We are now off the edge of the map. Elon Musk has laid off 50% of Twitter’s staff in a move that some call ‘backbreaking.’ Twitter has suffered a “massive drop in revenue” as major advertisers, including GM and Audi, paused their spending on the platform based on Musk’s chaotic leadership
I was on twitter since december of 2008. i had a verified account with 40,000+ followers and friendships that do not exist off twitter. i deactivated for three months starting in april when it was announced that he might take over, and deactivated for good yesterday. i do not expect to be able to have what I had on twitter ever again; i have no idea what i'll do—personally OR professionally—without it. i did know i could no longer stay if i was to have any self respect left at all.
He is in fact breaking labor laws, which I heard is not the first time. Just amplifies your point that embarassment may be the only friction he could possibly face.
I left Twitter Tuesday. Been there since 2009. I think it’s been better for my brain the past few days. Have gone back to chatting with old friends on Facebook. And doing a lot more with Reddit. Was really stoked to get your email to read your note on Substack. Got the app and entered my Gmail to see not only you but all my news letters are here NumLock, Garbage Day, and TKer. I’m stoked to start a new social media journey really. And if we are being honest, as soon as the dweeb bought it, it was over.
I left Twitter last week. Watching Elon scream into his personal Billion Dollar Void has been like watching turds from the Titanic float past from the safe decks of the Carpathia.
I mean, do I think it's FUNNY that he couldn't shut up and Posted his way into a terrible financial decision? Yes
Do I think it's hilarious that he is so terrified of what would come out during discovery (even after "turns out my friends and I are dumb idiots) that he finally went through with it. Yes
Am I concerned that Twitter is going to be yet another right wing free speech social media sites where only ads for gold and Mypillow run? Only concerned with how funny it is going to be
Say what you will about Elon Musk, he is a nerd like me, which is to say stupid, thinks he knows more than he does, makes bad decisions, and thinks he's funny.
To me the funniest part of all this is he and his coterie of Silicon Valley techbro hangers-on really did believe their BS that the real problem with Twitter was the mean old libs and Twitter keeping them from Freeze Speech, not "advertisers don't like having their ads run next to Hitler_Liker's stream of pictures from concentration camps."
Existential terror of realizing our planet’s future is somehow in the hands of grossly spoilt men-children like Musk. I long for the days when we had no insight into the minds of those that shaped our history.
I can't wait for the book that will tell us all the chaos that is going on there. It will be a case study for the ages. If he weren't damaging innocent people and their careers, it would be funny.
I've always said it. Musk is a very good engineer; he is a decent visionary; he is a horrible leader; he is a horrible person.
Geez, whine much? Give it some time. Change is change: never going to make everyone happy. He's just another imperfect guy (like us all) who's made a bit bet. His money, his choice. Get over yourself.
Such a superb article and AND…without boiling invective. The urge to swear and scream while making these lucid points of yours would have entirely eluded me!
Someone will buy the desiccated remains of Twitter for pennies on the dollar and it will continue on. Twitter isn't gonna die. But it may lose much of its relevance. Which may not be a bad thing in the long run. It was too stupid to be this important.
In my country the media has been under gov control for some time so social media is where we get our news especially in times of stress. So I guess I give it more weight than it might deserve. Also I think I prefer Dorsey and institutional investors to Musk but that’s just my personal dislike of Musk.. Trusting in the forces of benign capitalism (advertisers) to counter the far right has historically not worked out well. I worry about it maybe more than I should.
I only had a Twitter account for a short while, noticed it was a waste of time and deleted it. How did verification work in the past? I only read online that some people got "verified" and it was sometimes used capriciously to punish or reward people (e.g. taking away the blue checkmark if someone tweeted something a person at Twitter found objectionable). Now - if what Ed writes is true - all I need is a credit card and I can pretend to be Joe Biden on Twitter?
Also: Is Musk really personally on the hook for the debt? Or is it Twitter who owes it now?
Also kudos to Audi and GM for a clever PR move. Of course you don't advertise on a platform that is owned by a competitor, that would be like MSNBC advertising on Fox News.
Billionaire Brain Damage
Hello readers: download the Substack app if you want to join the "chats" functionality (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/substack-reader/id1581650857). It's fun. But also talk here. Honestly wish they'd combine them.
Is there a silver lining here in that it’s a red hot example of how mega rich narcissists are not going to save us?
I was on twitter since december of 2008. i had a verified account with 40,000+ followers and friendships that do not exist off twitter. i deactivated for three months starting in april when it was announced that he might take over, and deactivated for good yesterday. i do not expect to be able to have what I had on twitter ever again; i have no idea what i'll do—personally OR professionally—without it. i did know i could no longer stay if i was to have any self respect left at all.
He is in fact breaking labor laws, which I heard is not the first time. Just amplifies your point that embarassment may be the only friction he could possibly face.
I love twitter too, and i’ll miss it.
I left Twitter Tuesday. Been there since 2009. I think it’s been better for my brain the past few days. Have gone back to chatting with old friends on Facebook. And doing a lot more with Reddit. Was really stoked to get your email to read your note on Substack. Got the app and entered my Gmail to see not only you but all my news letters are here NumLock, Garbage Day, and TKer. I’m stoked to start a new social media journey really. And if we are being honest, as soon as the dweeb bought it, it was over.
I left Twitter last week. Watching Elon scream into his personal Billion Dollar Void has been like watching turds from the Titanic float past from the safe decks of the Carpathia.
I mean, do I think it's FUNNY that he couldn't shut up and Posted his way into a terrible financial decision? Yes
Do I think it's hilarious that he is so terrified of what would come out during discovery (even after "turns out my friends and I are dumb idiots) that he finally went through with it. Yes
Am I concerned that Twitter is going to be yet another right wing free speech social media sites where only ads for gold and Mypillow run? Only concerned with how funny it is going to be
Say what you will about Elon Musk, he is a nerd like me, which is to say stupid, thinks he knows more than he does, makes bad decisions, and thinks he's funny.
To me the funniest part of all this is he and his coterie of Silicon Valley techbro hangers-on really did believe their BS that the real problem with Twitter was the mean old libs and Twitter keeping them from Freeze Speech, not "advertisers don't like having their ads run next to Hitler_Liker's stream of pictures from concentration camps."
Existential terror of realizing our planet’s future is somehow in the hands of grossly spoilt men-children like Musk. I long for the days when we had no insight into the minds of those that shaped our history.
I can't wait for the book that will tell us all the chaos that is going on there. It will be a case study for the ages. If he weren't damaging innocent people and their careers, it would be funny.
I've always said it. Musk is a very good engineer; he is a decent visionary; he is a horrible leader; he is a horrible person.
Geez, whine much? Give it some time. Change is change: never going to make everyone happy. He's just another imperfect guy (like us all) who's made a bit bet. His money, his choice. Get over yourself.
Such a superb article and AND…without boiling invective. The urge to swear and scream while making these lucid points of yours would have entirely eluded me!
Someone will buy the desiccated remains of Twitter for pennies on the dollar and it will continue on. Twitter isn't gonna die. But it may lose much of its relevance. Which may not be a bad thing in the long run. It was too stupid to be this important.
In my country the media has been under gov control for some time so social media is where we get our news especially in times of stress. So I guess I give it more weight than it might deserve. Also I think I prefer Dorsey and institutional investors to Musk but that’s just my personal dislike of Musk.. Trusting in the forces of benign capitalism (advertisers) to counter the far right has historically not worked out well. I worry about it maybe more than I should.
I only had a Twitter account for a short while, noticed it was a waste of time and deleted it. How did verification work in the past? I only read online that some people got "verified" and it was sometimes used capriciously to punish or reward people (e.g. taking away the blue checkmark if someone tweeted something a person at Twitter found objectionable). Now - if what Ed writes is true - all I need is a credit card and I can pretend to be Joe Biden on Twitter?
Also: Is Musk really personally on the hook for the debt? Or is it Twitter who owes it now?
Also kudos to Audi and GM for a clever PR move. Of course you don't advertise on a platform that is owned by a competitor, that would be like MSNBC advertising on Fox News.
I love twitter so much. I am in mourning already for the void it will create in my life.