Twitter

[ChpBstrd]

A Twitter employee wrote into Ask A Manager. I'm so glad I don't work there.
https://www.askamanager.org/2022/12/update-i-work-at-twitter-what-do-i-do.html

That was an excellent read. I suspect EM wants to turn Twitter into an unregulated, unmanged thing like the blockchain, and his vision is for the machine itself to do all the minimal work necessary without much human guidance - like a Tesla factory. That minimal work does not include moderation, account verification, or any censorship because Musk is wagering that Twitter's advertisers will continue selling ads on the platform regardless of how much it starts to resemble Telegram or 8-chan.

A Twitter with a skeleton crew and no extra fluff might be more profitable than a moderated/verified Twitter, even if usage drops. Like MySpace and Facebook, it'll carry years of inertia from brand recognition and lazy journalism.

However, this might not go on forever. Musk will soon find himself in Jack Dorsey's seat answering questions from members of Congress about why exactly the United States should maintain a special liability carve-out in section 230 of the Communications Decency Act just so billionaire-owned social media megacorps like Meta and Twitter can profit from the manufacture of violent extremists and the spread of racism, misogyny, and deadly misinformation.

With FB, Reddit, the chans, YouTube, and now Twitter all becoming predominantly right-wing platforms, and with TikTok posing national security threats, it's not hard to imagine the Democratic Party soon adopting an anti-section-230 stance, even though doing so would direct a LOT of money and ads against them. The E.U. is likely to become even more skeptical, and increase their moderation requirements further. This could be the defining fight of the 2020's - with conservatives seeing any accountability for social media megacorps as a violation of the first amendment and liberals seeing the control of billionaire-owned addictive platforms as a necessity for democracy to endure.

[maizefolk]

Thank you @Malcat. The initial response had me wondering if I'd imagined/misremembered all the "a few days to run" predictions.

[gooki]

One good change in the last few days. Twitter no longer tries to force you into creating an account by blocking content when simply reading tweets.

Looks like I can thank George Hotz for fixing this
https://twitter.com/realGeorgeHotz/status/1594908473875173377?cxt=HHwWgsC4qdGzoKIsAAAA

[Villanelle]

Free speech?  This video of Musk beign boo-ed after joining Dave Chappelle on stage was removed from twitter.  Now, I suppose there could have been some issue with someone recording Chappelle's show, or some other reason it was removed, but it seems... suspect. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzkreBMHUFY  (One day I will learn how to change a link's text without typing in the the HTML code myself, assuming there's a way to do that with the forum's buttons, but today is not that day.)

[Fru-Gal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzkreBMHUFY  (One day I will learn how to change a link's text without typing in the the HTML code myself, assuming there's a way to do that with the forum's buttons, but today is not that day.)

Why, just why, just why…. An ugly fraternity of petulant wealthy complainers… ironically, I don’t even hate billionaires, I consider them to be similar to the millionaires of my childhood (cue Robin Leach). But I do dislike these guys for their “rules for thee not me” attitude and myopic lack of humanity and fairness. And unfortunately, despite being a Chappelle fan… this is not it Dave.

[jinga nation]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzkreBMHUFY  (One day I will learn how to change a link's text without typing in the the HTML code myself, assuming there's a way to do that with the forum's buttons, but today is not that day.)

Why, just why, just why…. An ugly fraternity of petulant wealthy complainers… ironically, I don’t even hate billionaires, I consider them to be similar to the millionaires of my childhood (cue Robin Leach). But I do dislike these guys for their “rules for thee not me” attitude and myopic lack of humanity and fairness. And unfortunately, despite being a Chappelle fan… this is not it Dave.

Old Chappelle would kick New Chappelle and slap him on the head, to remind him he forgot himself.
Old was full of witty insightful social observations. New has become a pandering fool. He tried to be Carlin, but the wealth changed him. (I'm rich, bitch)
Each subsequent Netflix special was worse than previous, IMHO. It seems the more he was paid, the less effort he had to put into it. The hunger is gone.
And the cherry on top of whoring himself out to Lone Skum.
And none of the fucktards understand the concept of free speech freeze peach.

[Villanelle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzkreBMHUFY  (One day I will learn how to change a link's text without typing in the the HTML code myself, assuming there's a way to do that with the forum's buttons, but today is not that day.)

Why, just why, just why…. An ugly fraternity of petulant wealthy complainers… ironically, I don’t even hate billionaires, I consider them to be similar to the millionaires of my childhood (cue Robin Leach). But I do dislike these guys for their “rules for thee not me” attitude and myopic lack of humanity and fairness. And unfortunately, despite being a Chappelle fan… this is not it Dave.

Old Chappelle would kick New Chappelle and slap him on the head, to remind him he forgot himself.
Old was full of witty insightful social observations. New has become a pandering fool. He tried to be Carlin, but the wealth changed him. (I'm rich, bitch)
Each subsequent Netflix special was worse than previous, IMHO. It seems the more he was paid, the less effort he had to put into it. The hunger is gone.
And the cherry on top of whoring himself out to Lone Skum.
And none of the fucktards understand the concept of free speech freeze peach.

While I agree with much of your assessment on Chapelle, the bolded is an absolutely disgusting term.  Maybe you don't know how offensive so many people find it, in which case you now do.  Or maybe you don't care because it's more important to use a word you find fun than to treat other people decently.  I hope it's the former. 

[Travis]

Musk apparently not paying Twitter's bills, and racking up a host of lawsuits along the way. And the amount of daylight between SpaceX and Twitter's resources has been dwindling.

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1602781551858696195

[roomtempmayo]

One very stark framing of what is going on with (un)civil discourse was provided by Mary Harrington recently, where she concludes:

The point is: forget the marketplace of ideas. Forget the secular interregnum. It’s over: even if you personally are still among the number mumbling about civil debate and tolerance, you’re surrounded by a growing array of factions who don’t play by those rules.

Sacred values become institutionalised as sacred, when true believers pull out all the stops to make that happen. And we’re back in an age of true believers. The phrase ‘post-liberal’ usually refers to an amiable, tweedy, vaguely Catholic-adjacent longing for a future of greater civic cohesion, underwritten by soft social conservatism; but the real post-liberal age is already here. And it’s not the tweedy vision. It’s a new era of schismatic, dogmatic, heretic-punishing religious war.

In actually existing post-liberalism, your worldview will be granted as much space as you’re willing to fight for, and no more. Blasphemy is dead; long live blasphemy. Plan accordingly.

Perhaps Harrington is right, but I'm not going to count on it. 

We Americans don't have much endurance for widespread social conflict.  The most recent analog is the unrest of the late 60s that lasted into the mid 70s.  But by even the late 70s, a critical mass of former flower children were tired of it and ready to vote for Reagan to bring back normalcy.  Maybe we can make it for a decade, but not much more.

If we're making predictions about the future, I'll bet that no later than 2025 we'll be ready for a comfortable new social orthodoxy that minimizes conflict and dissent. 

[bacchi]

From the NYT article,

Twitter’s leaders have also discussed the consequences of denying severance payments to thousands of people who have been laid off since the takeover, two people familiar with the talks said.

He's going to get himself sued under the WARN Act (again). I doubt even million dollar lawyers will convince a California court that he doesn't owe any severance.

Maybe quiet quitting would've worked better than not clicking the link. The guy's burning the candle on both ends -- ducking and hiding might work for a while, especially if your manager and the rest of your team left.

[dang1]

twitter- meh, it's entertainment, i'm entertained, lol

[jinga nation]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzkreBMHUFY  (One day I will learn how to change a link's text without typing in the the HTML code myself, assuming there's a way to do that with the forum's buttons, but today is not that day.)

Why, just why, just why…. An ugly fraternity of petulant wealthy complainers… ironically, I don’t even hate billionaires, I consider them to be similar to the millionaires of my childhood (cue Robin Leach). But I do dislike these guys for their “rules for thee not me” attitude and myopic lack of humanity and fairness. And unfortunately, despite being a Chappelle fan… this is not it Dave.

Old Chappelle would kick New Chappelle and slap him on the head, to remind him he forgot himself.
Old was full of witty insightful social observations. New has become a pandering fool. He tried to be Carlin, but the wealth changed him. (I'm rich, bitch)
Each subsequent Netflix special was worse than previous, IMHO. It seems the more he was paid, the less effort he had to put into it. The hunger is gone.
And the cherry on top of whoring himself out to Lone Skum.
And none of the fucktards understand the concept of free speech freeze peach.

While I agree with much of your assessment on Chapelle, the bolded is an absolutely disgusting term.  Maybe you don't know how offensive so many people find it, in which case you now do.  Or maybe you don't care because it's more important to use a word you find fun than to treat other people decently.  I hope it's the former.

Noun
fucktard (plural fucktards)
    (derogatory, slang, vulgar) An extraordinarily stupid person.
source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fucktard

noun pejorative, slang, vulgar An extraordinarily stupid person, especially one that causes harm.
source: https://www.wordnik.com/words/fucktard

also: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=%7C-%7C%20fucktard%22

Why would I treat Musk or New Chappelle decently? There's no justification (for me). I'm not a Musk fanboy or own any of his products, and New Chappelle's latest whoring out and shitting on his audience garners no respect.
In case it wasn't clear, my comment was specific to those two.

[jinga nation]

Musk: everyone must return to the office
Employees who did find lack of seats/desks.
Also Musk: Vee vill not pay rent!
Engineers: confused looks. That is an error in all languages, human and computer.

This guy is slow burning, so much that I've been having to stock up on popcorn.

[FINate]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzkreBMHUFY  (One day I will learn how to change a link's text without typing in the the HTML code myself, assuming there's a way to do that with the forum's buttons, but today is not that day.)

Why, just why, just why…. An ugly fraternity of petulant wealthy complainers… ironically, I don’t even hate billionaires, I consider them to be similar to the millionaires of my childhood (cue Robin Leach). But I do dislike these guys for their “rules for thee not me” attitude and myopic lack of humanity and fairness. And unfortunately, despite being a Chappelle fan… this is not it Dave.

Old Chappelle would kick New Chappelle and slap him on the head, to remind him he forgot himself.
Old was full of witty insightful social observations. New has become a pandering fool. He tried to be Carlin, but the wealth changed him. (I'm rich, bitch)
Each subsequent Netflix special was worse than previous, IMHO. It seems the more he was paid, the less effort he had to put into it. The hunger is gone.
And the cherry on top of whoring himself out to Lone Skum.
And none of the fucktards understand the concept of free speech freeze peach.

While I agree with much of your assessment on Chapelle, the bolded is an absolutely disgusting term.  Maybe you don't know how offensive so many people find it, in which case you now do.  Or maybe you don't care because it's more important to use a word you find fun than to treat other people decently.  I hope it's the former.

Noun
fucktard (plural fucktards)
    (derogatory, slang, vulgar) An extraordinarily stupid person.
source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fucktard

noun pejorative, slang, vulgar An extraordinarily stupid person, especially one that causes harm.
source: https://www.wordnik.com/words/fucktard

also: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=%7C-%7C%20fucktard%22

Why would I treat Musk or New Chappelle decently? There's no justification (for me). I'm not a Musk fanboy or own any of his products, and New Chappelle's latest whoring out and shitting on his audience garners no respect.
In case it wasn't clear, my comment was specific to those two.

Please, just stop. The term is offense not because you're directing it at Musk, but rather because of its etymology. That you've directed it at Musk is even more offensive to those with mental disabilities as they are now unfairly lumped in together with a pompous megalomaniac.

[bacchi]

Musk: everyone must return to the office
Employees who did find lack of seats/desks.
Also Musk: Vee vill not pay rent!
Engineers: confused looks. That is an error in all languages, human and computer.

This guy is slow burning, so much that I've been having to stock up on popcorn.

"It's 4d chess!" "He knows what he's doing!"

Musk and Twitter are doomed to be case studies in B-school.

[bacchi]

Please, just stop. The term is offense not because you're directing it at Musk, but rather because of its etymology. That you've directed it at Musk is even more offensive to those with mental disabilities as they are now unfairly lumped in together with a pompous megalomaniac.

Etymology
Blend of fucking +‎ retard or fuck +‎ -tard

[jinga nation]

Please, just stop. The term is offense not because you're directing it at Musk, but rather because of its etymology. That you've directed it at Musk is even more offensive to those with mental disabilities as they are now unfairly lumped in together with a pompous megalomaniac.

Etymology
Blend of fucking +‎ retard or fuck +‎ -tard

The word retard is not limited to define persons with mental disabilities.

Per https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retard:

1. a holding back or slowing down : retardation (e.g. physics - reduction of speed without actual stopping)
2. offensive : a person affected with intellectual disability
3. informal + offensive : a foolish or stupid person

The retard in fucktard refers to #3.

[bacchi]

Please, just stop. The term is offense not because you're directing it at Musk, but rather because of its etymology. That you've directed it at Musk is even more offensive to those with mental disabilities as they are now unfairly lumped in together with a pompous megalomaniac.

Etymology
Blend of fucking +‎ retard or fuck +‎ -tard

The word retard is not limited to define persons with mental disabilities.

Per https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retard:

1. a holding back or slowing down : retardation (e.g. physics - reduction of speed without actual stopping)
2. offensive : a person affected with intellectual disability
3. informal + offensive : a foolish or stupid person

The retard in fucktard refers to #3.

C'mon, don't get defensive about it. We all know that using "retard" disparages someone with a mental disability. It is used as a general insult (by 3rd graders, generally), but that's because it compares someone to a mentally disabled person. In other words, bullies calling a classmate "retard" is insulting because the mentally disabled kid in special education is considered the lowest of the low.

[roomtempmayo]

Musk: everyone must return to the office
Employees who did find lack of seats/desks.
Also Musk: Vee vill not pay rent!
Engineers: confused looks. That is an error in all languages, human and computer.

This guy is slow burning, so much that I've been having to stock up on popcorn.

Yeah, but it's sort of like the rich kid at the arcade.  It doesn't matter how bad he is at PacMan, he's always got another quarter in his pocket to keep the machine going.

At this point, Musk doesn't have to be any good at whatever business venture he chooses.  He can entertain himself by slowly losing money for a very, very long time.

[GuitarStv]

C'mon, don't get defensive about it. We all know that using "retard" disparages someone with a mental disability.

The etymology of the word is a little strange.

'Mentally retarded' was the medical term for someone who was intellectually disabled.  It wasn't initially pejorative.  Because of what 'retarded' meant, people began using it pejoratively for someone acting in a stupid way.  Then because of the common usage (derived from the actual medical meaning of the word) being offensively used it was determined that the term itself was offensive so the medical profession shifted to 'intellectually disabled'.

Assuming the same pattern follows, eventually people will start using some form of 'intellectually disabled' as an insult and we'll have to drop that term as well.  Again, not because it's intended as a slight to people with intellectual disability, but because being intellectually disabled itself is seen as insulting by most of the public.


I was trying to think of a snappy portmanteau to merge fuck and disabled in the same way that fucktard had been used, but got stuck with 'fuckable' which didn't seem to carry quite the same connotations.  :P

[Villanelle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzkreBMHUFY  (One day I will learn how to change a link's text without typing in the the HTML code myself, assuming there's a way to do that with the forum's buttons, but today is not that day.)

Why, just why, just why…. An ugly fraternity of petulant wealthy complainers… ironically, I don’t even hate billionaires, I consider them to be similar to the millionaires of my childhood (cue Robin Leach). But I do dislike these guys for their “rules for thee not me” attitude and myopic lack of humanity and fairness. And unfortunately, despite being a Chappelle fan… this is not it Dave.

Old Chappelle would kick New Chappelle and slap him on the head, to remind him he forgot himself.
Old was full of witty insightful social observations. New has become a pandering fool. He tried to be Carlin, but the wealth changed him. (I'm rich, bitch)
Each subsequent Netflix special was worse than previous, IMHO. It seems the more he was paid, the less effort he had to put into it. The hunger is gone.
And the cherry on top of whoring himself out to Lone Skum.
And none of the fucktards understand the concept of free speech freeze peach.

While I agree with much of your assessment on Chapelle, the bolded is an absolutely disgusting term.  Maybe you don't know how offensive so many people find it, in which case you now do.  Or maybe you don't care because it's more important to use a word you find fun than to treat other people decently.  I hope it's the former.

Noun
fucktard (plural fucktards)
    (derogatory, slang, vulgar) An extraordinarily stupid person.
source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fucktard

noun pejorative, slang, vulgar An extraordinarily stupid person, especially one that causes harm.
source: https://www.wordnik.com/words/fucktard

also: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=%7C-%7C%20fucktard%22

Why would I treat Musk or New Chappelle decently? There's no justification (for me). I'm not a Musk fanboy or own any of his products, and New Chappelle's latest whoring out and shitting on his audience garners no respect.
In case it wasn't clear, my comment was specific to those two.

It doesn't matter who the comment was specific to.  Is it okay to use the N word toward a black person whose an asshole and doesn't deserve respect?  The use of the word is offensive, and not just to the people to whom it is directed. 

[HPstache]

Is the term we are looking for... "Dumb f-ck"?

[LennStar]

Is the term we are looking for... "Dumb f-ck"?

No, it's Musk. He's dumb as a Musk that Musk.

[Fru-Gal]

Dumb as a Musk!! 😂

[Travis]

It might be a while before the banks backing Twitter see a profit.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-10/twitter-loans-get-bid-at-60-cents-as-banks-sound-out-investors

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/musks-banks-book-twitter-loan-losses-avoid-big-hits-sources-2022-12-14/

[dang1]

It might be a while before the banks backing Twitter see a profit.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-10/twitter-loans-get-bid-at-60-cents-as-banks-sound-out-investors

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/musks-banks-book-twitter-loan-losses-avoid-big-hits-sources-2022-12-14/

banks don't care, too big to fail

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

It might be a while before the banks backing Twitter see a profit.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-10/twitter-loans-get-bid-at-60-cents-as-banks-sound-out-investors

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/musks-banks-book-twitter-loan-losses-avoid-big-hits-sources-2022-12-14/

banks don't care, too big to fail

Someone made the point that Musk could buy back his own debt at that discount...might be a good idea!

[Travis]

Not sure if this is Tesla or Twitter news since the two seem to be conjoined these days.  Musk sold $3.6 billion in Tesla stock this week.


https://twitter.com/SawyerMerritt/status/1603214433487970305

[maizefolk]

Someone made the point that Musk could buy back his own debt at that discount...might be a good idea!

If he's committed to owning twitter forever buying back the debt at 60 cents on the dollar is a good deal. If he isn't, perhaps not.

The reason those loans are worth so much less than face value is that they are debt owed by twitter the company, not debt owed by Elon Musk the hecto-billionaire. If Musk decides not to pay the bonds, the most the creditors can hope for is to end up owning twitter (an outcome that looks increasingly unappealing, hence the declining value of the debt).

[ChpBstrd]

Here's an interesting theory about the kind of ideas going through Musk's head. If true, then he's trying to reduce Twitter down to a level of management he can personally supervise. It also means Tesla might soon see the same sort of management layoffs Musk is doing at Twitter.

https://www.vox.com/23505311/elon-musk-twitter-managerial-woke-james-burnham

[bacchi]

Here's an interesting theory about the kind of ideas going through Musk's head. If true, then he's trying to reduce Twitter down to a level of management he can personally supervise. It also means Tesla might soon see the same sort of management layoffs Musk is doing at Twitter.

https://www.vox.com/23505311/elon-musk-twitter-managerial-woke-james-burnham

Fascinating. If true, how much is conscious -- conservative CEOs get together and chat about woke managers and their growing power -- and how much is internalized?

[maizefolk]

Here's an interesting theory about the kind of ideas going through Musk's head. If true, then he's trying to reduce Twitter down to a level of management he can personally supervise. It also means Tesla might soon see the same sort of management layoffs Musk is doing at Twitter.

https://www.vox.com/23505311/elon-musk-twitter-managerial-woke-james-burnham

Huh. A fascinating read. Thanks for posting @ChpBstrd!

[Metalcat]

Here's an interesting theory about the kind of ideas going through Musk's head. If true, then he's trying to reduce Twitter down to a level of management he can personally supervise. It also means Tesla might soon see the same sort of management layoffs Musk is doing at Twitter.

https://www.vox.com/23505311/elon-musk-twitter-managerial-woke-james-burnham

That just sounds like a horrible use of his time and energy.

Who would want to personally manage Twitter? I cannot understand that as an end goal.

Musk-o-philes would say I'm just not sophisticated enough to understand his 4D chess endgame, but man, ending up the actual manager of Twitter sounds like a pretty bad outcome to me.

Doesn't he have shit to do??

[GuitarStv]

Doesn't he have shit to do??

No.

He transitioned from being a hands-on engineer to being a vague 'big picture idea guy' upper management type a long while back.

[Metalcat]

Doesn't he have shit to do??

No.

He transitioned from being a hands-on engineer to being a vague 'big picture idea guy' upper management type a long while back.

Yeah, and doesn't micromanaging a social media site take away from that?

I mean, personally managing a site like this would take A LOT of nitpicky, time consuming work. Wouldn't a "big picture" guy want to operate more as a "hand of God" kind of force where well paid, loyal executives oversee the actual running of the business?

If I were a "big thinker" I wouldn't want to be bogged down like that. If he's supposed to be so brilliant and future-thinking, isn't running Twitter a huge waste of his time?

I just don't see the rationale.

[ChpBstrd]

Doesn't he have shit to do??

No.

He transitioned from being a hands-on engineer to being a vague 'big picture idea guy' upper management type a long while back.

Yeah, and doesn't micromanaging a social media site take away from that?

I mean, personally managing a site like this would take A LOT of nitpicky, time consuming work. Wouldn't a "big picture" guy want to operate more as a "hand of God" kind of force where well paid, loyal executives oversee the actual running of the business?

If I were a "big thinker" I wouldn't want to be bogged down like that. If he's supposed to be so brilliant and future-thinking, isn't running Twitter a huge waste of his time?

I just don't see the rationale.

Perhaps the rationale (according to the book's ideology) is that Musk already feels he has lost control of his Tesla, SpaceX, etc. empires because the sheer complexity of those businesses requires multiple layers of "woke" management. Management was already running things for him, which is why he didn't "have shit to do" and has been posting on Twitter all day for the past 3-5 years. Musk apparently doesn't like the feeling of being the least educated or informed person in the room, which he is when in meetings with engineers, software designers with modern skills, finance people, lawyers, etc.

So Musk grabbed up Twitter because in his mind it could be run as a barebones, unmoderated service with a skeleton crew. Unlike more complex business models or publicly traded companies, a privatized Twitter was simple enough not to require a lot of managerial layers. He'll get it down to about 1,000 employees, micromanage everything, and fire his directors every few years as a matter of principle.

[Fru-Gal]

There is no 4D chess or rationale. He is addicted to the service.

[Metalcat]

Doesn't he have shit to do??

No.

He transitioned from being a hands-on engineer to being a vague 'big picture idea guy' upper management type a long while back.

Yeah, and doesn't micromanaging a social media site take away from that?

I mean, personally managing a site like this would take A LOT of nitpicky, time consuming work. Wouldn't a "big picture" guy want to operate more as a "hand of God" kind of force where well paid, loyal executives oversee the actual running of the business?

If I were a "big thinker" I wouldn't want to be bogged down like that. If he's supposed to be so brilliant and future-thinking, isn't running Twitter a huge waste of his time?

I just don't see the rationale.

Perhaps the rationale (according to the book's ideology) is that Musk already feels he has lost control of his Tesla, SpaceX, etc. empires because the sheer complexity of those businesses requires multiple layers of "woke" management. Management was already running things for him, which is why he didn't "have shit to do" and has been posting on Twitter all day for the past 3-5 years. Musk apparently doesn't like the feeling of being the least educated or informed person in the room, which he is when in meetings with engineers, software designers with modern skills, finance people, lawyers, etc.

So Musk grabbed up Twitter because in his mind it could be run as a barebones, unmoderated service with a skeleton crew. Unlike more complex business models or publicly traded companies, a privatized Twitter was simple enough not to require a lot of managerial layers. He'll get it down to about 1,000 employees, micromanage everything, and fire his directors every few years as a matter of principle.

That still sounds to me like a miserable, miserable waste of time and energy.

[LennStar]

From all what I have seen, Musk is a miserable reward-seeking addict. He needs to show everyone that he is the best, and when he no longer can do it, he does the next thing where he can play the Alpha and bring in a sink.

Back when the Berlin factory had problems, he slept in there. That is what he likes to do. "See, I stepped down, put my hand on it, and voila! it worked!"

[scottish]

Doesn't he have shit to do??

No.

He transitioned from being a hands-on engineer to being a vague 'big picture idea guy' upper management type a long while back.

Yeah, and doesn't micromanaging a social media site take away from that?

I mean, personally managing a site like this would take A LOT of nitpicky, time consuming work. Wouldn't a "big picture" guy want to operate more as a "hand of God" kind of force where well paid, loyal executives oversee the actual running of the business?

If I were a "big thinker" I wouldn't want to be bogged down like that. If he's supposed to be so brilliant and future-thinking, isn't running Twitter a huge waste of his time?

I just don't see the rationale.

Perhaps the rationale (according to the book's ideology) is that Musk already feels he has lost control of his Tesla, SpaceX, etc. empires because the sheer complexity of those businesses requires multiple layers of "woke" management. Management was already running things for him, which is why he didn't "have shit to do" and has been posting on Twitter all day for the past 3-5 years. Musk apparently doesn't like the feeling of being the least educated or informed person in the room, which he is when in meetings with engineers, software designers with modern skills, finance people, lawyers, etc.

So Musk grabbed up Twitter because in his mind it could be run as a barebones, unmoderated service with a skeleton crew. Unlike more complex business models or publicly traded companies, a privatized Twitter was simple enough not to require a lot of managerial layers. He'll get it down to about 1,000 employees, micromanage everything, and fire his directors every few years as a matter of principle.

That still sounds to me like a miserable, miserable waste of time and energy.

Hey, choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.    Who are we to tell Elon Musk what he likes doing?    I would hate being a dentist, for example, and I suspect you wouldn't like being an engineer.

[Travis]

Twitter went on a ban spree tonight. Mostly journalists who have covered Musk in the past and today discussed previous accounts that were banned that had shared or discussed the real-time tracking site that kept an eye on his private plane.



https://twitter.com/rawsalerts/status/1603576858393600000?s=46&t=bOKuma_SdGJ-x7EEfC-soQ

[Sibley]

One of the strengths of twitter was the ability to share news quickly. Banning the journalists really seems counter productive. The only reason I'm on twitter is for (Ukraine) news. Lose that, and I'm gone. Musk really is dumb. First he bought twitter for way more than its worth, now he's driving it into the ground.

[Travis]

One of the strengths of twitter was the ability to share news quickly. Banning the journalists really seems counter productive. The only reason I'm on twitter is for (Ukraine) news. Lose that, and I'm gone. Musk really is dumb. First he bought twitter for way more than its worth, now he's driving it into the ground.

He's all over the place tonight. Went on a tirade about his family is in danger from publicly available flight data (despite doing far more on his own to endanger his own privacy), clarified that the ban on those people (most of whom did not breach TOS) was for only 7 days, put up a one hour poll where the options were 1. Unban now 2. Tomorrow 3. 7 days 4. Longer. The results were 43/5/15/37 and his response was "needs fewer options, redoing" with Now and 7 days being the options with a 24 hour timer.

A Twitter Spaces chat with thousands of people occurred to discuss all of this which included Musk and some of the people he banned, because apparently Twitter Spaces and Twitter accounts don't fully mesh. He got asked a question and then rage quit.

AOC is telling him "as someone who has been actually stalked" to put the phone down and take a breather and his response was "No, you."

[Taran Wanderer]

What a mess. I so appreciate the updates in this thread so I don’t have to pay close attention myself…

[Travis]

What a mess. I so appreciate the updates in this thread so I don’t have to pay close attention myself…

I don't hang on every word of this drama, but tonight it just wouldn't stop.

[Metalcat]

Hey, choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.    Who are we to tell Elon Musk what he likes doing? 

I have a very hard time believing that micromanaging Twitter is what Musk loves, but hey, I don't actually know the guy. I know a few people who have pay-for-play met him, but I couldn't possibly guess what makes the guy tick.

Who knows, maybe his days of big world changing talk are over and all he wants to do is manage a social media company.

[FireLane]

Hey, choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.    Who are we to tell Elon Musk what he likes doing? 

I have a very hard time believing that micromanaging Twitter is what Musk loves, but hey, I don't actually know the guy. I know a few people who have pay-for-play met him, but I couldn't possibly guess what makes the guy tick.

Who knows, maybe his days of big world changing talk are over and all he wants to do is manage a social media company.

I saw a commenter on Reddit say something like, "Elon Musk is the CEO of three companies and has ten kids, and he spends more time shitposting on Twitter than most unemployed people."

[FINate]

Hey, choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.    Who are we to tell Elon Musk what he likes doing? 

I have a very hard time believing that micromanaging Twitter is what Musk loves, but hey, I don't actually know the guy. I know a few people who have pay-for-play met him, but I couldn't possibly guess what makes the guy tick.

Who knows, maybe his days of big world changing talk are over and all he wants to do is manage a social media company.

I saw a commenter on Reddit say something like, "Elon Musk is the CEO of three companies and has ten kids, and he spends more time shitposting on Twitter than most unemployed people."

Oh my! That's hilarious!

[bacchi]

Musk is looking for more Twitter investors, reportedly at the same value as he bought. Any one agreeing might belong to the Leopard's Eating Faces Party.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-investors-voice-concern-over-elon-musks-focus-on-twitter-11670948786

[Telecaster]

There is no 4D chess or rationale. He is addicted to the service.

This is the most insightful comment in this thread.  Some users think Twitter is the entire universe.  They can interact with great thinkers and captains of industry.  Some users just follow along.  And most people don't care at all. 

Musk is in the first group.  He thinks it is really important and wants to run the Entire Universe.  But it isn't really that important and the best features can be easily replicated on other platforms.  Or better yet, skipped.