jeremyp
Philosopher
Or somebody else has to draw it to your attention, or the algorithm. I found the poll by reading about it on Ars Technica.
Merged Musk buys Twitter!/ Elon Musk puts Twitter deal on hold....
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Or somebody else has to draw it to your attention, or the algorithm. I found the poll by reading about it on Ars Technica.
jeremyp
Philosopher
On a free speech level there is no problem. Twitter will just sink into irrelevancy.
The real problem is that 90% of Twitter’s funding comes from advertising. That will all go away and then Elon Musk will have nothing with which to finance his $13 billion loan.
arthwollipot
Limerick Purist Pronouns: He/Him
That's true.
Rolfe
Adult human female
No you wouldn't. The poll was being retweeted by lots of people, and someone I follow retweeted it so that it appeared in my Twitter feed. That's how Twitter works.
Was trying to think of "rational" business reasons why Musk may be following his current course and this is what I came up with.
1) He thinks by allowing the "controversial" folk back it will increase eyeballs and that he can convert more of their followers to being subscribers.
2) He thinks the advertisers and companies are bluffing and can't ignore Twitter as an advertising platform so will come back.
Personally my view is he is a dick and no can say no to him so there isn't actually any rational reason why he is doing what he is doing apart from it being what he wants to do at any given moment of time.
newyorkguy
Penultimate Amazing
The ironic part of all this is, Elon Musk was once potentially at risk of being banned from Twitter. For the same reason Marjorie Taylor Greene (and others) were banned. Spreading disinformation about Covid-19. Back in March 2020 Musk was against any lockdowns, insisting Covid-19 was a form of the common cold,
[IMGW=500]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1457&pictureid=13254[/IMGW]
Should he have been banned?
Of course as we now know confirmed cases have 'exceeded' 29% of the US population. Over one million Americans have died. So Musk's margin of error was pretty high. The Tweet below -- predicting zero cases by April 2020 -- turned out to be off by quite a bit too.
[IMGW=500]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1457&pictureid=13254[/IMGW]
Should he have been banned?
Should he have been banned?
No COVID deniers should have been banned. Not because they were right, but because censorship sucks. I got tired of arguing with them on FB, and I unfriended like 100+ people, but I didn't feel they should be banned.
johnny karate
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This post is the right wing view on free speech in a nutshell: I have the right to police speech that I don’t like, but no one else does.
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johnny karate
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Also, let us know when you’ve figured out how to monetize a social media site that opens the spigot on conspiracy theories and misinformation.
Choosing not to follow someone on FB is not the same as suggesting that they be banned from the platform. Obviously.
plague311
Great minds think...
And this is the exact reason why Twitter will fail. It's the same reason the other versions fail, or at least have no chance of performing at the level Musk needs it to in order to be profitable. No one wants to read the anti-Semitic, racist, ignorant disinformation. Advertisers don't want to put their name on a platform that condones that type of behavior.
So while you can say **** like this, after all it's not your money or "your concern", as you said, this attitude is what's going to kill twitter. What Musk doesn't realize is he's going to create his own competition, which will eventually sink twitter for good. Hopefully he kept that sink around.
jeremyp
Philosopher
It's Elon Musk's right to make what he likes of Twitter within the law. If that causes users and advertisers to leave, so be it. I'm sad for the employees and some of the communities on it but they will all find alternative places to work and communicate.
On the positive side, a lot more people are aware that Elon Musk is not the saviour of mankind and is, in fact, quite a bad person. The only thing that surprises me is how incompetent he is.
johnny karate
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You're choosing to disassociate yourself with someone and deny them access to the private areas of your Facebook page all because you don't agree with their ideas. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that is called "censorship".
johnny karate
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That's cool. As long as you realize that you're advocating for a very stupid revenue-killing business model, which makes it seem like you support stupid things in general.
johnny karate
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Yes, exactly. That's the face normal people make when conservative morons equate no longer being allowed to use a privately-owned social media site with censorship. Baby steps, but you're getting there.
Three badges! Twitter is saved!!!!
https://www.theguardian.com/technol...o-launch-new-blue-gold-and-grey-twitter-ticks
https://www.theguardian.com/technol...o-launch-new-blue-gold-and-grey-twitter-ticks
Roger Ramjets
Philosopher
Twitter should be able to ban whoever they like (within the terms of the contract every user agreed to). Not allowing them to do so is an invasion of their right to determine what appears on their platform. Should we force newspapers to publish whatever letters or articles readers send to them, no matter how offensive they may be? Of course not. Twitter is exactly the same.
Since Musk now owns Twitter, he gets to decide who gets banned and who doesn't, using whatever 'algorithm' he likes (If a user thinks they are being unfairly treated they can sue him). Depending on how he manages it Twitter may thrive or it may fail. But Musk is a smart guy, so now that his money is on the line I'm betting he will save it - with smart business practices rather than irrational whims.
Let's not lose sight of the facts here. The purpose of any for-profit business is to make money for its owners. Anything else is subservient. If Musk wants to use Twitter to promote 'free speech' that's fine. If he doesn't that's fine too. But he has a responsibility to make it profitable that overrides any 'moral' goals - same as he does for Tesla Motors and Space X etc.
When Musk bought Tesla his stated goal was to combat global warming. But now that the company has made him the richest man in the world, the goals - and Musk himself - have changed. He is a businessman now and his moral values have aligned to that. Musk himself was a Covid denier for one simple reason - it affected his business. I guarantee that will affect his attitude towards 'free speech' on Twitter too.
Aridas
Crazy Little Green Dragon
For the "fun" of it, here's a bunch of errr... totally sincere suggestions on how to monetize Twitter further. Like a Pay-To-Troll feature.
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