[kwlug-disc] The Fediverse is complicated

[Doug Moen]

The video is very well presented and argued, and worth watching. Except I think Beau misunderstands Musk.

Since Musk is highly intelligent, despite being a maniac, I think that he does understand what advertisers want twitter to do. He's not "missing it" like the video says, he just has radically different priorities from what people assume the owner of twitter should be prioritizing. Probably the root of it is that he wants the freedom to say anything he wants on Twitter, without having to hold back or worry about being censored because "advertisers don't want those kinds of tweets on twitter". Freedom to do what he wants: that's libertarianism. So his first priority is to redesign Twitter from the bottom up into a "free speech" platform where *everybody* is both comfortable using the platform and has the freedom to discuss any topic or criticize any position. He's not trying to recreate Gab or Truth Social, where left wing thought is heavily censored. But he does want most Gab and Truth Social users to be welcome on his platform. His second priority is to find a funding model that works for this new free speech social media platform. Evidently he is comfortable with losing advertisers and going through bankruptcy while on the path of realizing this vision.

So yes, Elon is under a lot of financial pressure due to adding $30 billion of debt to twitter (with interest payments coming due) while at the same time tanking twitters revenue stream due to his actions. And this pressure and frustration has led to tweets that attack activists and advertisers, and make it look like he's a moron. But based on his past accomplishments, I don't think he's actually a moron, he just has priorities and beliefs that are hard to understand.

I am not necessarily endorsing Musk's project or saying that his goals are achievable or desirable, I'm just interpreting what I think Musk is trying to do, based on his public statements. So please try to separate my own personal opinions and politics from Musk's if you reply.

On Thu, Nov 24, 2022, at 3:47 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 23, 2022 at 2:49 PM Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> wrote:
>> Quoting Khalid Baheyeldin (kb at 2bits.com):
>> 
>> > The social media companies are private entities and want to make
>> > money.  That money comes from advertisers. If there is too much
>> > objectionable content, they will cease to advertise. It is like "no
>> > shirt, no shoes, no service". 
>> 
>> "Beau of the Fifth Column" (journalist Justin King of Florida) had a
>> shrewd if homespun explanation, two weeks ago, about Space Karen and
>> his rapid destruction of Twitter, Inc.'s revenue model:  As King points
>> out, Mr. Musk destroyed (_even a fortnight ago_) advertisers' perception
>> that the bird site is a "brand safe" place to advertise.
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byazeV3gfis&t=353s
>> 
>> Since then, Mr. Musk actually threatened (in writing) the company's
>> advertisers in various tweets, speaking of raining legal ruin upon them
>> for, in his eyes, disloyalty.  
> 
> This video is just brilliant. 
> Thanks Rick ... 
> 
> Worth watching all of it, not just from the timestamp in the above link. 
> 
> It explains why the whole rant of the right about "social media companies 
> are impinging on our freedom of speech" is not real, and that the whole 
> issue is capitalism and money. 
> 
> Surprising that someone like Elon Musk have veered from a libertarian 
> to ultra right in the span of a year or so ...
> 
> He may still turn it around given his track record of execution, but the 
> hodge podge approach so far does not instill confidence into users or
> advertisers. 
> -- 
> Khalid M. Baheyeldin
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