Is this it for 'X' (the app formerly known as Twitter)?

awhyley

Well-Known Member

Elon Musk claims he's buying Twitter to 'help humanity'​


Elon Musk claims that he is buying Twitter to "help humanity" as the billionaire set out his aims for taking over the social media platform.

In a tweet, Mr Musk said he didn't buy the firm "to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love". The entrepreneur has until Friday to complete a $44bn (£38bn) takeover of Twitter or risk going to trial. The tweet addressed to Twitter's advertisers states that he has "acquired" the firm.
However, there has been no official confirmation that the deal has been completed. Earlier this week, Mr Musk published a video of himself walking into Twitter's headquarters carrying a sink, raising speculation about his aims for the firm.

"Entering Twitter HQ - let that sink in!" Mr Musk wrote. In business parlance, "kitchen sinking" means taking radical action at a company, though it is not clear if this was Mr Musk's message - he also updated his Twitter bio to read "chief twit". In his latest tweet, Mr Musk set out some of his goals for the company, saying that Twitter must be "warm and welcoming for all". He wrote that he wanted "civilization to have a common digital town square" but he denies the platform will take an anything-goes approach.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

"Twitter cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences!" He also said the platform must adhere to the laws of the land.
Mr Musk has said the social media site needs significant changes.

It was not clear whether Mr Musk met Twitter executives Wednesday when he made his trip with the sink but he listed his location as the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on the social media platform. When Mr Musk first revealed plans to buy Twitter, he said he wanted to clean up spam accounts on the platform and preserve it as a venue for free speech. But Mr Musk, the world's richest man and a prolific Twitter user known for his impulsive style, baulked at the purchase just a few weeks later, citing concerns that the number of fake accounts on the platform was higher than Twitter claimed. Twitter executives denied the accusations, arguing that Mr Musk wanted out because he was worried about the price.
Elon Musk


IMAGE SOURCE,ELON MUSK
Image caption, Elon Musk arrives at Twitter's headquarters with a kitchen sink

The company eventually filed a lawsuit to hold him to the deal, and Mr Musk revived his takeover plans on the condition that legal proceedings were paused.
The deal must be completed by 28 October, or he will face trial over the contract.

"I'm excited about the Twitter situation," Mr Musk recently said during a call to discuss Tesla's financial results. Mr Musk is electric car maker's chief executive.
"I think it's an asset that has just sort of languished for a long time but has incredible potential, although obviously myself and the other investors are overpaying for Twitter right now," he added.

A deal that is now surely done​

Given the history of this deal, you can see why people are hesitant about announcing it prematurely. This is Elon Musk we're talking about, an erratic and capricious character. However, everything we have seen today here in San Francisco would suggest that he will own Twitter in the coming days. It is hard to believe he would be meeting staff if the deal wasn't as good as done. He laughed and smiled as he entered Twitter, but he has a lot of work to do to warm up the social media platform's employees. Reports he would dramatically reduce headcount have not gone down well with staff. Talk of allowing Donald Trump and other banned accounts back onto the platform has also frustrated many employees. It has been widely reported he is due to speak to Twitter workers on Friday, about what lies in store.
Perhaps then we'll finally get more information about "X", the app for everything that Mr Musk wants Twitter to become.

Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63408384
 

awhyley

Well-Known Member
By all accounts, the bloodbath has already started, firings galore, with more to come. Do you see the landscape changing for the better?

Twitter Freed.png
 

ScorpioBeauty09

Well-Known Member
The site is going to become a cesspool for hate and mis/disinformation more than it already was. It depends on how people respond. Will Elon Musk get a return on his investment? When Yahoo bought Tumblr for $1.1B, users made it so unprofitable Yahoo sold it for $3M. The same thing happened when Murdoch bought MySpace for $580M and sold it for $35M. Six years seems to be the time frame.

At this point, my main concern is the medical information from virologists and epidemiologists about COVID-19 since the government has left us on our own.
 

yamilee21

Well-Known Member
It’s unfortunate that so many people rely on Twitter, and there isn’t an alternative platform for the sane and non-hateful. If there were, people could leave en masse.

And seriously, for all the absurd conspiracy theories from the right wing regarding George Soros’ “power” you would think Soros would have an alternative platform ready to go to elevate left wing voices, if he really was secretly backing the left. :confused:
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
Elon Musk deleted a tweet about Paul Pelosi. Here’s why that matters.

The comment amplified a baseless report about the attack on her husband and stirred an outcry

Elon Musk, who has more than 100 million followers, had owned Twitter for less than three full days when he shared a post containing misinformation — then hours later deleted it.

On Sunday, he posted a response to Hillary Clinton that “there is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story” behind the attack on Paul Pelosi in San Francisco, linking to an opinion article in the Santa Monica Observer, a site described by fact-checkers as a low-credibility source favoring the extreme right.

The article claimed without evidence that Pelosi was drunk at the time of the assault and “in a dispute with a male prostitute.” The article, which was amplified by several right-wing figures, cited no sources and attributes its contents to IMHO — internet shorthand for “in my humble opinion.”

Musk faced immediate and widespread backlash from users who said the tweet revealed his Twitter ownership as unserious and accused him of promoting an unfounded conspiracy theory.

One commenter, Yael Eisenstat, a vice president of the Anti Defamation League and former Facebook executive, noted on Twitter that Musk seemed to be violating his own pledge to advertisers last week that the site would not become a “hellscape” under his ownership.




Another Twitter user, David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration official and political pundit with nearly 293,000 Twitter followers, suggested Musk eventually would have to ban himself.



Hours later, Musk deleted his tweet. It wasn’t immediately clear what prompted him to do so.

But it highlights the conflict Musk faces as he takes over a social media platform whose moderation policies he’s consistently criticized as too strict while also pledging that he won’t allow it to become a free-for-all that advertisers might not want to associate with. Already, Musk has had to acknowledge that suspended accounts like former president Donald Trump’s won’t be reinstated until a so-far-undefined “moderation council” has convened to determine policy.

Neither Musk nor Twitter responded to a request for comment.

Musk has one of the largest audiences of any public figure on Twitter, and is among its most prolific tweeters. He has a track record of using his account to promote or allude to misinformation, and to interact with and amplify a circle of prominent right-wing influencers online.

Before closing on his purchase of Twitter, Musk expressed an expansive view of free speech, arguing for little policing beyond platforms removing speech that was clearly illegal. That approach would rule out the policing of misinformation, disinformation, harassment, bullying, and other content that Twitter and other social media companies take action against, through a system of deletions, warning notices, and quiet demotions known as “shadow bans.”

But that willingness to spout misinformation — or to boost it by using the tactic of “just raising questions” — could create major conflicts for him and for Twitter now that he owns the company.
Musk’s tweet Sunday did not appear break any of Twitter’s current rules because it was framed as a question and because the types of misinformation Twitter bans are fairly limited. It’s unknown if he faced pressure inside Twitter or from advertisers before he deleted it.

Historically, social media company owners, such as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have tried to avoid controversial public political opinions because they don’t want to be perceived as putting their thumb on the scale of the algorithms that govern public expression. Moreover, social media platforms including Twitter have made a point of pushing the public toward authoritative sources of information to counter the proliferation of misinformation on their services. Putting up curated links and labels to reputable news sites is a key part of Twitter’s and other companies’ strategies to counter misleading content.

Advertisers, which are the main source of revenue for Twitter, are also known to protest such content. An advertiser boycott of Facebook in 2020 helped force that social media platform to adopt tougher policies on hate speech.

“Musk owning Twitter is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse when it comes to political misinformation,” said Joan Donovan, research director of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. “When he was just a user, that did not matter as much as it does now because people may come to distrust the platform if they don’t trust the owner’s core values.”

Donovan said the Musk tweet failed to recognize Twitter’s value as a place where people seek authoritative information about everything from geopolitical conflicts to elections.

“We would imagine that in order to be seen as a trusted interlocutor, like a politician, business owner, or journalist, he would care about the quality of news in the so-called public square,” she said, adding that he should issue a correction.

Twitter largely does not prohibit misinformation except in certain cases. The company has a “crisis misinformation policy,” launched earlier this year during the Ukraine war, which lets the company put a warning notice on and demote content that “mischaracterizes conditions on the ground” as a conflict evolves.

The company also bans “deep fakes,” or the posting of any imagery or video that has been manipulated, as well as misinformation about the coronavirus. Content that purposefully attempts to mislead the public about voting processes or an election outcome is demoted by the company’s algorithms and could receive warning labels and links to authoritative information.

In 2020, Musk tweeted that “Kids are essentially immune” to covid-19, a comment that appeared to come right up against Twitter’s ban of content that contradicts established public health information about the virus (Children of all ages can contract and experience complications from the coronavirus, according to the Mayo Clinic, although are less likely to become severely ill).

In 2018 Musk tweeted he had “Funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share, leading the Securities and Exchange Commission to accuse him of misleading investors. Musk and the SEC settled, leading Musk to relinquish his board chairmanship of Tesla and for he and the company to each pay $20 million fines.

He has also taken down tweets in the past. Just this month, Musk tweeted and then deleted a meme that showed he, former president Donald Trump and rapper and fashion designer Ye (formerly Kanye West) lording over various social networks (Ye bought the conservative network Parler and Trump controls his own network, TruthSocial). Twitter users captured screenshots of the tweet, which read “In retrospect, it was inevitable.”
 

awhyley

Well-Known Member
People (BBC) are now speculating whether there is a national security issue.

Elon Musk has dissolved Twitter's board of directors - cementing his control over the social media platform.

The multi-billionaire bought the company last week, ending months of back and forth over the $44bn (£38.3bn) deal, and will be its chief executive. He has moved quickly to put his mark on the firm, which is used by politicians and journalists around the world. The reforms he is contemplating include changes for how Twitter verifies accounts, as well as job cuts. The Washington Post has reported that a first round of cuts is under discussion that could affect 25% of the company's staff. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment from the BBC on the report.

Top executives have already been removed, as Mr Musk brings in high profile allies to the company. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has rolled his entire stake of 18m shares, worth almost $978m at the buyout price of $54.20, into the new private company, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. Mr Dorsey, who left Twitter's board in May, supported Mr Musk's purchase of the firm "Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness," he said in a tweet after the takeover was approved by the company's former management team. Meanwhile, technology investor Jason Calacanis who changed his Twitter bio to "chief meme officer", said he was "hanging out at Twitter a bit ... during the transition". He took to the social media site to solicit opinions on a range of topics from advertising to video.

Mr Calacanis also asked how much people would pay to be verified, amid reports that Twitter could charge people $20 per month to keep the blue ticks that indicate verified accounts. Later on Tuesday, responding to a Twitter user calling for the platform to purge accounts that had been inactive for more than a year, Mr Musk said "definitely".
Mr Musk, who leads electric car maker Tesla, has changed his biography on the social media site to "Chief Twit". He is now the sole director of Twitter,another filing on Monday showed. The nine ousted directors include former chairman of the board Bret Taylor and former chief executive Parag Agrawal. Baroness Martha Lane Fox, currently president of the British Chambers of Commerce, who is among the board members to be removed under the merger agreement, declined to comment when approached by the BBC.

'National-security issue'​

Mr Musk's takeover has drawn widespread scrutiny, as he signals plans to overhaul how Twitter has moderated the spread of information on its platform, including from sources such as state media, politicians and celebrities. Mr Musk said the company would create a new council to govern those decisions and that no changes would occur yet. On Monday, Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, said that he had asked the government to review the national security implications of the deal, given the large stake in the company held by firms tied to Saudi Arabia, which has an increasingly tense relationship with the US.

"We should be concerned that the Saudis, who have a clear interest in repressing political speech and impacting US politics, are now the second-largest owner of a major social media platform," Mr Murphy wrote on Twitter. "There is a clear national-security issue at stake and CFIUS [the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States] should do a review." Mr Musk financed his takeover with his own money, a group of other investors and roughly $13bn in debt financing. Analysts say that the increase in debt is likely to constrain the firm, which has struggled to expand its user base and not turned a profit in years. Together, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Kingdom Holding Company are the second largest investor in the newly private company, according to a filing with the US government. Prince Alwaleed, who was a major Twitter investor prior to the Musk deal, has tweeted the stake aligns with Kingdom Holding Company's "long-term investment strategy".

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. View original tweet on Twitter


Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63458380
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
I didn't give this much thought when I first saw it because GM and Tesla are competitors but there are probably a lot of companies that'll stop advertising if things go the way they're headed.

GM temporarily halts paid advertising on Twitter

David Shepardson
October 28, 2022
7:52 PM EDT

Oct 28 (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) said late on Friday it had temporarily halted paid advertising on Twitter after Elon Musk completed his takeover of the social media company.

The largest U.S. automaker said it was "engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership."

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Musk is also chief executive of GM rival Tesla Inc (TSLA.O).

GM said "as is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising." The Detroit automaker added its "customer care interactions on Twitter will continue."

Ad sales accounted for more than 90% of Twitter's revenue in the second quarter. At a presentation for advertisers in May, some ad agencies and brands were already skeptical and concerned over Twitter's future.

On the eve of the deal's closing, Musk appealed directly to advertisers in an open-letter tweet: "Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!... Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise."

Musk tweeted on Friday that Twitter will form a content moderation council "with widely diverse viewpoints." Musk said no major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before the council convenes.
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
This is the way things are headed...

N-word use on Twitter rises by 500 percent after Elon Musk takeover

After Elon Musk closed the deal on Twitter, N-word usage across the social media platform increased by nearly 500 percent in just 12 hours.​

Ever since Elon Musk closed a $44 billion deal on Twitter on Thursday (Oct. 27), the platform has been inundated with racial epithets — and the rise in N-word usage is disturbing, to say the least.

Just 12 hours after Musk’s Twitter acquisition, a report from the Network Contagion Research Institute found that the use of the N-word “has increased nearly 500 percent from the previous average,” according to The Washington Post.

The NCRI also found that the barrage of racially derogatory tweets like the N-word has been from anonymous trolls looking to “test the limits” of Twitter since Musk’s purchase with users on 4chan encouraging others to “amplify derogatory slurs” — all in the name of “free speech.”

“I can freely express how much I hate n*****s … now, thank you elon,” one anonymous user tweeted, according to The Post. Another tweet laced with racist, antisemitic slurs read, “Elon now controls twitter. Unleash the racial slurs. K***S AND N*****S.”

Since Musk’s takeover, Black Twitter has been pushing back against the sudden rise in hate speech on the platform, calling for swift action.

“It’s really telling to see how many people want lies, racism, homophobia, and bigotry to be a part of their daily Twitter feed now that Elon has taken over,” actress-activist Malynda Hale tweeted. “I can’t imagine having people view me as the catalyst for their hate. That, sadly, says a lot about who Elon is.”

“Saving every racist tweet to prove that the new Twitter is causing harm and violence to Black People. People only understand when they lose money,” wrote Billy Dixon, under the username atwmpastor.

Twitter user BrooklynDad_Defiant! shared a screenshot of an N-word-filled tweet from another anonymous user, writing, “This is new Twitter.”
 

Brownie

Well-Known Member
With company changes, folks generally don’t start shaking up everything until they figure out how everything works first. He would’ve been better off leaving the status quo at least until after the first of the year, and if he was going to charge, he should sell it like a perk and have it cost no more than Amazon prime ($10 or less/month) like a membership with other benefits. Right now, he’s
competing with Kanye for how fast he can part with his $$$.
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member

Twitter reportedly limits employee access to content-moderation tools as midterm election nears


Elon Musk’s Twitter has taken away certain content moderation and policy enforcement tools from some employees ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, according to Bloomberg News.

The move affects most employees who are part of Twitter’s Trust and Safety organization, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. The staffers are unable to address and discipline user accounts that violate Twitter’s rules around hate speech and misinformation unless they involve harm, the report said.

Twitter is still using automated content moderation tools and third-party contractors to prevent the spread of misinformation and inflammatory posts while Twitter employees review high-profile violations, Bloomberg said.

Twitter didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Yoel Roth, Twitter head of safety, reacted to the Bloomberg News in a tweet.

“This is exactly what we (or any company) should be doing in the midst of a corporate transition to reduce opportunities for insider risk,” he wrote. “We’re still enforcing our rules at scale.”

On Friday, after closing his acquisition of Twitter, Musk said he plans to form a “content moderation council,” without disclosing specifics such as who would be a part of it or what it would do. The Tesla CEO added that he would not make any “major content decisions” or reinstate previously banned accounts before the council begins its work.
 

yamilee21

Well-Known Member
People are heading to a new one called tribelsocial. It is anti racist, anti skunk, pro democracy. I don't know much about it but I like what I'm seeing.
What does “anti skunk” mean? (It can’t be anti-marijuana; most anti-racists seem to be very pro-marijuana. But I can’t figure out what else skunk could refer to.)
 

Peppermynt

Defying Gravity
I'm hearing about Mastodon as an alternative.

(eta: Here are a few suggested links - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/leaving-twitter-alternative-social-media-apps/)
Thanks for this. I have a twitter account but I never tweet. But thinking of deleting it just to add to the numbers leaving and show my disgust for Musk.

I use and love reddit already - and discord as well. I don't see LinkedIn being the new twitter - LinkedIn serves a different purpose. Will look into Mastodon and CounterSocial though.
 

awhyley

Well-Known Member
Thanks for this. I have a twitter account but I never tweet. But thinking of deleting it just to add to the numbers leaving and show my disgust for Musk.

I use and love reddit already - and discord as well. I don't see LinkedIn being the new twitter - LinkedIn serves a different purpose. Will look into Mastodon and CounterSocial though.

Ditto, I've been an egg for the better part of a decade. :lachen:
I'm going to see how Twitter navigates the primaries before I make any decision. Quite a few of the people I follow are jumping ship though. :ohwell:
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claims her Twitter account has experienced difficulties following feud with Elon Musk

November 3, 2022 / 5:04 PM
By C Mandler

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed Wednesday that her Twitter account was experiencing technical issues following an online disagreement with Twitter's new owner and CEO, Elon Musk.

The Democratic New York representative alleged Wednesday that her Twitter "mentions/notifications conveniently aren't working." She followed up with a second tweet Thursday that claimed that the "Verified" tab of her account, which should be populated with tweets from verified creators, appeared empty.

"This is what my app has looked like ever since my tweet upset you yesterday," she wrote. "What's good? Doesn't seem very free speechy to me."

The back-and-forth began Tuesday, when Ocasio-Cortez tweeted her distaste that a "billionaire [is] earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that 'free speech' is actually a $8/mo subscription plan," referencing a Musk announcement that the platform was considering charging users for verification status.



"Power to the people! Blue for $8/month," Musk wrote, referring to Twitter's current blue check mark system as a "lord & peasants system."

Musk argued that charging users for their badge would allow the platform a revenue stream with which to reward content creators, and that those shelling out extra money would have access to additional in-app benefits, such as priority in replies, mentions, searches, extended video and audio posting privileges and reduced advertisements.

Musk replied to Ocasio-Cortez's tweet, writing, "Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8."

Shortly after the exchange, Musk tweeted a photo of a sweatshirt available on Ocasio-Cortez's website, circling the $58 price tag. Ocasio-Cortez quote-tweeted the dig, writing, "My workers are union, make a living wage, have full healthcare, and aren't subject to racist treatment in their workplaces," referencing lawsuits which have been filed against Tesla by Black employees of the company.



"Items are made in USA. Team AOC honors and respects working people. You should try it sometime instead of union-busting," she added.

In 2021, the National Labor Relations Board ordered Musk to delete an anti-union tweet, and ordered Tesla to rehire a union supporter who had been fired.

In her original claim of app-specific difficulties Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, "Just a reminder that money will never [buy] your way out of insecurity, folks."

Though Musk did not respond directly, his tongue-in-cheek Twitter bio currently reads "Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator."

CBS News has reached out to Twitter for comment.
 

awhyley

Well-Known Member
Amber Heard has left Twitter (forgot that she was his ex)

Amber Heard's Twitter Account Vanishes as Ex Elon Musk Becomes CEO of Social Media Company​

Amber Heard's official Twitter page now says, "This account doesn't exist"

By Benjamin VanHoose
Published on November 3, 2022 01:26 PM

Amber Heard is no longer on Twitter as her ex Elon Musk takes over the social media company.

Though the timing is unclear, multiple outlets took note Thursday that Heard's Twitter account, @realamberheard, is deactivated. A screen on the page now reads "This account doesn't exist." Heard, 36, still has an Instagram account with 5.3 million followers, where her most recent post is her June 1 statement after the verdict in her Virginia defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp.

A rep for Heard did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. Musk, who previously dated Heard after her split from Depp, recently bought Twitter and became its CEO. Shortly before the takeover was finalized, the billionaire issued a public letter to advertisers, assuring them he didn't want the platform to "become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!"

A rep for Musk, 51, previously said he and Heard, who'd broken up by August 2017, "didn't start seeing each other until May 2016, and even then it was infrequent. Their relationship didn't become romantic until some time later." Over a year after the breakup, Heard told The Hollywood Reporter in December 2018, "Elon and I had a beautiful relationship, and we have a beautiful friendship now, one that was based on our core values. Intellectual curiosity, ideas and conversation, a shared love for science. We just bonded on a lot of things that speak to who I am on the inside. I have so much respect for him."

During the Virginia trial earlier this year, Christian Carino, a talent agent who at one point represented both Heard and Depp, shared text messages he exchanged with Heard about her relationship with Musk. When discussing Heard's breakup with Musk back in August 2017, Carino recalled questioning why she was "sad" if she wasn't "in love with him to begin with." A lawyer for Depp read a text exchange between Carino and Heard in which she admitted she was "just filling space" with Musk after her Depp split.

Heard texted Carino: "I hate that yet again a man let's me fall on the spikes by myself. ... Meaning, they are mad at me for leaving them and put things like this out there." Carino then replied, "You could avoid all this if you stopped dating über-famous people. You can be with a big man who isn't famous."

The verdict in the trial was handed down on June 1, with a seven-person jury siding mostly with Depp, 59, finding that Heard defamed him in her 2018 op-ed about domestic abuse, though she didn't mention him by name in the article. He was awarded more than $10 million in damages, while Heard won one of her three defamation counterclaims and was awarded $2 million in damages. They are now both appealing the verdicts.

Days before the verdict, Musk weighed in on the court proceedings, which were live-televised. He tweeted at the time, "I hope they both move on. At their best, they are each incredible."

Link: https://people.com/movies/amber-heard-twitter-account-gone-after-elon-musk-ceo/
 
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