I hope Musk kills Twitter, and then dissolves in his own sordid mess. I deactivated my account on Thursday when I heard he was finally taking control. Sad to me, as I looked forward to seeing posts from many dog lovers (including Auggie and Eli) as well as some beautiful scenery posts. But in the last few years, the division had grown, so I never logged in after 7pst. Anyway having Bulwark, I don’t need Twitter for news. Thanks.
I’ve already begun DM’ing favorite follows (all of us are nobodies, but we don’t know one another outside of the benighted hellscape) to let me know where they’re going if they leave (Mastodon seems to be the fave right now) and as soon as I figure out how to download my archive I’m out of there. Elon is a complete tool and his minions are disgusting.
You know what would kill Twitter? If media people stopped engaging on it, promoting on it, and most importantly reporting on it like things that happen on Twitter between blue check marks are news.
MAKING SENSE podcast has saved me from despair. I’m still a BULWARK member and listener, but interject some perspective from Sam Harris and his informed guests. It will freshen up your discussions. 🙂
I have been boycotting Facebook since 2016 and never bothered with Twitter. I propose that sane people on both the Right, Left and Center should leave the Twitter platform since Musk is somewhat hateful and arrogant in the same way the platform tends to be. Perhaps Substack is the way to go.
My take is this. And I am most assuredly wrong, but here goes.
Musk knows he can't sell electric cars to half the drivers in the US who would rather walk than take a ride in environmentally friendly car. If he can sell them on how owning a Tesla is owning the libs, he could sell a lot of cars to Trumpys.
I don't have a Twitter account, but I looked it up and there are a 250 million users. Contrast that to 1 billion TikTok users and 2.5 billion FB users.
Don't use Twitter, rarely read Twitter, unless it's someone whose views I specifically care about, like a real expert on Russia or military affairs. Twitter is bad, but I think it will be replaced, unfortunately. We had Vine, (which Twitter owned, but shut down), and it was replaced by TikTok. Twitter's misuse and distortion illustrates three points I'll focus on.
1. The thirst for data: People, people in politics and journalism especially, are desperately hungry to know what people think for obvious reasons. Twitter provides that, even if it's distorting and basically bad data. It's better than nothing, goes the thinking (which is wrong, because "I don't know what people think" is less harmful than misunderstanding what people think.)
2. Low journalistic standards: Even if it's bad, it's available. Journalists are desperate for sources, and Twitter is available for instant hot takes. Polls don't exist on every issue that just happened. Twitter offers the illusion of data aggregation that tells you what large numbers of people think in the absence of a poll. The 24/7 news cycle demands hot takes, so despite knowing it's bad data, it's used, because the incentives demand publishing something. This reminds me of a lot of early globalization reporting where reporters interviewed a handful of urban elites living in, say, Cairo or New Delhi, and concluded everyone was becoming little Americans because they drank Coke, wore jeans, and talked like Americans. Fly into a capital, talk to a few people, and fly out.
3. Evolutionary cognitive biases: Humans evolved in small bands or tribes, and later lived in small villages for most of history. If ten people in a row said they hated you, it was probably a universal feeling. You were at risk of getting kicked out of the tribe/village, and you were going to die unless you stopped doing whatever they disliked. If you asked a question and 10 people (out of 20-30) told you the same answer, it was probably what pretty much everybody believed. Our minds are wired in this way, that is, to respond to a barrage of uniform opinions, especially from people who are prominent or known to us. It is incredibly difficult to counter these biases even when you know they exist, and most people, I estimate, don't even really understand they exist.
"But at the risk of being crass: The size of the debt burden Musk has assumed makes such an evolution impossible.
He’s going to need to cut spending (meaning: employees) by something in the neighborhood of half. He will simultaneously need to pursue aggressive, immediate revenue growth (meaning: user growth). In short, Musk’s financial incentives—dictated to him by the hilariously bad deal he negotiated—mean that he probably has to make Twitter even worse.
Any chance that he could have improved the platform went out the window when ZIRP disappeared and the deal exploded in his face. The size and character of Musk’s debt load will probably compel Musk to make Twitter a worse product, no matter how much he loves humanity."
From your keyboard to God's ear, JVL! Unfortunately, Musk can do a lot of damage before Twitter's demise, first and foremost letting the Orange Menace back on the platform.
I hope Musk kills Twitter, and then dissolves in his own sordid mess. I deactivated my account on Thursday when I heard he was finally taking control. Sad to me, as I looked forward to seeing posts from many dog lovers (including Auggie and Eli) as well as some beautiful scenery posts. But in the last few years, the division had grown, so I never logged in after 7pst. Anyway having Bulwark, I don’t need Twitter for news. Thanks.
I’ve already begun DM’ing favorite follows (all of us are nobodies, but we don’t know one another outside of the benighted hellscape) to let me know where they’re going if they leave (Mastodon seems to be the fave right now) and as soon as I figure out how to download my archive I’m out of there. Elon is a complete tool and his minions are disgusting.
Seems the death of twitter has begun. Musk is already posting misinformation/disinformation, then deleting it.
I think Justice would be served if everyone just quit Twitter, causing the single largest investment loss in history that was not a crime.
Why so many Americans worship at the altar of fame is beyond me.
You know what would kill Twitter? If media people stopped engaging on it, promoting on it, and most importantly reporting on it like things that happen on Twitter between blue check marks are news.
MAKING SENSE podcast has saved me from despair. I’m still a BULWARK member and listener, but interject some perspective from Sam Harris and his informed guests. It will freshen up your discussions. 🙂
I have been boycotting Facebook since 2016 and never bothered with Twitter. I propose that sane people on both the Right, Left and Center should leave the Twitter platform since Musk is somewhat hateful and arrogant in the same way the platform tends to be. Perhaps Substack is the way to go.
Why should journalists own the public forum? Let them compete with the rabble.
Great read. On Twitter totally wish and hope you are right.
My take is this. And I am most assuredly wrong, but here goes.
Musk knows he can't sell electric cars to half the drivers in the US who would rather walk than take a ride in environmentally friendly car. If he can sell them on how owning a Tesla is owning the libs, he could sell a lot of cars to Trumpys.
I don't have a Twitter account, but I looked it up and there are a 250 million users. Contrast that to 1 billion TikTok users and 2.5 billion FB users.
I could not agree more!
Don't use Twitter, rarely read Twitter, unless it's someone whose views I specifically care about, like a real expert on Russia or military affairs. Twitter is bad, but I think it will be replaced, unfortunately. We had Vine, (which Twitter owned, but shut down), and it was replaced by TikTok. Twitter's misuse and distortion illustrates three points I'll focus on.
1. The thirst for data: People, people in politics and journalism especially, are desperately hungry to know what people think for obvious reasons. Twitter provides that, even if it's distorting and basically bad data. It's better than nothing, goes the thinking (which is wrong, because "I don't know what people think" is less harmful than misunderstanding what people think.)
2. Low journalistic standards: Even if it's bad, it's available. Journalists are desperate for sources, and Twitter is available for instant hot takes. Polls don't exist on every issue that just happened. Twitter offers the illusion of data aggregation that tells you what large numbers of people think in the absence of a poll. The 24/7 news cycle demands hot takes, so despite knowing it's bad data, it's used, because the incentives demand publishing something. This reminds me of a lot of early globalization reporting where reporters interviewed a handful of urban elites living in, say, Cairo or New Delhi, and concluded everyone was becoming little Americans because they drank Coke, wore jeans, and talked like Americans. Fly into a capital, talk to a few people, and fly out.
3. Evolutionary cognitive biases: Humans evolved in small bands or tribes, and later lived in small villages for most of history. If ten people in a row said they hated you, it was probably a universal feeling. You were at risk of getting kicked out of the tribe/village, and you were going to die unless you stopped doing whatever they disliked. If you asked a question and 10 people (out of 20-30) told you the same answer, it was probably what pretty much everybody believed. Our minds are wired in this way, that is, to respond to a barrage of uniform opinions, especially from people who are prominent or known to us. It is incredibly difficult to counter these biases even when you know they exist, and most people, I estimate, don't even really understand they exist.
This part is PERFECT:
"But at the risk of being crass: The size of the debt burden Musk has assumed makes such an evolution impossible.
He’s going to need to cut spending (meaning: employees) by something in the neighborhood of half. He will simultaneously need to pursue aggressive, immediate revenue growth (meaning: user growth). In short, Musk’s financial incentives—dictated to him by the hilariously bad deal he negotiated—mean that he probably has to make Twitter even worse.
Any chance that he could have improved the platform went out the window when ZIRP disappeared and the deal exploded in his face. The size and character of Musk’s debt load will probably compel Musk to make Twitter a worse product, no matter how much he loves humanity."
Perfectly said.
I completely agree with you about Twitter. It needs to die.
From your keyboard to God's ear, JVL! Unfortunately, Musk can do a lot of damage before Twitter's demise, first and foremost letting the Orange Menace back on the platform.
And take Facebook with it