While history shows that it is entirely possible that people will move en mass to another platform, I am also against the government regulation of Twitter and other forms of social media; except in the case of foreign governments interfering in privacy issues. 

Even as a liberal, I hope that the feds remain limited in their control of social media, because I feel that content should not be restricted, and it is up to individuals to be able to interpret real from false information.  In other words, just because some folks are too dumb to not question conspiracy theories, doesn't mean that the federal government should determine their validity.  And, I think it only feeds into the false-flag-fears of conspiracy minded individuals to find reasons to regulate based on ownership or crazed individuals attacking politicians.

One other note - the Fox News/Republican response to the Pelosi break-in is predictably offensive.  One Fox News anchor suggested that the attacker should be out on parole already because that is the standard for a minor break-in, and then there were the false-equivalency idiots who were angry that nobody responded when GOP senators faced legal protests outside of their offices or homes. 

However, the constant portrayal of every current event as being reflective of a divided nation is really what makes me angry.  When Squeaky Fromme tried assassinate the  President, nobody thought that an entire culture of Manson devotees, or even counter-culture enthusiasts, were at fault.  We were evolved enough to know the difference between a mentally disturbed individual and the values of a sub-culture.  It feels like modern media willfully elevates fringe opinions in an effort to create a constant debate, even when one does not naturally exist. 

Edited October 30, 20223 yr by j swift

37 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

This can't go on forever with Musk. Either Twitter will sink into the mire, or he will be bought out by someone.

He's going to lose advertisers and that will make it financial poison. Plus he has ZERO idea what he is getting into. NONE. I still don't believe he ever wanted to buy it anyway.

For all the hotness of the used car market, the one thing that wasn't selling were Tesla's.  As used cars were getting gobbled up by Carmax, Tesla's still sit on their lots.

I do think the GM pulling their ads was partially motivated by Musk, but its going to come. That idiotic stmt he put out yesterday re-assured NO ONE. Maybe it should die.

44 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

This can't go on forever with Musk. Either Twitter will sink into the mire, or he will be bought out by someone.

Isn't it already largely there? 

5 minutes ago, I Am A Swede said:

Isn't it already largely there? 

Pretty much but in all fairness, at least Dorsey(who was not the owner of course) stayed off twitter for the most part. Musk can be accused of a lot when it comes to twitter, giving his companies free advertising for example, but lets not fool ourselves into believing he had good intentions here and knows what he just bought. I don't think he has a clue.

Narratives are already driven by the extremes but it's funny I didn't see any response to the question from LeBron James on why the N word was flowing so haphazardly the last couple of days. I think we know why. Advertisers definitely are not going to want to be associated with that and if it becomes a right wing tool anyway it will go the way of Trumps idiotic media site and the others out there that are dying. Fact is these people only want to be on sites where they can anonymously harass and taunt people.

The only thing I might agree with that Musk said is that anyone who uses it should be able to post their own name and be verified. No troll accounts. But that's not going to happen either.

Edited October 30, 20223 yr by JaneAusten

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Edited October 30, 20223 yr by victoria foxton

11 minutes ago, JaneAusten said:

He's going to lose advertisers and that will make it financial poison. Plus he has ZERO idea what he is getting into. NONE. I still don't believe he ever wanted to buy it anyway.

For all the hotness of the used car market, the one thing that wasn't selling were Tesla's.  As used cars were getting gobbled up by Carmax, Tesla's still sit on their lots.

I do think the GM pulling their ads was partially motivated by Musk, but its going to come. That idiotic stmt he put out yesterday re-assured NO ONE. Maybe it should die.

Oh he was definitely forced into, it was either follow through with the deal or twitter sues the pants off him and he clearly didn't want to go to court cause he knew he'd lose

 

I give it 6 months and he will be begging someone to buy him out 

21 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Twitter fading out would be for the best, imo.
The only value it has for me these days is the search bar, where I can find gifted articles that break through the paywall. Thankfully I can do that without logging in, especially since I have already deactivated my account (after archiving all my tweets six months ago). 
The coup de grace would be Musk losing a huge chunk of money from the implosion of the platform. It would be the best thing that could happen at this point.

I love twitter cause it's easy to post and the hashtags make it easy to search. It just needs to be controlled by people who want it to continue on

I plan to still use Twitter as a source for breaking news, but the minute that he tries to repress responses like this one, I'm out.

4 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

Oh he was definitely forced into, it was either follow through with the deal or twitter sues the pants off him and he clearly didn't want to go to court cause he knew he'd lose

 

I give it 6 months and he will be begging someone to buy him out 

I love twitter cause it's easy to post and the hashtags make it easy to search. It just needs to be controlled by people who want it to continue on

Musk never had any intention of buying it. And frankly I have no idea what people see in him. He's an insecure blowhard and attention whore. None of those cultists who follow him on twitter and may feed his ego can afford anything he makes.

When I hear people calling him a visionary and such I scratch my head. Why he's considered a leader I have no clue. You can criticize the tech "geniuses" of the past, and Steve Jobs for example was also a *hitty human being in many ways, but he did know when to keep his mouth shut. Bill Gates who I have heard people compare Musk to(don't make me laugh) was not the technical visionary Jobs was but he was a marketing genius and knew how to make his products marketable and sell. Yeah he stole components from IBM OS/2 and the Mac graphical interface to develop DOS and WIndows, but he also understood how to make his product a household name and put it in every household and business. Musk has none of the positive qualities that made Jobs such a genius and visionary and businessman and Gates what he became.

If all of us are lucky, Twitter will be Musk's ultimate downfall. He can't keep his big fat mouth shut and craves attention so much, I can easily see it happening.

6 minutes ago, j swift said:

I plan to still use Twitter as a source for breaking news, but the minute that he tries to repress responses like this one, I'm out.

I;ll be interested if his so called "free speech" platform includes China where twitter is censored. My guess is NO since he is relying on them for investment. So much for Mr. Free Speech. I only follow a couple of accounts on twitter nothing more at this point. It's become a garbage heap and Musk will make it worse.

59 minutes ago, JaneAusten said:

Musk never had any intention of buying it. And frankly I have no idea what people see in him. He's an insecure blowhard and attention whore. None of those cultists who follow him on twitter and may feed his ego can afford anything he makes.

When I hear people calling him a visionary and such I scratch my head. Why he's considered a leader I have no clue. You can criticize the tech "geniuses" of the past, and Steve Jobs for example was also a *hitty human being in many ways, but he did know when to keep his mouth shut. Bill Gates who I have heard people compare Musk to(don't make me laugh) was not the technical visionary Jobs was but he was a marketing genius and knew how to make his products marketable and sell. Yeah he stole components from IBM OS/2 and the Mac graphical interface to develop DOS and WIndows, but he also understood how to make his product a household name and put it in every household and business. Musk has none of the positive qualities that made Jobs such a genius and visionary and businessman and Gates what he became.

If all of us are lucky, Twitter will be Musk's ultimate downfall. He can't keep his big fat mouth shut and craves attention so much, I can easily see it happening.

I;ll be interested if his so called "free speech" platform includes China where twitter is censored. My guess is NO since he is relying on them for investment. So much for Mr. Free Speech. I only follow a couple of accounts on twitter nothing more at this point. It's become a garbage heap and Musk will make it worse.

Musk co-opts others ideas and hard work and then buys them out. Genius, he is not.

Jobs, at least knew how to engineer the thing that he became wealthy for selling. Somehow, Musk comes across as someone who may know very little about build a vehicle.

Or a rocket, for that matter.

1 hour ago, dragonflies said:

Oh he was definitely forced into, it was either follow through with the deal or twitter sues the pants off him and he clearly didn't want to go to court cause he knew he'd lose

 

I give it 6 months and he will be begging someone to buy him out 

I love twitter cause it's easy to post and the hashtags make it easy to search. It just needs to be controlled by people who want it to continue on

I say, build a replica and call it a day. MySpace was once considered a “must” too, at one time.

 

4 hours ago, DRW50 said:

 

I have said this all along but I get skepticism in my circle of friends. not that anyone likes him. I think some are finally catching on. He's a stupid douchebag. I don't think he has any master plan. He's in way over his head. Jack Dorsey is probably salivating at this point.

Probably one of the best articles I have read about Twitter and Musk's acquisition. I see nothing fradulant here.

Elon Musk bought Twitter. Then the hangover set in. | Mashable

 

And I hate to agree with Nate Silver because he can be a giant troll himself, but he's right.

 

I still have my Twitter account. But I have made a backup account on Counter Social. Seems other Twitter refugees have followed. Takes a bit getting used to, but at its core, it is a lot like Twitter without the toxicity.

(Since there is no word when the BlueSky deal with Jack Dorsey will be ready.)

1 hour ago, Wendy said:

I still have my Twitter account. But I have made a backup account on Counter Social. Seems other Twitter refugees have followed. Takes a bit getting used to, but at its core, it is a lot like Twitter without the toxicity.

(Since there is no word when the BlueSky deal with Jack Dorsey will be ready.)

I registered on Counter Social. Very twitter like yep. I am just checking to see if any of the accounts I follow have also moved over. 

You can register if you want to to be part of the Bluesky test group.  It's not close to being ready for prime time

3 hours ago, JaneAusten said:

You can register if you want to to be part of the Bluesky test group.  It's not close to being ready for prime time

Yep, did that! But I think it's going to be a while, so it's good to have another alternative. I did see a Meidas account on Counter Social and saw some others claiming to have migrated but forget the usernames. (Did see Kelly Carlin, George Carlin's daughter, though.)