought and free speech as a result. We once had skin as thick as an alligator and had the ability to be offended without a tribunal. Now, you can't even point out factual data if it in anyway singles out a marginalized group or individual.

I would rather know who the lunatics are and allow them to out themselves to be judged by society, than be forced to crawl off into these dark little corners and spew their crap amongst like minded individuals, that won't put them in their place or correct them. People aren't dumb. The majority of people are reasonable. And will call BS for what it is. For the 10% that lie on the extreme ends of the spectrum... both sides, no amount of censorship, rationalization or laws will stop them from guzzling their Kool-Aid flavor of choice by the gallon. At least we get to see who's lining up at the Kool-aid bong. Even better, once in a blue moon, you can talk a little sense into these people should you be patient enough.

The pendulum almost always swings back, and by almost all indications, there seems to be an appetite for it to swing back to a little more of a non-politically correct environment, as opposed to this hyper-correct cancel culture we've been living in the last decade or so. You are seeing it on both sides of the spectrum, and it's why you are likely seeing a red wave coming in the mid terms. I am seeing people around me that have always been planted on the deep left, even saying it's gone too far. Something I never thought I'd see.

We have to allow people to have an opposing view. Ugly or not. There need to be a Ying to every Yang. If you attempt to control and censor speech based on only the agenda of one side, you've cracked open the door just enough for it to be kicked off the hinges, and now you have your text messages monitored. Phone calls monitored by AI. Speech against the Government becomes a Jailable offense..... I would rather put up with a few morons spewing racist hate, and election lies, than have my speech and ultimately my thoughts censored or controlled by any entity, be it a social media platform, or the Government. And it is happening elsewhere in the world. You have social media platforms that are doubling as cat meme generators, and government speech control operatives.

Musk is a but of an eccentric weirdo. But he is a generally logical weirdo. And I believe in a year or two, Twitter will be better off and a lot more balanced.

[Wastedyouth]

Originally Posted by pylon

I don't see Musk as the big bad wolf as the Ultra left does. In fact, I believe once the histrionics stop and the dust settles, Twitter will be better for it. The absolute hypocrisy that we keep hearing "Without censorship, democracy will fail!" is so out of touch with what democracy actually is, it's mind numbing.

I believe fully and completely in free speech, right up to hateful and racist speech. Inciting violence, murder or criminal activity is where the line should be drawn. But saying "I hate (insert slur)" shouldn't be a crime. Society will judge that individual, throttle their opportunities and tarnish their image as adequate punishment. Look what's happening to Kanye West. We didn't need laws to punish his vitriol. Kanye could have backed down and thoughtfully apologized. He didn't, and now he's paying the price. And an uncensored platform is what outed him and lead to his downfall. Kinda neat how that works. Isn't it? Donald Trump lost the election, and he wasn't booted off Twitter until after he lost. He was free to spew his nonsense, and it contributed to his downfall. I'd say that's another win for free speech.

I've lost count on how many people I've corrected on Jew slurs over the years in my presence. Instead of 'cancelling' them, or firing them, I'll simply say. "Hey man, I'm Jewish, not nice...." They apologize, that's the end of it, and we clink glasses in an unspoken agreement that doesn't happen around me again. Someone actually learned a little lesson and just might be better for it, without their life being ruined, and their rights infringed upon. And I've had my share of offsides in relation to other cultures. And learned a valuable lesson without losing it all as well.

Will some feelings get hurt? Sure. But Western Societies biggest handicap in my opinion, and what has weakened it more than anything, is how we have absolutely lost the ability to accept criticism or dust off insults and we are trying to control free thought and free speech as a result. We once had skin as thick as an alligator and had the ability to be offended without a tribunal. Now, you can't even point out factual data if it in anyway singles out a marginalized group or individual.

I would rather know who the lunatics are and allow them to out themselves to be judged by society, than be forced to crawl off into these dark little corners and spew their crap amongst like minded individuals, that won't put them in their place or correct them. People aren't dumb. The majority of people are reasonable. And will call BS for what it is. For the 10% that lie on the extreme ends of the spectrum... both sides, no amount of censorship, rationalization or laws will stop them from guzzling their Kool-Aid flavor of choice by the gallon. At least we get to see who's lining up at the Kool-aid bong. Even better, once in a blue moon, you can talk a little sense into these people should you be patient enough.

The pendulum almost always swings back, and by almost all indications, there seems to be an appetite for it to swing back to a little more of a non-politically correct environment, as opposed to this hyper-correct cancel culture we've been living in the last decade or so. You are seeing it on both sides of the spectrum, and it's why you are likely seeing a red wave coming in the mid terms. I am seeing people around me that have always been planted on the deep left, even saying it's gone too far. Something I never thought I'd see.

We have to allow people to have an opposing view. Ugly or not. There need to be a Ying to every Yang. If you attempt to control and censor speech based on only the agenda of one side, you've cracked open the door just enough for it to be kicked off the hinges, and now you have your text messages monitored. Phone calls monitored by AI. Speech against the Government becomes a Jailable offense..... I would rather put up with a few morons spewing racist hate, and election lies, than have my speech and ultimately my thoughts censored or controlled by any entity, be it a social media platform, or the Government. And it is happening elsewhere in the world. You have social media platforms that are doubling as cat meme generators, and government speech control operatives.

Musk is a but of an eccentric weirdo. But he is a generally logical weirdo. And I believe in a year or two, Twitter will be better off and a lot more balanced.

That is exactly what happens. Where or when did it become illegal?

The complaint about "Cancel Culture", is exactly what you want. The market holding people accountable to their words and actions. Cancel Culture is just a way for some people to label this as a movement instead of the Free Market saying, "your ideas suck and you are an idiot for thinking people would accept your ignorance in this day and age".

It's just certain people dont like when the Free Market decides that their ideas, aren't acceptable.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

Ads will continue to dry up, and the site will continue to die. He will have to sell it for pennies on the dollar.

Meanwhile his other companies will face the backlash, and in the end, he will lose.

As all pieces of #### like him should.

And by lose you mean only be worth 50 billion dollars and have more money than he could ever spend.

[Fuzz]

It's not the danger of opposing views that is the issue, it's allowing complete and blatant deception and lies to be amplified and sold as truth. That is the threat to democracy. One of the key tenants to democracy is a well informed public. You can't have a functioning democracy when there is no agreement of facts. You can see how Twitter fails at this through the pandemic, or Trump's "stop the steal" leading to January 6th. It is all based on lies, yet the population is convinced it is real.

I don't know how you have unfettered free speech on digital platforms that allow for the amplification of lies and still maintain a functioning democracy. They are at odds.

I also don't know how you fix it by limiting it to truthful speech. But something has to be done.