"the bird is freed" Elon Musk and Twitter

ozhunter on 29/10/2022 - 07:08
Last edited 29/10/2022 - 12:35 by 1 other user

Elon Musk has seemingly been undecisive on whether he is wants to buy Twitter, but it now looks like that dilemma is over.
To avoid a trial, a judge ruled that Elon Musk had until October 28 to close his acquisition of Twitter. He has done so and is now the Chief Twit. He explains why he bought Twitter

Basically he says he wants to help humanity but doesn't want Twitter to be a "free-for-all hellscape" I guess there's Gab for that šŸ˜‚

I wonder if this part of the reason why Paypal will start charging users(at least in the US) a USD $2,500 fee per violation of its Acceptable Use Policy which includes misinformation?

No account reinstatements yet, but is there any account that OzBargainers are looking forward to be reinstated?

Title is a quote from the Chief Twit's twitter.

Poll: Is Elon Musk buying Twitter good for society?

Poll Options

  • 267
    Yes
  • 554
    No
  • 70
    Unsure
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Comments

  • quanticism on 30/10/2022 - 22:30
    +1

    I'm curious how he'll change the platform.

    Providing transparency over how algorithms work and when something is manually suppressed/boosted/shadow banned is a step in the right direction. Allowing users to filter out anonymous (non verified) accounts will likely improve the quality of conversation. Coming up with other monetization methods to support content creators would help lessen Twitter's reliance on advertisers and therefore their influence over the platform.

    Twitter's rate of innovation has been abysmal so keen to see how things change now that they're under Elon's control.

    • trapper on 30/10/2022 - 22:55
      +1

      suppressed/boosted/shadow banned

      I hope and think he will remove all of these things completely.

      • [Deactivated] on 31/10/2022 - 04:39
        -2

        I doubt they existed in the first place. The algorithm just shows people things they respond to, but some people respond more to things theyā€™re angry about, so the algorithm showed them only things they hate, leading them to believe the things they liked were shadow banned. Instead they were also being shown to people that hated them.

  • nobro25 on 31/10/2022 - 00:40
    +3

    THE BIRD IS THE WORD.

  • shaybisc on 31/10/2022 - 09:33

    Roger Stone, a longtime political consigliere to former president Donald Trump, took to the fast-growing messaging app Telegram to call the assault on House Speaker Nancy Pelosiā€™s husband an ā€œalleged attack,ā€ telling his followers that a ā€œstenchā€ surrounded mainstream reporting about the Friday break-in that left Pelosi, 82, with a skull fracture.

    The skepticism didnā€™t stay in right-wing echo chambers but seeped also into the feeds of popular online personalities, including Twitterā€™s new owner, Elon Musk.

    ā€œThere is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye,ā€ he wrote Sunday morning, pointing his 112 million followers to a sensationalist account of the episode published by a site known for spreading right-wing misinformation.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/30/paul-peloā€¦

  • CommuterPolluter on 31/10/2022 - 11:12

    Elon Musk is an agent of the US Federal Government. They just want to keep Twitter chugging along under somebody they control.

  • gmatht on 31/10/2022 - 13:53
    +1

    If only Instagram would allow me the freedom to not speak. I took a break for a year. Apparently this is a breach of their community standards and I have been permanently banned.

  • Deals For Days on 31/10/2022 - 15:20
    +3

    Genius musk is already reposting conspiracy theories about the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband, in a now-deleted Tweet reply to Hillary Clinton: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/elon-musk-new-owner-twiā€¦

    Seriously, regardless of his politics, for a 'genius' he certainly has poor reading comprehension skills.

  • CrowReally on 31/10/2022 - 16:38
    +1

    Interesting read: "Heavy use" accounts (logs in daily, posts at least 4-5 times in a week) are less than 10% of Twitter users…. but make up 90% of all Tweets. And 50% of ad revenue.

    Imagine a subtle shift in that sub-10% tastes ("eh, I'd rather TikTok or NextBigThing") and what that would mean for the platform.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-where-did-tweetā€¦

    Elon bought a bird alright, only it's a turkey. Thank heavens Thanksgiving is almost here.

  • pogichinoy on 01/11/2022 - 02:28
    -2

    The fact that Lefties are the loudest negative wise about this speaks volumes.

    • DingoBilly on 01/11/2022 - 10:14
      +3

      Oh? Do share your enlightened viewpoint.

      • ihfree on 01/11/2022 - 14:50
        +4

        Probably a Sky News viewer.

        They can parrot "lefties" but there isn't much underneath. They can barely understand or repeat the contradictory arguments made by their favourite commentator.

        • pogichinoy on 01/11/2022 - 17:01
          -2

          LOL love all the ASSumptions. Y'know what they say about those who make ASSumptions?

          Do better.

          • ihfree on 01/11/2022 - 17:25
            +2

            @pogichinoy:

            Y'know what they say about those who make ASSumptions?

            Ass out of U and me.

            Though, if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

      • pogichinoy on 01/11/2022 - 16:59

        If you view Twitter trending analytics of the tag elonmusk, you will find predominate tweets are negative and from those that swing Left.

        Heres a hint:

        https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ELONMUSK&src=trend_click&verā€¦

        • ihfree on 01/11/2022 - 17:14
          +6

          Give us your full interpretation. Why do you guys always allude to something but never give the full picture?

        • [Deactivated] on 01/11/2022 - 20:30
          -1

          Most of them seem to be crypto scams, and most of the rest positive from the right…. Twitter shows you what you don't like. That's what the algorithm does. It does not show everyone the same thing, even in search. That's why everyone, right and left hates Twitter and who's on it.

          • Gervais fanboy on 01/11/2022 - 20:32
            -2

            @[Deactivated]: But good thing the ā€˜dislikeā€™ button still works, you must love it donā€™t ya ?

            • [Deactivated] on 01/11/2022 - 20:38
              -1

              @Gervais fanboy: I haven't ever used the dislike button (I'm not sure it even exists consistently), I have had several people banned in the last two days though? Does that count? Or I suppose, Musk had them banned for me….. Mostly because the sort of horrific shit would definitely had advertisers leave in droves, so I helped Musk out.

  • suchan on 01/11/2022 - 17:03
    -3

    I'd like Donald Trump's twitter to be reinstated

    • ihfree on 01/11/2022 - 17:30
      +4

      Get on the Donald Trump social media. It's all you can eat Donald. I hear without the "lefties" there's no conflict and users get bored of the constant circle jerk.

      • Gervais fanboy on 01/11/2022 - 19:22
        -6

        If ā€˜leftiesā€™ werenā€™t this brittle and actually up for a debate, none of this cr@p would have ever happenedā€¦

        • ihfree on 01/11/2022 - 20:00
          +2

          Fake news.

          The "right" or a subsection of them are just as fragile.

          The most problematic are the ones with extreme views who spread misinformation and claim foul when they are downvoted or misinformation is removed(yes, yes there are problems with media, corps, government, etc - so this is a simplification).

          If you look at the actions of the last conservative government, they did their best to limit various freedoms:

          • "Bullying" legislation with the whole "think of the children" angle
          • Raids on media
          • Defamation cases
          • Gervais fanboy on 01/11/2022 - 20:42
            -1

            @ihfree:

            The "right" or a subsection of them are just as fragile.

            They are definitely fragile and a lot more and in some sense, guilty of giving birth of the left that we have today.
            It was the left that first fought and introduced free speech absolutism to the rest of us, it was left showed us how to debate matters that might be triggering for everyone else.., gay rights etc etc
            All we have now, are the two sides going polar opposites on the issues they once used to stand for (on most issues).

            Iā€™m not justifying the todayā€™s left by blaming the right from the past but itā€™s important that everyone knows our socio-political history.

            Also, the right might be fragile but itā€™s not petitioning for the left to be de platformed or silenced. Right would rather fight for the Leftā€™s first amendment rights.
            So you saying ā€˜they are just as fragileā€™ is false equivalence.

            If you look at the actions of the last conservative government,
            Bullying" legislation with the whole "think of the children" angle
            Raids on media

            It seems like you are talking about the current Biden regime

            Did trump do that too ?

            • ihfree on 01/11/2022 - 21:11

              @Gervais fanboy: Left and right have always been gross simplifications which are used to divide society. In the way they are used now, I think they have further lost meaning. When you look at places and people who are obsessed with terms like "leftie" they often fail to see complexity in issues or have a transparent corporate agenda.

              Even the frequent dismissals of simple and normal everyday points of view with off the scale smug attitude by "enlightened" right wingers here are problematic.

              It seems like you are talking about the current Biden regime

              Australia. I don't get the obsession that so many Australian's have with America.

              Bullying" legislation with the whole "think of the children" angle

              https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/unmask-these-trolls-fedeā€¦

              Raids on media

              https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-06/scott-morrison-questiā€¦

              Defamation cases

              https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/services/access-to-files-and-traā€¦
              https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/peter-duttons-defamationā€¦
              https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-14/nine-apologises-to-anā€¦

              • Gervais fanboy on 02/11/2022 - 08:58
                -2

                @ihfree:

                Left and right have always been gross simplifications which are used to divide society. In the way they are used now, I think they have further lost meaning. When you look at places and people who are obsessed with terms like "leftie" they often fail to see complexity in issues or have a transparent corporate agenda.

                Thatā€™s such a good pointā€¦
                Btw I am guilty of doing the same thing too but personally I like most people use the term ā€˜leftieā€™ to refer to a special kind of individual or ideological groups rather than half of our total populationā€¦

                I don't get the obsession that so many Australian's have with America.

                lol mate, itā€™s about sticking to the topic.
                This entire post, the comment that I replied to are all about Trump/USA, so naturally I assumed that you were talking about them.

                Btw, thanks for the hyperlinks, very informative.

  • Exec-Matrix on 01/11/2022 - 22:21
    -1

    Not a fan or a hater of Musk, however if it means free speech then fine with it.

    • SBOB on 02/11/2022 - 06:12
      +1

      Considering twitter is not a government, then it's not going to have any impact on 'free speech '

      If you mean less moderation, then that's possible.
      If you mean no moderation, then you won't be 'fine with it'.

      • trapper on 02/11/2022 - 10:54

        Considering twitter is not a government, then it's not going to have any impact on 'free speech '

        Private companies can absolutely have an impact on free speech - as we have seen at twitter with people being banned for all kinds of speech.

        • SBOB on 02/11/2022 - 12:45

          Private companies absolutely can have an impact on the content/speech they wish to host. (That also won't change ever as regardless of the social media or content hosting platform, they all have some level of content moderation.)

          They do not have an impact on 'free speech'

          • trapper on 02/11/2022 - 15:08
            +1

            @SBOB: You're being pedantic now.

            The topic under discussion is free speech on Twitter.

            • SBOB on 02/11/2022 - 15:56

              @trapper: then that will never exist if you deem 'free' as un-fettered, un-moderated , un-restricted "speech"(tweets)
              Doesnt exist on any wide spread social media platform, and never will.
              The vast reason social media companies have any deemed 'value' is due to their ability to perform, and quality of, content moderation.

              • trapper on 02/11/2022 - 16:51

                @SBOB: The idea is to have speech as free as is reasonably possible. Especially regarding honestly held views, political speech etc

                Scams, spam, calls to violence, threats, illegal content, and other things like this will all still get removed.

                Elon will be far more strict on bots than the old Twitter was too, he really hates bots.

                • [Deactivated] on 02/11/2022 - 17:19

                  @trapper: Elon very very much likes bots (shit he runs multiple companies specifically making ā€˜botsā€™. Donā€™t let his paid attempt to wiggle out of the deal fool you.

                  One of his ideas is to verify everyone though, a real human being accountable would cut down spam and moderation requirements. His co investors like that too, what with being associated with murdering people that speak out them. Essentially free speech on the platform, life ending consequences off platform.

                  • trapper on 02/11/2022 - 17:37
                    -2

                    @[Deactivated]:

                    Elon very very much likes bots

                    "If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!" - https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1517215066550116354

                    • [Deactivated] on 02/11/2022 - 17:41

                      @trapper: Like any public figure watch what he does, not what he says. Saying something popular without evidence or a publish way of achieving it isnā€™t proof of anything beyond spin.

                      My money is on die trying. Unless he plans to significantly shrink the platformā€¦. Anonymity and spam bots are basically inseparable, the only way to even (mostly) kill them is verify everyone. Which means everyone sending their IDs to him, something that wonā€™t be popular.

    • ThithLord on 08/11/2022 - 15:05

      How's your Free Speech warrior going at the moment? lmao, banning and suspending people LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTRE (for lack of a better phrase).

      You've been had.

        • ThithLord on 08/11/2022 - 17:57

          So lemme get this str8 - Elon bought Twitter because Twitter was enforcing it's policies as they saw fit (Elon says = unfair) but once he's bought Twitter, he's using their policy to enforce bans directly in contravenous of his free-speech ethos and his comedy is legal now tweet? Righto

          • brendanm on 08/11/2022 - 17:58

            @ThithLord: It's literally a direct violation of the twitter tos. The grey, beige, off white area. Nothing to interpret, it's literally a straight violation.

          • Gervais fanboy on 08/11/2022 - 18:02

            @ThithLord:

            but once he's bought Twitter, he's using their policy to enforce bans directly in contravenous of his free-speech ethos

            Why donā€™t you ever cite a few examples of those unfair bannings ??

            Because I can cite you plenty from the old regime..

            • ThithLord on 08/11/2022 - 20:48
              -1

              @Gervais fanboy: Sure, bud Mr Radcliffe literally suspended for his parody of Weird Al

              • Gervais fanboy on 08/11/2022 - 21:04
                -1

                @ThithLord: Hi bud
                You are the perfect personification of todayā€™s woke mob.
                Zero understanding of the facts and yet 100% sure of yourself. šŸ‘šŸ‘šŸ¤¦šŸ»ā€ā™‚ļø

                Daniel Radcliffe doesnā€™t even use social media and wasnā€™t banned by Musk
                https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/weird-aā€¦
                https://exclaim.ca/film/article/daniel_radcliffe_has_been_suā€¦

                You wrote up a comment about people being banned and this is the example you gave me, a tweet ???? Your whole opinion was based on that drivel ?
                All you do is lie and dislike comments that call you out on them. (Basing it on the countless interactions I have had with you in the past)

                • ThithLord on 09/11/2022 - 09:24
                  -1

                  @Gervais fanboy: Maaaan, you're mad

                  • Gervais fanboy on 09/11/2022 - 16:24
                    -1

                    @ThithLord: You get called out and now you are gonna talk like some dopey Gen Z kid..

                    So much for accountabilityā€¦ you lot donā€™t care about discussions about facts.

                    • ThithLord on 10/11/2022 - 09:33

                      @Gervais fanboy: Mate. Could you be any more of a snowflake?

                      • Gervais fanboy on 10/11/2022 - 09:47

                        @ThithLord: And how do I do that
                        Maybe take a lesson from your book and just straight up start lying about stuff ?

                        • ThithLord on 10/11/2022 - 10:56

                          @Gervais fanboy:

                          Maybe take a lesson from your book and just straight up start lying about stuff ?

                          Okay, I'll start:

                          Free-speech warriors are not massive babies

              • SBOB on 09/11/2022 - 07:16

                @ThithLord:

                Sure, bud(twitter.com) Mr Radcliffe literally suspended for his parody of Weird Al

                well, at least Weird Al's marketing is working…and as usual, misinformation spreads 100x faster than 'fact' :)
                The movie wasnt that bad either ;)

                • Gervais fanboy on 09/11/2022 - 07:34

                  @SBOB:

                  well, at least Weird Al's marketing is working

                  So you talk to your mate like he always in on it and he didnā€™t just talk absolute drivel in that commentā€¦ Wow

                  Also, you saw his comment way before you responded to me last night, why reply to your ā€˜cronyā€™ now.
                  You waited for me to call you out, so you can now play this pretend gameā€¦You are unbelievable.

                  • SBOB on 09/11/2022 - 09:11
                    +1

                    @Gervais fanboy:

                    So you talk to your mate like he always in on it

                    you mean where i mentioned misinformation?

                    I'm all for Elon cancelling non well-indicated parody accounts

                    If twitter wants to be the free open town square of the internet, it should be truthful and reliable. If your soap box doesnt clearly say "I'm not really this person" then that trustworthy-ness of the platform, and resulting easily fooled audience that eats it up will be less informed.
                    That does require moderation and censorship though

                    • Gervais fanboy on 09/11/2022 - 16:57
                      -1

                      @SBOB:

                      you mean where i mentioned misinformation?

                      Ohh right, that off the cuff remark at the end next to the emojis after high fiving your mate about how ā€˜Weird Als marketing plan is workingā€™
                      Because thatā€™s the real takeaway here ?

                      Also, unlike that cop out response you left to digress, this misinformation didnā€™t spread all all..
                      There were only a few dummies on the internet that fell for itā€¦ even when he shared that brain dead tweet with me. It took me a second to figure it all out. As there wasnā€™t even any serious coverage on it.

            • SBOB on 08/11/2022 - 21:57

              @Gervais fanboy:

              Because I can cite you plenty from the old regime..

              I assume they were unfair because they were banned without breaching any of the twitter t's and c's ?
              https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/

              • Gervais fanboy on 08/11/2022 - 23:23
                -1

                @SBOB:

                unfair because they were banned without breaching any of the twitter t's and c's ?

                https://nypost.com/2020/09/16/twitter-suspends-virologist-whā€¦

                Scientist that said something thatā€™s now known to be a factā€¦got initially suspended and then permanently banned for saying the truth.
                Thereā€™s thousands of similar instances.
                It was a coordinated effort from the establishment to suppress people questioning the origins of Covid and the involvement of China behind it by falsely labelling people as xenophobic and crazy etc etc
                Something thatā€™s happening to this day. There has been no impartial investigation of that Wuhan Lab or any meaningful sanctions on China..

                But you and your ā€˜croniesā€™ are more concerned about Musk owning Twitter now, the real reason - He publicly expressed that heā€™s now gonna vote Republican, allow Trump back etc

                I say ā€˜croniesā€™ again
                Because you in typical typical fashion jumped on what I said but this guy here (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/12916488/redir) has lied about something, for the 100th time on this site and youā€™d rather come at me with your nonsense questions.

                • SBOB on 09/11/2022 - 06:50

                  @Gervais fanboy:

                  thatā€™s now known to be a factā€¦

                  You spelt theory wrong.

                  There has been no impartial investigation

                  But I thought you said it was a fact :/

                  Would seem that kind of post went against their policy and her account was suspended

                  https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/medical-misinā€¦

                  So, I assume it wasn't therefore 'unfair', just like suspending those who hurt Elons feelings by changing their twitter name to Elon Musk weren't.
                  Just Elon enforcing the existing twitter moderation rules, and not 'freeing the bird's and reducing moderation or opening up 'free speech ' on twitter like previously hoped for.
                  I'm glad we both agree that twitter is behaving the same as it was pre Elon 'freeing'.

                  more concerned about Musk owning Twitter now, the real reason - He publicly expressed that heā€™s now gonna vote Republican,

                  Ha, quality self admission about why you love musk more than why others might point out inconsistencies or issues with his actions.

                  • Gervais fanboy on 09/11/2022 - 07:27
                    -3

                    @SBOB: Thereā€™s a handful of virology labs that actively work on mutating animal viruses and one of them just happened to be in Wuhan, that was ā€˜coincidentallyā€™ experimenting on Bats..
                    But sure, letā€™s call it a ā€˜theoryā€™
                    Iā€™ll gladly retract.

                    Would seem that kind of post went against their policy and her account was suspended
                    https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/medical-misinā€¦

                    Firstly, how is a ā€˜theoryā€™ harmful ?
                    What happened to ā€˜trust the scienceā€™
                    Or you mean ā€˜trust the partisan scienceā€™, maybe thatā€™s more your speed ???

                    Secondly, they called it misinformation only for them to back peddle a year later and claim that yes itā€™s highly likely that the virus came from the lab.
                    So how was that scientistā€™s tweets misinformation/disinformation ?

                    I assume it wasn't therefore 'unfair

                    Assume ??
                    You can assume or grow a spine, your choice.

                    just like suspending those who hurt Elons feelings by changing their twitter name to Elon Musk

                    Wow, thatā€™s your takeaway from it ??
                    So a commercial platform thatā€™s always been ravaged with scammers and bots impersonating credible influencers to scam the ordinary people isnā€™t a reason good enoughā€¦
                    You think it was about his ā€˜feelingsā€™ ?
                    Impersonating someoneā€™s identity isnā€™t a problem for you ?

                    If it was about his feelings like it is with libs, he wouldnā€™t allow ā€˜parodyā€™ accounts to openly impersonate and troll himā€¦
                    A typical lib would have shut everyone down and flagged them as ā€˜harassment and bullyingā€™
                    He didnā€™t pull that card for himself, did he ?
                    You know for a fact that any other authoritarian lib would have suspended everyone, he allows people to openly mock and scrutinise him.

                    quality self admission about why you love musk more than why others might point out inconsistencies or issues with his actions.

                    Right, spring it back at meā€¦ GG

                    I donā€™t love him, unlike your partisan ways where you weasel out of some tough situations.
                    I am sceptical of everyone.
                    Heā€™s a possible anti humanist with his Neuralink chips, Iā€™m highly concerned of how thatā€™s gonna affect our society.

                    Anyways,
                    You wrote all that nonsense and deliberately dodged this bit -

                    I say ā€˜croniesā€™ again
                    Because you in typical typical fashion jumped on what I said but this guy here (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/12916488/redir) has lied about something, for the 100th time on this site and youā€™d rather come at me with your nonsense questions.

                    Why donā€™t you just admit it, that you are a sheep and you stay true to your herd and Iā€™ll stop bringing it up.

                    • SBOB on 09/11/2022 - 09:29

                      @Gervais fanboy:

                      Thereā€™s a……bringing it up.

                      shrug
                      at least we both agree that twitter has and is still following its guidelines.

                      The rest of your covid and associated post ranting isn't in line with the question/comment i made, and isn't worth engaging with.
                      Only responding so you don't later reference back to a post where I ignored you but responded to someone else and you felt left out.

                      Feel free to continue being our shepherd

                      • Gervais fanboy on 09/11/2022 - 17:03

                        @SBOB:

                        least we both agree that twitter has and is still following its guidelines.

                        No they didnā€™t

                        What happened to ā€˜trust the scienceā€™
                        Or you mean ā€˜trust the partisan scienceā€™, maybe thatā€™s more your speed ???
                        Secondly, they called it misinformation only for them to back peddle a year later and claim that yes itā€™s highly likely that the virus came from the lab.
                        So how was that scientistā€™s tweets misinformation/disinformation ?

                        So you are just ignore all of this and regurgitate your same drivel ??

                        Only responding so you don't later reference back to a post where I ignored you but responded to someone else and you felt left out.

                        Na mate, you still bloody did that, I explained to you about the instance above ^^ how Twitter wrongfully terminated some accountsā€¦

                        You didnā€™t only ignore that.

                        Your follow up about Elon terminating accounts despite his assurances on free speech and how he is a hypocrite for doing thatā€¦
                        I explained that to you as well, you know the difference between free speech and impersonating other users on Twitterā€¦ you have nothing to say now. But the way you are built, you canā€™t for the life of you back track or even acknowledge that bit.
                        Youā€™ll just keep repeating that same pack of lies in your future comments as you have alreadyā€¦

                  • trapper on 09/11/2022 - 12:32
                    +1

                    @SBOB:

                    Just Elon enforcing the existing twitter moderation rules, and not 'freeing the bird's and reducing moderation or opening up 'free speech ' on twitter like previously hoped for.

                    'Freeing the bird' means that you are now allowed to have opinions that disagree with the narrative.

                    It doesn't mean you get to impersonate people…

          • ozhunter on 08/11/2022 - 19:06

            @ThithLord:

            he's using their policy to enforce bans directly in contravenous of his free-speech ethos and his comedy is legal now tweet? Righto

            Lol at thinking he disagrees with every single policy Twitter had šŸ¤¦ā€ā™‚ļø

          • trapper on 09/11/2022 - 12:22
            -1

            @ThithLord:

            he's using their policy to enforce bans directly in contravenous of his free-speech ethos

            Elon's 'free-speech ethos' is nothing like the bizarre no-rules abuse zone some of you were fantasising about last week in a panic.

            His vision is a free and fair apolitical 'town square' for honest and open discussion.

            Abuse, scams, fraud, bots, harassment, illegal content, etc are not and were never a part of this vision.

            Is it starting to make sense now? Maybe Elon's not so bad after all.

  • RolandWaites on 02/11/2022 - 11:31
    +1

    Elon Musk had six months to come up with ideas of how to improve Twitter. It seems like he wasted all that time, only to workshop a basic "Hmm let's make people pay for a blue tick" plan over the past few days.

    This doesn't strike me as the mark of a genius businessman.

    • Scythic on 06/11/2022 - 20:21

      You missed the whole point of that blue tick

      • RolandWaites on 06/11/2022 - 20:28

        Why do you say that?

        • Scythic on 06/11/2022 - 20:45

          The blue tick payment plan is a political stunt
          https://twitter.com/DavidSacks/status/1588025594897346560?t=ā€¦

          Musk already made a difference. You haven't seen the change in Twitter, look up how the Whitehouse got fact checked and shamelessly deleted their own tweet

          • RolandWaites on 06/11/2022 - 22:01

            @Scythic: Making the ticks available to everybody undermines their purpose entirely. They exist so you know that public personality you're reading comments from is actually the person responsible for them. Musk and his adoring supporters have convinced themselves it's an "us verses them" situation. Elites with blue ticks verses normies without. Musk (and by association his supporters who advocate for his position) is trying to convince people they deserve — they have a right — to the blue tick themselves.

            But tell me this: If Musk wants to eliminate the elite culture of some Twitter communities, don't you think the more effective way to do that would be to eliminate the blue ticks entirely? Making the ticks available to those who are willing to pay for it is the half-answer. Conveniently, though, it is a way for somebody to make a whole lot of money off a lot of gullible people who think their lives or society will somehow be better off with this change.

            • ozhunter on 06/11/2022 - 22:44

              @RolandWaites:

              to convince people they deserve ā€” they have a right ā€” to the blue tick themselves.

              Why don't they?

              • RolandWaites on 06/11/2022 - 23:05

                @ozhunter: They do now, ever since Musk said they can buy one for $8 a month. I suppose the critique is that Musk and his social media enablers are implying this is a right that has been denied them up until now, and to not embrace the liberation of the blue tick is a symptom of elitism.

                Overall I don't care for the emotional element of the argument (which is the bedrock of the movement). I just don't like that Musk, like a snake oil salesmen, is using his immense influence to encourage people to buy his product despite it having virtually no value. He's created an elites-verses-normies narrative to promote his product and all it's achieving is creating more division. I think it will be bad for Twitter (a website that was already on the decline) and bad for business. Not that I care one way or the other if (it's not really an if though is it) Musk's Twitter project fails, but one can't help be frustrated by watching somebody make such obvious and destructive missteps.

                Edit: Also, like I've said above, I think the moralistic argument he has been presenting to support his position is flawed at best, corrupt at worst.

                • ozhunter on 06/11/2022 - 23:44

                  @RolandWaites:

                  They do now, ever since Musk said they can buy one for $8 a month

                  Yea, and what's wrong with that? All the blue tick is

                  The blue Verified badge on Twitter lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic. To receive the blue badge, your account must be authentic, notable, and active.

                  https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/about-twitā€¦

                  So instead of it being for people who Twitter deem notable or of public interest, it's available to everyone. Weird that you are so against it. Doubt many people would get it just to be authenticated; they'd get it for the extra benefits, like you get with Youtube Premium and Twitch Turbo.

                  • RolandWaites on 06/11/2022 - 23:48

                    @ozhunter: I'm not against it. But if Musk wants to eliminate the lords and peasants system (as he put it himself), then the best way for him to do that is to eliminate the blue tick altogether. Anything less than that and he's only seeking to profit from a false narrative he wrote himself.

                    Honestly I don't think there's a very large percentage of people who have the blue ticks who care about other people getting them. The main thrust of the opposition seems to be challenging attempts to trick people into thinking it's worth paying for.

                    • ozhunter on 06/11/2022 - 23:57

                      @RolandWaites:

                      then the best way for him to do that is to eliminate the blue tick altogether

                      that's one option, but the other option of letting anyone pay makes them money. He says some of it will be used to fund creators which could draw in more creators and get them more users and views.

                  • SBOB on 07/11/2022 - 06:16
                    -1

                    @ozhunter:

                    All the blue tick is

                    That's not accurate.
                    Elon has said, as part of paying those users will also have "Priority in replies, mentions, and search"

                    Paying users are now more prominent and their 'voices' weighted higher than non paying users.

                    This is not like twitter blue subs before which were just end user benefits like ad removal and tweet undo buttons

                    • ozhunter on 07/11/2022 - 12:49

                      @SBOB: Was talking in context to what it is right now, and just the ability having of the blue tick. It was only being given out to certain people while Roland was trying to convince us we were all the same while criticizing Elon for the "us vs them" narrative.

                      It's still called Twitter Blue just with some changes, and yes including priority ranking in search, replies, and mentions.

                      https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/twitter-begins-rolling-7-9ā€¦

  • ozhunter on 02/11/2022 - 15:10

    Unofficially announced on Elon Musk's Twitter
    Blue checkmark for USD $8/month

    It includes

    • Priority in replies, mentions & search, which is essential to defeat spam/scam
    • Ability to post long video & audio
    • Half as many ads
    • And paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with Twitter

    This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators

    • harshbdmmaster718 on 02/11/2022 - 16:01

      "Blue checkmark for USD $8/month

      It includes"

      What about free speech is that included?

      If I create an account, pay for premium and start posting misogynistic and antisemitic transphobic homophobic memes will I still get censored?
      As in everybody will actually see the posts and they are not just visible to me?

      • SBOB on 02/11/2022 - 16:35
        +1

        of course not
        But if you would like to start your own social media platform, no one would stop you

      • [Deactivated] on 02/11/2022 - 17:08

        Thereā€™s no such thing as ā€˜everybody seesā€™ the algorithm is optimized for what users respond to, if they follow and never respond at all, it puts it at the end of their feed unless you explicitly go looking. Same as any platform. Itā€™s not made to show you things you agree with unless you donā€™t just read but interact.

        Ultimately they may decide to boost people who are verified who say horrific things, because theyā€™re probably making enough money from them. But if you arenā€™t verified and instead theyā€™re relying on advertising against your content thereā€™s a huge disincentive to show your content if itā€™s not advertising friendly.

        One can also argue that a verified user is taking responsibility for the content rather than the platform owner who defacto bears responsibility for anonymous accounts.

        Ultimately a blue check mark is unlikely to be the sort of thing most people pay for in and of itself (sure some people have egos) it mostly benefits others though. More reach for horrific (but legal) shit from verified users probably would actually be a money making idea for Twitter. Ultimately that may kill advertisement on the platform though.
        So if itā€™s a net positive financially remains to be seen.

        Video is expensive AF to host, ultimately it depends on quality and what ā€˜longā€™ means. But itā€™s trivial for people to cost more than they pay once theyā€™re allowed to upload long video.

        • harshbdmmaster718 on 02/11/2022 - 17:21

          "Thereā€™s no such thing as ā€˜everybody seesā€™ the algorithm is optimized for what users respond to, if they follow and never respond at all, it puts it at the end of their feed unless you explicitly go looking. Same as any platform. Itā€™s not made to show you things you agree with unless you donā€™t just read but interact."

          Yup I was just saying as opposed to; what you post being instantly flagged and "hidden" from all users except yourself because it was detected as being too "offensive".

          "Ultimately a blue check mark is unlikely to be the sort of thing most people pay for in and of itself (sure some people have egos) it mostly benefits others though. More reach for horrific (but legal) shit from verified users probably would actually be a money making idea for Twitter. Ultimately that may kill advertisement on the platform though."

          Yeah I think it will make money though. There are a lot of people trying to become "trending" and a verified account at least for a short time will be perceived as trustworthy or official. e.g. some content creator could instantly get a blue tick to increase the rate of initial subscribers. I don't know much but from what I know to be successful you need to become trending really early on. Otherwise you should just give up, close the account, choose a new username and try again and market yourself as another new up and coming.

          • [Deactivated] on 02/11/2022 - 17:36

            @harshbdmmaster718: You donā€™t really need to trend early on and making blue checks widespread among people that may
            Just share the same name as someone prominent does somewhat devalue them.

            Ultimately success on the platform both before and after Musk comes down to posting things people want to reply to, retweet, or much much less, actually like.

            The check mark currently benefits users of the platform, not then holder, because it allows users to see which is the ā€˜realā€™ account. Making it paid actually makes it a worse experience for everyone, including non verified users since many wonā€™t pay and thus the already widespread scams will increase. Ultimately the verification should be at most a one time fee, while all the ā€˜benefitsā€™ such as increased reach should be paid. Itā€™s basically ā€˜boostingā€™ same as per Facebook etc.

      • ozhunter on 03/11/2022 - 08:33

        What about free speech is that included?

        That's still free, lol.

        If I create an account, pay for premium and start posting misogynistic and antisemitic transphobic homophobic memes will I still get censored?

        Are we going by your opinion or a reasonable person's opinion? You probably think calling a biological male adult a man is both misogynistic and transphobic šŸ¤£

        Time will tell how free it is, but Elon did say comedy is legal on Twitter https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1586104694421659648?s=20ā€¦

        • harshbdmmaster718 on 03/11/2022 - 16:10
          +1

          " You probably think calling a biological male adult a man is both misogynistic and transphobic šŸ¤£"

          Yeah I get what you mean. These days anything can be offensive and trigger people online lol. Honestly had a bit of a think the other day and tried to imagine what it must be like to be extremely transphobic. I thought imagine if you considered every man or woman you looked at was the opposite sex lol. Like oh that woman was definitely born a man, or that man was definitely a woman last week lol. To the extreme side would you be looking at people in your circle that way even family and having a meltdown and blowing up at them accusing them of lying to you about their gender.

    • MessyG on 02/11/2022 - 18:56

      Free speech for $8/month - good times, nothing to see here, totes for the good of humanity.

  • RolandWaites on 02/11/2022 - 17:34
    +5

    The obvious point is that Twitter's previous owners would definitely have considered something like this and decided it's not going to pay off. Twitter Blue launched earlier this year and flopped, as far as I'm aware. I never heard anything about it after the first day or two.

    The value of the "blue tick" is in its exclusivity. People want it because you can't just buy it. You have to be somebody. Make it available for $9 a month and its value completely drains away.

    Musk isn't a genius. He thinks he's come up with something original, but in all likelihood it's been considered and rejected by people much more knowledgeable than him.

  • Deals For Days on 02/11/2022 - 20:32

    The 'digital town square' is now $8/month to enter! Genius Musk at it again lol

    • SBOB on 02/11/2022 - 21:56
      +1

      It's not free speech….it's $8 speech….

    • Gervais fanboy on 02/11/2022 - 23:30
      -5

      You lot are just something elseā€¦
      I believe that $8/month is for that blue tick status only. You can still be on Twitter and express your opinions for freeā€¦
      Iā€™ll bet you $50 here publicly that you yourself donā€™t have a blue tick next to your Twitter handle, so $8 or not It doesnā€™t affect you but you two will pretend that it does.
      And I find comments from you libs soo soo hypocritical and shallow. We have had years and years of social media censorship, government collusion to suppress the flow of information and yet you lot have always just supported that madness with a generic response like ā€˜ its a private company and they can do whatever they want and that people should just leave rather than complain about them ā€™.
      You not only defended them but actually cheered them on, got off it.
      So why are all of you whinging now ?
      You either stand against all injustices or you stand for noneā€¦ Only disingenuous people are selective with their outrage.

      • Deals For Days on 03/11/2022 - 00:01

        Elon himself has said that the new verification system is to stop the current so-called "lords and peasants" system of verification, where only people of considerable public status get verified. Now, verification is about who can afford $8 USD/month.

        How is that also not a "lords a peasants" system? Someone who doesn't have a lot of disposable income probably can't afford $96 US/$144 AUD annually for a blue tick next to their name on Twitter, whereas someone with money can.

        No idea why you're bringing up censorship and the flow of information, either, which I didn't mention. That's a separate discussion.

        The entire premise of content creators paying for the privilege doesn't make sense; every other platform pays creators. Why? because they provide people reasons to visit the platform. Other than businesses who use Twitter for support and advertising, why should content creators and celebrities pay to use the platform that they bring value to. It doesn't make sense…

        Clearly, it is a private company, and he can do whatever he wants. That's fine - I think people are rightly pointing out that his ideas, for a supposed genius, really aren't very well-thought-out. You can have a separate discussion and politics, free speech etc., but my point is just to say this guy really doesn't seem to know what he's doing after having spent $44B on this platform.

        • Gervais fanboy on 03/11/2022 - 00:27
          -4

          Firstly, I am glad that you got your dislike inā€¦. Atleast you are being your real self here.

          Btw I donā€™t even use Twitter but having to do your research for you isnā€™t quite fun.
          Even before Elon ever showed up, Twitter has been selling their Twitter blue subscription ($5 a month)
          Took me two seconds to find this publication from June 2021 to prove that (https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2021/introduciā€¦)

          So unlike your bogus BS where you are falsely insinuating that heā€™s now suddenly charging people money to be on Twitterā€¦
          When in reality - Elon has only upscaled an already available commercial service from Twitter. If you had some integrity, you would have first researched and disclosed that bit of information.
          And it isnā€™t just about the ā€˜blue tickā€™. The paid version allows you to edit your content, upload larger media files, zero to very few adsā€¦ etc

          Someone who doesn't have a lot of disposable income probably can't afford $96

          Why frame it like that ?
          Why not instead make the more relevant point that even non-celebrities can now have their accounts and merits verified by Twitterā€¦.
          If they donā€™t want to, then they can chose not to. But atleast everyone has the option to do so for a very reasonable fee.. Also, it will cost Twitter extra resources to verify individual resources and provide them with a more premium service (less ads, more media allowance etc)
          So $8/month encompasses all of that.
          Also, why do you assume that people who genuinely want this service canā€™t afford it ?
          Iā€™d argue for the exact oppositeā€¦

          No idea why you're bringing up censorship and the flow of information, either, which I didn't mention. That's a separate discussion.

          I was talking to you and my best mate @Sbob at the same timeā€¦.
          I was using past precedents that have been set here by people like you guys, to make the point that you have zero right to complain about a ā€˜private companyā€™ conducting its business.

          Also mate, arenā€™t you the same fella that slanderously alleged Andrew Tate for being a woman beater and a Rap*** in some previous post ?
          I proved you wrong, with clear supporting evidence and you never even apologised or addressed that. Just left your dislikes and weaseled out.
          Technically, you deserved to be reported and reprimandedā€¦. But lucky for you I am nothing like you.

  • shaybisc on 04/11/2022 - 10:40

    Worldā€™s richest man decides to set $44 billion on fire

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/03/elon-muskā€¦

  • ozhunter on 05/11/2022 - 02:57

    Not looking good for the Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator

    https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1588538640401018880?s=20ā€¦

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