Elon Musk May Have Just Signed X’s Death Warrant | WIRED (www.wired.com)
from Albinjose7345@lemmy.dbzer0.com to technology@lemmy.ml on 18 Nov 2023 12:59
https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/8637454

#technology

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Varyk@sh.itjust.works on 18 Nov 2023 13:11 next collapse

Knew he was good for something

gomp@lemmy.ml on 18 Nov 2023 13:14 next collapse

Death warrant? Maybe, but I expect companies (maybe not the EU, but - let’s be frank - probably the EU too) to go back into X as soon as they feel they are done cashing in this virtue signaling.

There were plenty of reasons to leave twitter before this idiotic tweet from Musk (reasons due to twitter’s action as a company, and not just Musk’s drunken posts) and they were all happily tweeting and advertising.

Is this drop that breaks the camel’s back? Maybe, but I wouldn’t be holding my breath.

SloganLessons@kbin.social on 18 Nov 2023 13:55 next collapse

My chips are also on them coming back, but at the same time it feels like Musk wants to make Twitter's business harder than it needs to be.

This reaction doesn't come from the last tweet itself, instead it comes from him not stopping with hot takes and not showing any signs of slowing down.

If he keeps going, I could see companies just accepting "it is what it is" and coming back, but at the same time it also feels like he's one tweet away from going too far for most companies. And it's not like Twitter is a strong social media anyway, they are not even in the top 10 social medias in terms of active users count: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/

Maybe these companies may also decide that dealing with Twitter is more trouble than it's worth. But we'll see

logi@lemmy.world on 18 Nov 2023 14:29 next collapse

Well, that was certainly decisive.

SuckMyWang@lemmy.world on 19 Nov 2023 01:41 collapse

I don’t think x’s value is from the number of users. It’s the type of powerful people on it and the headline style format the multiplies it’s impact across the information space. It still sucks though

SloganLessons@kbin.social on 19 Nov 2023 10:01 collapse

right, but what matters to most ad publishers is the number of eyeballs that are converted into buying customers

zartcosgrove@beehaw.org on 18 Nov 2023 16:08 next collapse

“cashing in this virtue signaling”

Not wanting to be associated with the Great Replacement theory is “virtue signaling”

Tell me you’re a right wing shill without telling me you’re a right wing shill

onlinepersona@programming.dev on 18 Nov 2023 16:43 next collapse

He’s right. They don’t care about what’s on X as long as there isn’t negative publicity. It has nothing to do with being right-wing. If anything, it’s quite left-wing to believe that companies only care about the baseline.

zartcosgrove@beehaw.org on 18 Nov 2023 20:33 collapse

“virtue signaling” is a right wing term by which statements of principle are dismissed.

onlinepersona@programming.dev on 18 Nov 2023 21:07 collapse

That’s rubbish. It has nothing to do with right wing. Google, Apple, Coca Cola, Microsoft, and many other large companies have been accused of virtue signaling - rightfully so. They pretend to care about social issues for 2 seconds and then go right back to business once the news cycle is over. Is that a right-wing thing to do?

[deleted] on 18 Nov 2023 22:16 collapse

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onlinepersona@programming.dev on 18 Nov 2023 23:22 collapse

uhuh…

Swallowtail@beehaw.org on 18 Nov 2023 18:48 collapse

I have very little faith in businesses to do the right thing for the right reasons. Publicly traded companies in the US literally can’t do that legally if they think it will hurt their bottom line.

generalpotato@lemmy.world on 18 Nov 2023 20:05 collapse

X is a shit company that doesn’t need to exist anymore but I’m equally tired of companies virtue signaling behind causes. Like, fuck off, I don’t need you to tell me that you’re “invested” in “human rights” or “causes” when you treat your workers like shit and fail to provide your retail workers a minimum wage for example.

X and these other companies virtue signaling behind causes for profit/marketing goodwill can all go to hell.

jimmydoreisalefty@lemmus.org on 18 Nov 2023 13:17 next collapse

Seems like a smear of Musk for not siding with Israel and instead calling for a ceasefire or peace.

Looking at the talk Musk had with Lex Fridman.

yolo@r.nf on 18 Nov 2023 13:34 next collapse

He wasn’t really in good standing before the conflict.

jimmydoreisalefty@lemmus.org on 18 Nov 2023 13:52 collapse

True, politics makes Musk a tribalist issue.

static@kbin.social on 18 Nov 2023 15:33 collapse

He wrote that the jews are responsible for the great replacement conspiracy theory, how is that not antisemitic?

Therealgoodjanet@lemmy.world on 18 Nov 2023 13:40 next collapse

Please don’t conflate anti-semitism with Pro Palestinian voices. What he is doing is not helping anyone.

jimmydoreisalefty@lemmus.org on 18 Nov 2023 13:50 collapse

Anti-semitism is a real thing, but Israel-Palestine has always made it harder to understand. If it is truly anti-religious or just questioning Israel gov’t and actions.

Therealgoodjanet@lemmy.world on 18 Nov 2023 14:09 collapse

The problem is that Zionists like to say “Israel = Jews”, raging when you say something anti-Zionist that you’re being an anti-semite. However, what Musk is doing is actually saying Jews are the problem. That’s antisemitism. That is not helping Jews nor is it helping anyone who is anti-Zionist because now people will say “see? Anti-Zionist equals anti-Semite, just look at Musk if you don’t believe me.”

520@kbin.social on 18 Nov 2023 13:59 next collapse

It's not that he sided against Israel. It's that he sided against Jews. The Israeli government and its supporters like to conflate the two a lot, but they are very different things.

So when someone writes “Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.” and Musk responds with “You have spoken the actual truth.”, that is not an anti-Israel position, that is an antisemite position, one that couldn't be made more clearer even if he posted it with a picture of Auschwitz

Therealgoodjanet@lemmy.world on 18 Nov 2023 14:03 next collapse

Amen!

deFrisselle@lemmy.sdf.org on 19 Nov 2023 12:03 collapse

If you read the religious texts and are familiar with the oral scriptures there you go Though those views mainly only exist in communities of Orthodox Jewish sects that dedicate their lives to religious studies

otter@lemmy.ca on 18 Nov 2023 14:12 next collapse

To add on to what others have already said

and instead calling for a ceasefire or peace.

He didn’t do that either though? He attacked those calling for peace/ceasefire

He’s attacking everyone, as if he’s trying to distract people from each controversy with a different controversy

[deleted] on 18 Nov 2023 23:37 collapse

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roguetrick@kbin.social on 18 Nov 2023 14:30 next collapse

I'm sorry, but proclaiming that Jews are conspiratorially poisoning the world against whites is not remotely related to Israel/Palestine. It's blatant Nazi shit. Muddying the waters is also generally crypto-fascist shit, but I don't know you and I'm not going to put that label on you. Just realize that's what you're doing.

markr@lemmy.world on 18 Nov 2023 17:28 collapse

He in fact demonstrated the clear distinction between being an antisemitic Nazi fuckwit and opposing Israeli military actions in Gaza.

trash80@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 18 Nov 2023 13:21 next collapse

I hope so. I’m so fucking tired of hearing about it.

SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 18 Nov 2023 15:06 collapse

It would be amazing if there were any sort of consequences for this clown, or any other rich clown, honestly.

I think part of the reason bad behavior has been so normalized among the general populace is because they’re seeing such bad behavior from “the elites” that they “look up to” so they think that since those “rich, successful men” act like that without consequence, it must mean that behavior is okay.

trash80@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 18 Nov 2023 16:17 collapse

There are many factors.

JimmyBigSausage@lemm.ee on 18 Nov 2023 13:36 next collapse

Someone of such resource certainly likes to carry and bang an empty pail.

Therealgoodjanet@lemmy.world on 18 Nov 2023 13:37 next collapse

Good. I hope it goes under.

NoiseColor@startrek.website on 18 Nov 2023 16:32 collapse

How would that happen?

FlexibleToast@lemmy.world on 18 Nov 2023 16:55 collapse

It can’t afford its debt. It’s almost guaranteed to happen.

NoiseColor@startrek.website on 18 Nov 2023 19:26 collapse

I read about where the money came from and I’m not saying I really understand it, but it seems solid enough for it to never fail unless musk wants it to fail.

Which is, like,…if somebody wants to destroy twitter as fast as possible, but make it look like it’s not intentional, what would they do differently than what is happening right now? :) Jk, musk is just an incompetent bag of shit.

520@kbin.social on 18 Nov 2023 22:30 next collapse

The money used to come from advertisers. Elon has been trying to move it to a subscription model, but few people want to subscribe to a place only right wingers want to be.

Elon wanted Xitter to be a bastion of right wing speech. He just didn't think about what that would entail.

FlexibleToast@lemmy.world on 20 Nov 2023 15:17 collapse

It was always going to fail. At that point, Twitter as a company only recently started actually making a profit. What Musk did is called a leveraged buy-out where someone takes out a loan to buy a company. The company that is bought out is then responsible for paying that loan. Remember when I said they just barely had started making money? Well, now they have so much debt that they not only have to make enough money to cover their previous expenses, but also cover the payments for this new loan, and the new loan has interest that creates additional debt of $1 billion a year. How is a company that struggles to make money suddenly going to come up with an extra $1 billion a year? Charging for checkmarks? There aren’t enough users… That’s why he is so desperate. He knows that by making that joke offer, he royally screwed himself when Twitter called his bluff and forced him to buy. I think he just wanted an excuse to sell some Tesla stock that he knew was overvalued but had said he wouldn’t sell.

NoiseColor@startrek.website on 20 Nov 2023 16:31 collapse

I don’t know, as far as I understand it, all the money sources are covered quite well, he can literally do whatever and there won’t be much consequences.

[deleted] on 18 Nov 2023 13:42 next collapse

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Carnelian@lemmy.world on 18 Nov 2023 14:29 next collapse

Many who remain actively want to spread hate

HeartyBeast@kbin.social on 18 Nov 2023 15:37 collapse

Inertia. In the UK, for example, every local government council, the NHS, central government, charities etc use user Twitter//X as a free channel for announcements and publicity. Quite often they manage it though things like Hootsuite that lets the, plan and manage and cross-post to Facebook etc.

Deciding to quit that is quite a major step - especially when there isn't really a clear single alternative that has similar reach and userbase.

brothershamus@kbin.social on 18 Nov 2023 16:39 next collapse

And now we're living in the "that was a bad idea" world.

qupada@kbin.social on 18 Nov 2023 19:23 collapse

Except that they've ruined that too. You now need an account to view anything, so the reach of announcements is greatly diminished.

At this point leaving shouldn't really be too difficult, since a large portion of your audience already has; because they've been shut out, or have quit voluntarily.

NutWrench@lemmy.ml on 18 Nov 2023 13:42 next collapse

Musk only buys things that he thinks will keep his name in the news, and he’s always looking for that next bong-hit of attention.

Nobody likes him. Nobody cares about him. And he makes it so obvious WHY with his racist, apartheid bullsh*t.

RobotToaster@mander.xyz on 18 Nov 2023 13:53 next collapse

Haven’t people been saying that since before he even bought it?

mp3@lemmy.ca on 18 Nov 2023 14:31 next collapse

We’ve yet to see any regulatory actions with real consequences, so yeah I doubt it.

Goun@lemmy.ml on 20 Nov 2023 05:44 collapse

A $50 fine or something

[deleted] on 18 Nov 2023 15:02 next collapse

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TootSweet@lemmy.world on 18 Nov 2023 15:45 next collapse

<img alt="Two-panel meme image of a guy saying in the first panel “oh no” and in the second “anyway.”" src="https://i.imgflip.com/43iv8l.jpg">

onlinepersona@programming.dev on 18 Nov 2023 16:46 next collapse

No he hasn’t. 200M users won’t jump off because of this. If most people really cared, they’d be switching to alternatives - they don’t.

phx@lemmy.ca on 18 Nov 2023 16:57 next collapse

Money doesn’t come from the users, it comes from the advertisers. The platform is already in the hole but it’s getting worse over time

Albinjose7345@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 18 Nov 2023 18:57 collapse

I think fediverse is not still popular as it is. And most people don’t know that better alternatives exist.

kandoh@reddthat.com on 18 Nov 2023 19:56 collapse

It shows how much more important being first is rather than being the best.

FewerWheels@mander.xyz on 18 Nov 2023 17:00 next collapse

So the radical free speech guy is going to sue someone for what they said? Sounds spot on for Musk.

duncesplayed@lemmy.one on 18 Nov 2023 23:41 collapse

Wait, I don’t see that in the article. Who’s he suing now?

sour@kbin.social on 18 Nov 2023 19:46 next collapse

did people stop deadnaming twitter

JGrffn@lemmy.ml on 19 Nov 2023 00:44 collapse

Right? Twitter hasn’t stopped dead naming Twitter, for fuck’s sake

MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works on 18 Nov 2023 20:34 next collapse

Can we please stop posting business news here

uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 18 Nov 2023 20:35 next collapse

How cheap does X have to get before it can be bought by a non-profit, turned into a co-op and renamed twitter?

schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de on 18 Nov 2023 22:52 next collapse

and then federate with Mastodon?

quicken@aussie.zone on 19 Nov 2023 04:27 collapse

It’s no longer a public company. So it can be bought when Musk chooses to sell. Or if he defaults on his loan then it may go to banks but they really don’t want it and have already written off their loan to him.

intrepid@lemmy.ca on 19 Nov 2023 05:26 collapse

Why exactly do normal people with small defaults have ‘collection agents’ sent after them, while billion dollar defaults are written off? Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around?

blindsight@beehaw.org on 19 Nov 2023 06:07 next collapse

It’s all to do with the terms of the contract and collateral.

Bonds are guaranteed by the collateral of the ownership of the company. If the company defaults on their loan, then ownership transfers to the bond holders, so the bond holders now own all the equity in the company (and previous equity holders get nothing.)

There are no collections agents for companies because once they default, all of that is essentially triggered automatically contractually. There’s a bit of wiggle room with negotiating changing terms on the loans and such before a default happens, but that’s the broad strokes.

ergifruit@lemmygrad.ml on 20 Nov 2023 07:46 collapse

because it’s easier to come after real people, since we don’t know all loopholes, can’t jerk them around indefinitely, have no individual power, can’t afford lawyers, and are all around an easier mark.

carl_dungeon@lemmy.world on 18 Nov 2023 21:24 next collapse

We can only hope

KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml on 19 Nov 2023 05:46 next collapse

I’ve heard this said for months now

linearchaos@lemmy.world on 20 Nov 2023 05:16 collapse

Yeah, it’s only a death warrant for conventionally run companies. He can run it into the ground as deep as his pockets will let him. And according to Forbes that’s still relatively deep, deeper than they should be anyway.

I kind of suspect he’s up to something. Maybe he’s grooming it for a political ad platform. Although it’s equally possible he just loves watching everybody flip the hell out, One hell of an expensive hobby if so.

nyakojiru@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 20 Nov 2023 07:20 collapse

the guy don’t give a single fuck, people don’t get that he don’t care about loosing money.