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Merged Musk buys Twitter!/ Elon Musk puts Twitter deal on hold....

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Eliot Higgins points out that an $8 fee for verified status might put off the scammers, but it'd be really cheap for a state.

He refers to 5000 Russian state bot accounts. , So for $40k/month they get more prominence
 
jimbob said:
Eliot Higgins points out that an $8 fee for verified status might put off the scammers, but it'd be really cheap for a state.

He refers to 5000 Russian state bot accounts. , So for $40k/month they get more prominence
Click to expand...

It still hasn't been made clear what the new $8 subscription will get you, does it verify you, does it get you extra features?

I'm now 100% convinced that Musk (at least initially) confusedly conflated the bluetick verified ID with Blue the current subscription model, which is why there is no clear idea what the new subscription payment will get you. This is further supported by the news stories of having to re-hire certain fired employees to deliver on the features that Musk wants to add. He now knows he has to now add something for that $8 fee, which means new features to be coded.

Given the (probable) sophistication of Twitter's codebase it is very unlikely that (safe) additions and changes to the codebase can be done quickly.
 
Darat said:
It still hasn't been made clear what the new $8 subscription will get you, does it verify you, does it get you extra features?

I'm now 100% convinced that Musk (at least initially) confusedly conflated the bluetick verified ID with Blue the current subscription model, which is why there is no clear idea what the new subscription payment will get you. This is further supported by the news stories of having to re-hire certain fired employees to deliver on the features that Musk wants to add. He now knows he has to now add something for that $8 fee, which means new features to be coded.

Given the (probable) sophistication of Twitter's codebase it is very unlikely that (safe) additions and changes to the codebase can be done quickly.
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Well Musk was talking about getting more reach for blue tick accounts, but, riffing on your observation, he's not one to be careful or precise (let alone accurate) about what he says, even when it's legally binding. Nor is he that likely to admit to confusion.
 
angrysoba said:
Musk himself posted the current Twitter Safety rules. I don't know how much has changed (maybe nothing yet?) but under the rules pretty much everyone currently banned such as Trump, Milo, Gavin McInnes and Alex Jones would remain banned.

As much fun as the parody accounts mocking Musk are, I agree that under the rules they should be banned, and I also agree with the principle of banning people who impersonate others. Not sure if that is really against the first amendment, I doubt it though. I am pretty sure the rule about parody accounts has been there for a while as I know of people posting even the most obvious parodies being told to clearly state they are parodies or risk being banned.
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Firstly, I don't see anything that says parody accounts should be banned under the rules as long as they are labelled as such.

Secondly, the rules have this:

Civic Integrity: You may not use Twitter’s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes.
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Musk wrote this:

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

Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic.
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I realise he is just advocating a particular political party but, given it is Musk, it could count as manipulation.
 
Lothian said:
I would hope sacked employees approached to recontract appreciate their worth to Twitter and request higher renumeration packages than they were on.
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I'd want a contract with a golden parachute.

Even rehiring folk won't make up for the damage caused by how it has been reported they laid people off. As ever when the "bean counters" get involved intangibles are ignored, there will have been a lot of "institutional knowledge" lost. There'll be that programmer who has been there for 15 years, apparently doesn't do much but when there is a problem with "X" they are the one who will say "oh that will be because we had to do Y years ago, so you'll have to "W" it". Or when someone has a problem with "Y" they'll be told to "go and see Sam they know about that".
 
Darat said:
I'd want a contract with a golden parachute.

Even rehiring folk won't make up for the damage caused by how it has been reported they laid people off. As ever when the "bean counters" get involved intangibles are ignored, there will have been a lot of "institutional knowledge" lost. There'll be that programmer who has been there for 15 years, apparently doesn't do much but when there is a problem with "X" they are the one who will say "oh that will be because we had to do Y years ago, so you'll have to "W" it". Or when someone has a problem with "Y" they'll be told to "go and see Sam they know about that".
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It would be truly terrible if the only person who knows how to reactivate ex US presidents accounts has been let go.
 
jimbob said:
Well Musk was talking about getting more reach for blue tick accounts, but, riffing on your observation, he's not one to be careful or precise (let alone accurate) about what he says, even when it's legally binding. Nor is he that likely to admit to confusion.
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Further to this

https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/1589914576090730496?s=20&t=2pkDesvx5_FE9zpwEVr7Dw

Eliot Higgins
@EliotHiggins
·
56m
If you look at the 2018 election we had accounts like Tennessee GOP (
@TEN_GOP
), which was posting pro-Trump and anti-Clinton content, and was quoted by mainstream media organisations. Eventually that was identified as a Russian influence account:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/19/16504510/ten-gop-twitter-russia
Click to expand...
 
jimbob said:
Eliot Higgins points out that an $8 fee for verified status might put off the scammers, but it'd be really cheap for a state.

He refers to 5000 Russian state bot accounts. , So for $40k/month they get more prominence
Click to expand...

I doubt Musk minds those, so long as they don't mock Musk.
 
The story so far by this guy:


https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/turmoil-at-twitter/

Gergely Orosz
@GergelyOrosz
What I'm hearing from inside Twitter:

Several people who were let go on Friday, then asked to come back were given less than an hour as a deadline.

Software engineers who got this call I know of all said "no" and the only ones who could eventually say "yes" are on visas.

Also:
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https://twitter.com/GergelyOrosz/status/1589711711233134592?s=20&t=MApufYuSDvP3PbaGPpoyEQ


I wonder what Elon Musk's game is. He seems to have upset a LOT of people, including those who were so proud of getting a blue tick.
 
Vixen said:
The story so far by this guy:


https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/turmoil-at-twitter/

https://twitter.com/GergelyOrosz/status/1589711711233134592?s=20&t=MApufYuSDvP3PbaGPpoyEQ


I wonder what Elon Musk's game is. He seems to have upset a LOT of people, including those who were so proud of getting a blue tick.
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He doesn't understand as much as he thought and his ego is such that he can't admit to making a mistake with several of his actions?

Also there's no way that one can make Twitter profitable at its $44Bn purchase price... as Lothian pointed out the model is unsuitable now there's not a really rich person to pay that for it.

Lothian said:
I agree fully with Musk's wholesale culling of Twitter staff. The model of losing money hand over fist is only sustainable when there is an idiotic muppet out there willing to buy the company for several times its value. That scenario no longer exists.
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I see my friend @WingsScotland has been unbanned after nearly three years. He was banned as a result of targeted reporting. He appealled, but was ignored. He had other accounts but one by one they fell to the same tactics.

Now he's had a bland letter of apology thanking him for his patience (three years!), confirming that his account was not in violation of Twitter rules in the first place, and he has all his followers back. He doesn't have a blue tick any more though, and I don't expect he'll pay for one after all that. Which means it's open season for the impersonators. Of which there have been many in the past, but the blue tick was able to sort that out.
 
Rolfe said:
Of which there have been many in the past, but the blue tick was able to sort that out.
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Yes! Tricky to the rescue!
avatar282_22.gif
 
jimbob said:
He doesn't understand as much as he thought and his ego is such that he can't admit to making a mistake with several of his actions?

Also there's no way that one can make Twitter profitable at its $44Bn purchase price... as Lothian pointed out the model is unsuitable now there's not a really rich person to pay that for it.
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As I heard repeated on the radio this morning - no one can say "no" to Musk and keep their job.
 
Darat said:
I'm now 100% convinced that Musk (at least initially) confusedly conflated the bluetick verified ID with Blue the current subscription model, which is why there is no clear idea what the new subscription payment will get you. This is further supported by the news stories of having to re-hire certain fired employees to deliver on the features that Musk wants to add. He now knows he has to now add something for that $8 fee, which means new features to be coded.
Click to expand...

I strongly disagree. There is a bizarre idea on the right that the blue check was, for lack of a better term, a sign of nobility. It made you a special person and therefore better than the common rabble.

This, of course, is extremely stupid. Musk's initial pitch was "power to the people" even though the check didn't give you any special powers. Right-wingers are always complaining about what the "blue checks" are up to, likely because they comprise a number of journalists who are constantly throwing cold water on the latest conspiracy theory. By letting anyone have a check, he likely believes that this will undercut their "power."
 
TragicMonkey said:
Is this one of those business vulturisms where someone can make a fortune by tanking a company?
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No, doesn't look like it. That normally involves a private equity firm buying a controlling stake in a company, then doing things like borrowing a huge amount of money against the companies assets, then selling off assets, then declaring bankruptcy after pocketing the proceeds. Twitter doesn't have enough assets to make that, work even if Musk wanted to do so.
 
lobosrul5 said:
No, doesn't look like it. That normally involves a private equity firm buying a controlling stake in a company, then doing things like borrowing a huge amount of money against the companies assets, then selling off assets, then declaring bankruptcy after pocketing the proceeds. Twitter doesn't have enough assets to make that, work even if Musk wanted to do so.
Click to expand...

I was thinking much more criminal, like if Musk secretly shorted the stock and is now deliberately wrecking the company.
 
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