Elon Musk bought Twitter.

[JM2K6]

It is amusing watching the people who screamed 'it's a private company, they can do what they want' switch places with the free speech crowd

They can do what they want indeed. And a lot of users seem to be leaving (I left myspace before it became empty wasteland never joined creepy faecesbouc or any of it's subs)
(just the same I have not used amazon for a long time).
A company owned by a "libertarian" is not appealing to a lot of people with good reasons.

Hmm most of the people who say that they're leaving are completely addicted to the app, it's the 'if x wins the election I'm leaving the country' of the internet.

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

[Paddington Bear]

They can do what they want indeed. And a lot of users seem to be leaving (I left myspace before it became empty wasteland never joined creepy faecesbouc or any of it's subs)
(just the same I have not used amazon for a long time).
A company owned by a "libertarian" is not appealing to a lot of people with good reasons.

Hmm most of the people who say that they're leaving are completely addicted to the app, it's the 'if x wins the election I'm leaving the country' of the internet.

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

Fair point. I think twitter has a level of addiction that people will find hard to wean themselves off of. Musk letting Trump back on will drive traffic and outrage etc.

[JM2K6]

Hmm most of the people who say that they're leaving are completely addicted to the app, it's the 'if x wins the election I'm leaving the country' of the internet.

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

Fair point. I think twitter has a level of addiction that people will find hard to wean themselves off of. Musk letting Trump back on will drive traffic and outrage etc.

Yeah, and in fairness I think Tumblr never had the global appeal of Twitter. But then these things are often ephemeral - Facebook's tanked, Instagram's taken a battering from Tiktok, etc.

[Torquemada 1420]

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

Fair point. I think twitter has a level of addiction that people will find hard to wean themselves off of. Musk letting Trump back on will drive traffic and outrage etc.

Yeah, and in fairness I think Tumblr never had the global appeal of Twitter. But then these things are often ephemeral - Facebook's tanked, Instagram's taken a battering from Tiktok, etc.

This golden age of communication just means everyone talks at the same time.

[eldanielfire]

They can do what they want indeed. And a lot of users seem to be leaving (I left myspace before it became empty wasteland never joined creepy faecesbouc or any of it's subs)
(just the same I have not used amazon for a long time).
A company owned by a "libertarian" is not appealing to a lot of people with good reasons.

Hmm most of the people who say that they're leaving are completely addicted to the app, it's the 'if x wins the election I'm leaving the country' of the internet.

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

It was aways a wasteland wasn't it? Except they took the porn off which is what so many users were apparently using it for.

[Paddington Bear]

Hmm most of the people who say that they're leaving are completely addicted to the app, it's the 'if x wins the election I'm leaving the country' of the internet.

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

It was aways a wasteland wasn't it? Except they took the porn off which is what so many users were apparently using it for.

"apparently"

[Margin__Walker]

There were other things on Tumblr?

[notfatcat]

I know Tik Tok is hugely popular but does it have any use for people other than children, pranksters, posers and loony activists?

[eldanielfire]

Hmm most of the people who say that they're leaving are completely addicted to the app, it's the 'if x wins the election I'm leaving the country' of the internet.

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

Fair point. I think twitter has a level of addiction that people will find hard to wean themselves off of. Musk letting Trump back on will drive traffic and outrage etc.

Indeed.

The Twitter freak-out from both the extreme Elon fanboys and the extreme "Elon is hate speech" crowds is illustrating exactly the issue with the culture of Twitter. And is hilarious to observe.

One extreme thinks we’ve now entered a utopia for free speech and this means conservatives will thrive now the oppressive libs are gone. The other extreme thinks we’ve arrived at a dystopia where ideas they disagree with is hateful and will make every supposed vulnerable group kill themselves. Except those in the vulnerable groups who aren't politically alligned with them of course.

I think Musk will make Twitter better. Or he'll atenmpt to, different question if he'll succeed. But the issue of online public discourse essentially being in the mercy of the whims of the super rich is not at all resolved.

[eldanielfire]

I know Tik Tok is hugely popular but does it have any use for people other than children, pranksters, posers and loony activists?

I can't quite get why Tik Tok is so popular. It's barely different to the old Vines app and just recycled material, recycled vine style memes and not much else.

[eldanielfire]

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

It was aways a wasteland wasn't it? Except they took the porn off which is what so many users were apparently using it for.

"apparently"

I only know this due to...umm, a friend telling me all about it. Telling me with all the hot details.....

[TB63]

Hmm most of the people who say that they're leaving are completely addicted to the app, it's the 'if x wins the election I'm leaving the country' of the internet.

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

Fair point. I think twitter has a level of addiction that people will find hard to wean themselves off of. Musk letting Trump back on will drive traffic and outrage etc.

Yeah, riiiiight..

[eldanielfire]

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

Fair point. I think twitter has a level of addiction that people will find hard to wean themselves off of. Musk letting Trump back on will drive traffic and outrage etc.

Yeah, riiiiight..

I give him 2 weeks max. He can't resist and he can't not contradict himself for more than an hour.

[I like neeps]

Twitter is useful in man ways. I said for years for things like information on women's rugby it was a goldmine that opened up inform that couldn't have been got easily anywhere else. But over the years it got made into the political activist platform and dominated by idiots.

This wouldn't be a problem but while Twitter is less popular now than even Snapchat, and 80% never/barely ever actually comments, it's the platform that most greatly influence media, politics and business culture due to it's ease of connectivity and the fact it's very much dominated by social elites. Hence why so many political and media figures get what the wider public wants so inaccurately or wrongly.

All excellent points but I guess that I just am not that interested in that the wider public wants. Call me a grumpy old sod who pines for the fjords.

We all do. But you aren't alone, 80% of twitter accounts where just following, never really using the platform. and even then 80% of comments were amde by the most extrem 10-20% of those posting. There's a superb few studies doen on this, often quoted by Psychologist Jonathan Haidt.

Interesting Jack Dorsey seems to fully endorse the Musk takeover and is saying Twitter was previouslyc ontrolled by Wallstreet and ad companies to much

I'd be very happy with a deal in which I earned $970m too.

[I like neeps]

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

Fair point. I think twitter has a level of addiction that people will find hard to wean themselves off of. Musk letting Trump back on will drive traffic and outrage etc.

Indeed.

The Twitter freak-out from both the extreme Elon fanboys and the extreme "Elon is hate speech" crowds is illustrating exactly the issue with the culture of Twitter. And is hilarious to observe.

One extreme thinks we’ve now entered a utopia for free speech and this means conservatives will thrive now the oppressive libs are gone. The other extreme thinks we’ve arrived at a dystopia where ideas they disagree with is hateful and will make every supposed vulnerable group kill themselves. Except those in the vulnerable groups who aren't politically alligned with them of course.

I think Musk will make Twitter better. Or he'll atenmpt to, different question if he'll succeed. But the issue of online public discourse essentially being in the mercy of the whims of the super rich is not at all resolved.

Musk won't want a sewer of racist, homophobic, sexist discourse attached to his name though. People will continue to be banned - just maybe not Donald Trump.

Ultimately, Musk and Dorsey have pretty much the same views on the world. Very little will change.

[Torquemada 1420]

I think Musk will make Twitter better.

By closing it?

[shaggy]

Fair point. I think twitter has a level of addiction that people will find hard to wean themselves off of. Musk letting Trump back on will drive traffic and outrage etc.

Indeed.

The Twitter freak-out from both the extreme Elon fanboys and the extreme "Elon is hate speech" crowds is illustrating exactly the issue with the culture of Twitter. And is hilarious to observe.

One extreme thinks we’ve now entered a utopia for free speech and this means conservatives will thrive now the oppressive libs are gone. The other extreme thinks we’ve arrived at a dystopia where ideas they disagree with is hateful and will make every supposed vulnerable group kill themselves. Except those in the vulnerable groups who aren't politically alligned with them of course.

I think Musk will make Twitter better. Or he'll atenmpt to, different question if he'll succeed. But the issue of online public discourse essentially being in the mercy of the whims of the super rich is not at all resolved.

Musk won't want a sewer of racist, homophobic, sexist discourse attached to his name though. People will continue to be banned - just maybe not Donald Trump.

Ultimately, Musk and Dorsey have pretty much the same views on the world. Very little will change.

Just the defamation then?

[robmatic]

Fair point. I think twitter has a level of addiction that people will find hard to wean themselves off of. Musk letting Trump back on will drive traffic and outrage etc.

Indeed.

The Twitter freak-out from both the extreme Elon fanboys and the extreme "Elon is hate speech" crowds is illustrating exactly the issue with the culture of Twitter. And is hilarious to observe.

One extreme thinks we’ve now entered a utopia for free speech and this means conservatives will thrive now the oppressive libs are gone. The other extreme thinks we’ve arrived at a dystopia where ideas they disagree with is hateful and will make every supposed vulnerable group kill themselves. Except those in the vulnerable groups who aren't politically alligned with them of course.

I think Musk will make Twitter better. Or he'll atenmpt to, different question if he'll succeed. But the issue of online public discourse essentially being in the mercy of the whims of the super rich is not at all resolved.

Musk won't want a sewer of racist, homophobic, sexist discourse attached to his name though. People will continue to be banned - just maybe not Donald Trump.

Ultimately, Musk and Dorsey have pretty much the same views on the world. Very little will change.

Generally what happens when a free speech dweeb gets put in charge of moderation is that their principles are rapidly forgotten about. Just look at every right wing dingbat social media platform.

Twitter will probably just continue to use shitty algorithmic tools and roll over for authoritarian regimes etc as this is the commercially practical thing to do.

[Margin__Walker]

Marina, amusing as always on it.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... are_btn_tw

What better owner for Twitter than Elon Musk, master of the ill-advised tweet?
Marina Hyde
The ultimate shitposter has bought up Twitter, and its denizens are angry – how entirely appropriate

[ASMO]

Struggling to give a fuck, never used it, never will

[Fonz]

It is amusing watching the people who screamed 'it's a private company, they can do what they want' switch places with the free speech crowd

They can do what they want indeed. And a lot of users seem to be leaving (I left myspace before it became empty wasteland never joined creepy faecesbouc or any of it's subs)
(just the same I have not used amazon for a long time).
A company owned by a "libertarian" is not appealing to a lot of people with good reasons.

I don't really get this...what changes for the average user after this?

Is it really just "wahhh the owners don't think like me!!"?? Well, welcome to how normal people live, folks.

[eldanielfire]

Fair point. I think twitter has a level of addiction that people will find hard to wean themselves off of. Musk letting Trump back on will drive traffic and outrage etc.

Indeed.

The Twitter freak-out from both the extreme Elon fanboys and the extreme "Elon is hate speech" crowds is illustrating exactly the issue with the culture of Twitter. And is hilarious to observe.

One extreme thinks we’ve now entered a utopia for free speech and this means conservatives will thrive now the oppressive libs are gone. The other extreme thinks we’ve arrived at a dystopia where ideas they disagree with is hateful and will make every supposed vulnerable group kill themselves. Except those in the vulnerable groups who aren't politically alligned with them of course.

I think Musk will make Twitter better. Or he'll atenmpt to, different question if he'll succeed. But the issue of online public discourse essentially being in the mercy of the whims of the super rich is not at all resolved.

Musk won't want a sewer of racist, homophobic, sexist discourse attached to his name though. People will continue to be banned - just maybe not Donald Trump.

Ultimately, Musk and Dorsey have pretty much the same views on the world. Very little will change.

Despite what was stated, Twitter was cesspit like that. It was a cesspit no doubt, but any study shows it was domianted by the Far Left. Progressive Activists, who are around 8% of the population, accounted for 50-70% of the posts on social media. The hard right also did account for disporportionate level of discourse. I believe also that 80% of twitter users never actually post either. The Hidden Tribes report explains this very well.

[eldanielfire]

I think Musk will make Twitter better.

By closing it?

That would work, but I doubt Musks pent 44 billion to do that. BUT it would be an icnredible troll.

I heard Musk says he will have the algorithm open source. That will help as people can examine and we can be informed how Twitter amplifies some voices and acts as an addicting agent. Another good idea would be to relase all their priors oen and how the techs changed them over the years for examination and what their impact was.

[laurent]

It is amusing watching the people who screamed 'it's a private company, they can do what they want' switch places with the free speech crowd

They can do what they want indeed. And a lot of users seem to be leaving (I left myspace before it became empty wasteland never joined creepy faecesbouc or any of it's subs)
(just the same I have not used amazon for a long time).
A company owned by a "libertarian" is not appealing to a lot of people with good reasons.

I don't really get this...what changes for the average user after this?

Is it really just "wahhh the owners don't think like me!!"?? Well, welcome to how normal people live, folks.

It's not a don't think like me. Musk has a dodgy record (like amazon has dodgy workers right record, Facebook is extremely dodgy history Myspace was (still ?) owned by Murdoch...)
Not using a company because It's a shit company / owned by a dodgy character is something every one does (even countries do it).

[I like neeps]

Indeed.

The Twitter freak-out from both the extreme Elon fanboys and the extreme "Elon is hate speech" crowds is illustrating exactly the issue with the culture of Twitter. And is hilarious to observe.

One extreme thinks we’ve now entered a utopia for free speech and this means conservatives will thrive now the oppressive libs are gone. The other extreme thinks we’ve arrived at a dystopia where ideas they disagree with is hateful and will make every supposed vulnerable group kill themselves. Except those in the vulnerable groups who aren't politically alligned with them of course.

I think Musk will make Twitter better. Or he'll atenmpt to, different question if he'll succeed. But the issue of online public discourse essentially being in the mercy of the whims of the super rich is not at all resolved.

Musk won't want a sewer of racist, homophobic, sexist discourse attached to his name though. People will continue to be banned - just maybe not Donald Trump.

Ultimately, Musk and Dorsey have pretty much the same views on the world. Very little will change.

Despite what was stated, Twitter was cesspit like that. It was a cesspit no doubt, but any study shows it was domianted by the Far Left. Progressive Activists, who are around 8% of the population, accounted for 50-70% of the posts on social media. The hard right also did account for disporportionate level of discourse. I believe also that 80% of twitter users never actually post either. The Hidden Tribes report explains this very well.

So what is Musk going to do about this? Unless he starts shutting down 'progressive activists' i.e. not allowing 'free speech' I presume absolutely nothing? Because twitter isn't in the business of shutting down right wing thinkers right now anyway.

This is just a recent example of an industrialist buying a newspaper. I bet they all did it with stated lofty goals and ideals but really he wants to control an information platform like they did.

[robmatic]

I think Musk will make Twitter better.

By closing it?

That would work, but I doubt Musks pent 44 billion to do that. BUT it would be an icnredible troll.

I heard Musk says he will have the algorithm open source. That will help as people can examine and we can be informed how Twitter amplifies some voices and acts as an addicting agent. Another good idea would be to relase all their priors oen and how the techs changed them over the years for examination and what their impact was.

Maybe he will go radical and not have an algorithm determine what is worthy of our attention.

[eldanielfire]

Musk won't want a sewer of racist, homophobic, sexist discourse attached to his name though. People will continue to be banned - just maybe not Donald Trump.

Ultimately, Musk and Dorsey have pretty much the same views on the world. Very little will change.

Despite what was stated, Twitter was cesspit like that. It was a cesspit no doubt, but any study shows it was domianted by the Far Left. Progressive Activists, who are around 8% of the population, accounted for 50-70% of the posts on social media. The hard right also did account for disporportionate level of discourse. I believe also that 80% of twitter users never actually post either. The Hidden Tribes report explains this very well.

So what is Musk going to do about this? Unless he starts shutting down 'progressive activists' i.e. not allowing 'free speech' I presume absolutely nothing? Because twitter isn't in the business of shutting down right wing thinkers right now anyway.

This is just a recent example of an industrialist buying a newspaper. I bet they all did it with stated lofty goals and ideals but really he wants to control an information platform like they did.

The cultural issue is tough to deal with. But you can create fair moderation and create algorithms that would discourage certain types of posts being boosted.

I assume by not having a twitter moderation policy that doesn't allow Progressive hate mobs to attack, what is usually women, and send them death threats whiel banning people of note who they politically disagree with. free speech of course doesn't include harrassment and the like. Enforce real free speech and the platform at least gains a sense of fairness and trust.

Jonathan Haidt had a good article recently explaining you can see social media go from inclusive to divisive in sudden turns. It was when Facebook created the like button, when Twitter did and when Twitter created the retweet button. All of which encourages the echo chamber effect and sense of power coupled with intolerance in the bubble you create. I doubt those will go, but there are ways around it over time.

[eldanielfire]

By closing it?

That would work, but I doubt Musks pent 44 billion to do that. BUT it would be an icnredible troll.

I heard Musk says he will have the algorithm open source. That will help as people can examine and we can be informed how Twitter amplifies some voices and acts as an addicting agent. Another good idea would be to relase all their priors oen and how the techs changed them over the years for examination and what their impact was.

Maybe he will go radical and not have an algorithm determine what is worthy of our attention.

Or a less domiante one that integrates variation to it.

[Fonz]

They can do what they want indeed. And a lot of users seem to be leaving (I left myspace before it became empty wasteland never joined creepy faecesbouc or any of it's subs)
(just the same I have not used amazon for a long time).
A company owned by a "libertarian" is not appealing to a lot of people with good reasons.

I don't really get this...what changes for the average user after this?

Is it really just "wahhh the owners don't think like me!!"?? Well, welcome to how normal people live, folks.

It's not a don't think like me. Musk has a dodgy record (like amazon has dodgy workers right record, Facebook is extremely dodgy history Myspace was (still ?) owned by Murdoch...)
Not using a company because It's a shit company / owned by a dodgy character is something every one does (even countries do it).

Our houses are probably full of stuff made by a litany of dodgy companies. That probably includes the very devices we're typing this on. Drawing the line at one place or the other, especially with one like Musk who, let's be honest, couldn't hold a candle to half the executives of the Fortune 500 in terms of dodginess, is just totally arbitrary.

If you didn't want to use certain companies because they've done illicit shit, you'd ultimately be reduced to living in a cardboard box in the woods.

The reason for the opposition among a certain subset of dweebs is obviously based on his (perceived) politics. Though I don't really get the impression Musk is that into politics anyway, and inasmuch as he is, his preferences are fairly normie and noncommittal in traditional left-right terms.

[Mahoney]

Maybe he will go radical and not have an algorithm determine what is worthy of our attention.

That is optional - you can click on the three stars and switch it to "Latest Tweets" and you'll just get all the tweets from the people you follow in time order (plus ads).

[Margin__Walker]

Maybe he will go radical and not have an algorithm determine what is worthy of our attention.

That is optional - you can click on the three stars and switch it to "Latest Tweets" and you'll just get all the tweets from the people you follow in time order (plus ads).

That is really annoying. Every now and again it will revert back to the algorithm view.

Twitter only works for me in time order. It's a tool for real time info. I don't care about a tweet from this morning.

[I like neeps]

Despite what was stated, Twitter was cesspit like that. It was a cesspit no doubt, but any study shows it was domianted by the Far Left. Progressive Activists, who are around 8% of the population, accounted for 50-70% of the posts on social media. The hard right also did account for disporportionate level of discourse. I believe also that 80% of twitter users never actually post either. The Hidden Tribes report explains this very well.

So what is Musk going to do about this? Unless he starts shutting down 'progressive activists' i.e. not allowing 'free speech' I presume absolutely nothing? Because twitter isn't in the business of shutting down right wing thinkers right now anyway.

This is just a recent example of an industrialist buying a newspaper. I bet they all did it with stated lofty goals and ideals but really he wants to control an information platform like they did.

The cultural issue is tough to deal with. But you can create fair moderation and create algorithms that would discourage certain types of posts being boosted.

I assume by not having a twitter moderation policy that doesn't allow Progressive hate mobs to attack, what is usually women, and send them death threats whiel banning people of note who they politically disagree with. free speech of course doesn't include harrassment and the like. Enforce real free speech and the platform at least gains a sense of fairness and trust.

Jonathan Haidt had a good article recently explaining you can see social media go from inclusive to divisive in sudden turns. It was when Facebook created the like button, when Twitter did and when Twitter created the retweet button. All of which encourages the echo chamber effect and sense of power coupled with intolerance in the bubble you create. I doubt those will go, but there are ways around it over time.

Sure you could have moderators who effectively ban everyone who threatens anyone ever on twitter but I doubt there's enough margin left on Elon's Tesla stock to hire them. The posts that get boosted are popular posts similar to ones you've engaged it. So what's the plan - boost popular or unpopular posts on topics you've never shown an interest in? For example, I use Twitter to follow Scottish rugby and the Pittsburgh Steelers. If they start boosting English rugby and the Baltimore Ravens to provide an alternate view I'll stop using it. So you could have algorithms that show right wing opinions to left wing people. But my guess is twitter loses eyeballs. I don't want to go on a platform I'm on to review my favourite topics and see something I haven't expressed an interest in. No business works to point customers to the opposite of what they want or provide services that go against their beliefs etc.

I'd be fine if you only saw tweets from who you follow and as Musk isn't going to make twitter for profit maybe you could have it so it's not addictive. But I very much doubt he's buying a tool of influence only to reduce the influence it has.

Sure, but echo chambers exist in every corner of life (you can mute people on here for example). You can remove the retweet or favourite button I guess and see what happens. But I don't think much of anything. People like echo chambers, as soon as twitter or Facebook or newspaper websites become less of an echo chamber they'll lose eyeballs. And people like the validation of a popular post.

[Mahoney]

Maybe he will go radical and not have an algorithm determine what is worthy of our attention.

That is optional - you can click on the three stars and switch it to "Latest Tweets" and you'll just get all the tweets from the people you follow in time order (plus ads).

That is really annoying. Every now and again it will revert back to the algorithm view.

Twitter only works for me in time order. It's a tool for real time info. I don't care about a tweet from this morning.

It hasn't reverted for me for months. They used to revert it periodically I agree.

[Kawazaki]

They can do what they want indeed. And a lot of users seem to be leaving (I left myspace before it became empty wasteland never joined creepy faecesbouc or any of it's subs)
(just the same I have not used amazon for a long time).
A company owned by a "libertarian" is not appealing to a lot of people with good reasons.

Hmm most of the people who say that they're leaving are completely addicted to the app, it's the 'if x wins the election I'm leaving the country' of the internet.

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

I've still got loads of pics stuck in photobucket

[laurent]

I don't really get this...what changes for the average user after this?

Is it really just "wahhh the owners don't think like me!!"?? Well, welcome to how normal people live, folks.

It's not a don't think like me. Musk has a dodgy record (like amazon has dodgy workers right record, Facebook is extremely dodgy history Myspace was (still ?) owned by Murdoch...)
Not using a company because It's a shit company / owned by a dodgy character is something every one does (even countries do it).

Our houses are probably full of stuff made by a litany of dodgy companies. That probably includes the very devices we're typing this on. Drawing the line at one place or the other, especially with one like Musk who, let's be honest, couldn't hold a candle to half the executives of the Fortune 500 in terms of dodginess, is just totally arbitrary.

If you didn't want to use certain companies because they've done illicit shit, you'd ultimately be reduced to living in a cardboard box in the woods.

The reason for the opposition among a certain subset of dweebs is obviously based on his (perceived) politics. Though I don't really get the impression Musk is that into politics anyway, and inasmuch as he is, his preferences are fairly normie and noncommittal in traditional left-right terms.

So you go back to the same shop that has overcharged you 10 times already just in case he won't do it once more ?

[JM2K6]

Tbf they said the same thing about Tumblr and that became a wasteland almost immediately as soon as new owners fucked with it

It was aways a wasteland wasn't it? Except they took the porn off which is what so many users were apparently using it for.

No, it was hugely popular. 500m page views per month before the ill-advised content change.

any study shows it was domianted by the Far Left. Progressive Activists, who are around 8% of the population, accounted for 50-70% of the posts on social media. The hard right also did account for disporportionate level of discourse. I believe also that 80% of twitter users never actually post either. The Hidden Tribes report explains this very well.

The Hidden Tribes report is a bit shaky(*) and disagrees with other studies, e.g. https://knightfoundation.org/wp-content ... rt1-v6.pdf

The center left is the largest segment present on Twitter by far. The extreme right is a distant second in size, followed by the center right and extreme left.

and as some right wing outlets pointed out, they also played silly buggers with how they counted traditional conservative Americans: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/c ... -majority/

So the “Exhausted Majority” consists of an American public from which America’s most left-wing 8 percent and most right-wing 25 percent have been removed — which is to say that it is a majority whose center is significantly to the left of the actual country’s center.
...
Anderson does not dismiss the report as devoid of interest. But anyone seeking to glean something about our country’s majority should keep in mind that the report has excluded three times as many Americans on the Right as on the Left.

The real problem with Twitter is absolutely not "it's dominated by the far left / far right". The problem is AI amplification of extremism, misinformation, and clicks-led bullshit.

* I remember reading this at the time, it's a decent article: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics ... vid-brooks

[notfatcat]

Fair point. I think twitter has a level of addiction that people will find hard to wean themselves off of. Musk letting Trump back on will drive traffic and outrage etc.

Indeed.

The Twitter freak-out from both the extreme Elon fanboys and the extreme "Elon is hate speech" crowds is illustrating exactly the issue with the culture of Twitter. And is hilarious to observe.

One extreme thinks we’ve now entered a utopia for free speech and this means conservatives will thrive now the oppressive libs are gone. The other extreme thinks we’ve arrived at a dystopia where ideas they disagree with is hateful and will make every supposed vulnerable group kill themselves. Except those in the vulnerable groups who aren't politically alligned with them of course.

I think Musk will make Twitter better. Or he'll atenmpt to, different question if he'll succeed. But the issue of online public discourse essentially being in the mercy of the whims of the super rich is not at all resolved.

Musk won't want a sewer of racist, homophobic, sexist discourse attached to his name though. People will continue to be banned - just maybe not Donald Trump.

Ultimately, Musk and Dorsey have pretty much the same views on the world. Very little will change.

New York Post - Hunter Biden - Twitter ban. That's the sort of stuff Musk will clamp down on I expect.

[Margin__Walker]

It hasn't reverted for me for months. They used to revert it periodically I agree.

Thinking about it, I've only had to reset it recently when I changed phones, so they have probably stopped doing that.

[Fonz]

So you go back to the same shop that has overcharged you 10 times already just in case he won't do it once more ?

Me? No. But we're not talking about wrongs done to the consumers. To take your example, I hate to say it but Amazon is a great company that gets quality shit to my door fast and cheap, and that's not gonna change no matter how many baby seals Jeff Bezos clubs in his spare time, and let's be honest it's probably a lot.

The whole point I made originally was that (for now) Musk hasn't done anything that would harm the Twatters themselves. If he does, like charging for use (which has been rumored) or just doing things that alter the experience, that changes things. Then I get why people would ditch it.

[Margin__Walker]

Big (realistic) improvement for me would be to crack down on bots somehow.