Elon musk buys Twitter

[nzoomed]

https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/04/25/elon-...5-billion/

[harm_less]

In the TED interview of Musk I posted recently he was asked what his reason for making an offer to buy Twitter. From the 12:00 minute mark if you aren't interested in watching it all.

[nzoomed]

I understood it was mainly because he was over all the censorship on there impacting free speech, will wait and see how that plays out i guess.
I think the rumour is that he is reinstating donald trumps account, not sure if this is verified yet.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Appropriate. He is the biggest twit on the planet.

[king1]

The Americans won't need to bother about the Russians influencing elections - if Musk is even slightly politically motivated he could probably single handedly influence the election himself...

[Oh_hunnihunni]

But he believes in free speech. Wouldn't influencing an election be an anathema to such a man?

[king1]

But he believes in free speech. Wouldn't influencing an election be an anathema to such a man?

yes but his free speech always gets him into trouble on twitter - maybe this is just to ensure he can't end up getting banned or something stupid like that.

[king1]

hmm, so is buying Twitter going to be good or bad for Elon Musk...
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2...ry-twitter

[Magoo]

bit to unpack

websites are proving to be a fickle business.
and subject to the vagaries, fashions and trends of the even more fickle public.
one can go from hero to zero overnight, or vice versa.
i think about that same amount he paid for twitter is what netflix lost in value in the days after its negative forecasts.
elon has the luxury of knowing if it fell over tomorrow he will not be destitute.

i terms of relevance to me, none of that applies as i am not a member of this exalted platform.
what is relevant to me is that power being concentrated to one person instead of a BoD and stakeholders.
it has immense potential to influence every aspect of our culture.
it gives rise to manipulation on a mass scale by way of misinformation and political bent.
we have yet to see an internet 'cult', but its coming.

it might be an opportunity to rewrite how we do things.
what if he assembled some great minds to generate a positive culture of progressive ambition and use a global approach to some of the things that plague us?

or it might not.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

I signed up to twitter when it was just a teeny chirp from the great beyond, and promptly forgot my password.

Most sensible thing I have ever done around the internet.

[harm_less]

I've been on Twitter since 2011. My online BS filtering system works fairly well and the Twitter accounts I follow are selected on that basis, and I opt out of advertising content. Like any online interactions it pays to steer well clear of the crazies and there's certainly no shortage of those on any social media platform. I can see how those easily led could be indoctrinated there as is the case with any major SM platform so will be watching with interest any changes that occur as Elon Musk puts his mark on its functionality.

Twitter is essentially my immediate source for worldwide news and its content is commonly repeated hours, if not days, later on mainstream media. I'm not about to ditch it any time soon for that reason in particular.

[nzoomed]

But he believes in free speech. Wouldn't influencing an election be an anathema to such a man?

yes but his free speech always gets him into trouble on twitter - maybe this is just to ensure he can't end up getting banned or something stupid like that.

Who knows, but that would seem a stupidly huge amount of money spent just to achieve that.
He has about 300 billion dollars or something, so 60 billion give or take is still a fair chunk of that.
Im hoping his intentions are right, as im against censorship from big tech.
Ideally we should get away from such platforms and move to web 3.0 where everything is decentralised using blockchain tech and the likes.
That way no one can take anything down, whether its something thats unpopular in opinion or not.

Now that might not go down well with some, particularly if its hate speech, but who gets to decide on whats hate speech? The company that controlls the platform, or should all the users get to decide themselves and flag posts by downvoting, etc?

food for thought.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

The report I saw said he was financing the whole purchase because though he could do it alone he chose not to. Which is interesting...

My other thought is around 'free' speech. Just how free is it if it costs someone else anything at all? For instance, do we just let pedophiles have free speech, or ram raiders? Or cannibals? Or Mr Putin?

Is it only free for those without a care for others...

[king1]

The report I saw said he was financing the whole purchase because though he could do it alone he chose not to. Which is interesting...

My other thought is around 'free' speech. Just how free is it if it costs someone else anything at all? For instance, do we just let pedophiles have free speech, or ram raiders? Or cannibals? Or Mr Putin?

Is it only free for those without a care for others...

my Dad used to say
Freedom of Speech does not mean freedom from consequences.

But these days it seems like most people feel they can say whatever they like with impunity

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Perhaps. But it is such bad manners to think what we say is so important we have a right to just say it no matter who it hurts.

[Magoo]

tricky chap free speech
nothing is free. not free range eggs, not gluten free, nada.
why do we need libel and slander laws? inciting a riot laws?
are you free to say what you like in my home? can you speak freely in the dock to the judge?
are you free to say what you like to other peoples children?
are you free to go online and say what you like? sure, if you can find a platform.
dont be surprised if you are moderated or banned, no one is stifling your free speech, they just dont want to hear it.
go find another place to poison.

to me the loudest proponents of completely unfettered free speech usually have something downright ignorant to say and no audience to say it to. or they are peddling a narrative of bullshit hey insist everyone else hears.

do we have the right not to hear some speech? why not? if i dont like something being said can i punch the words back down his throat? can i shout it down? turn it off? if youre free to say it am i not free to respond?

tricky chap free speech.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Exactly. Like minds magoo, like minds...

[Lilith7]

I signed up to twitter when it was just a teeny chirp from the great beyond, and promptly forgot my password.

Most sensible thing I have ever done around the internet.

Having seen some of the inane comments, I'm going nowhere near bloody twitter; if there's a line to be drawn its there, at least for me.