The Fate of Twitter

[Matches]

Who will catch them? All of the people capable of doing that have been fired or quit..

A fair point, and one becoming more salient by the day. Same applies to the technical work of just keeping it running. They’ve lost a ton of institutional memory as well as manpower and expertise in the last two weeks.

[CameronBlue]

Ah, the oh-so-casual sporker that can't remember your handle in the morning. Nice.

Yes but don't overlook the intense sincerity of the moment...however passions might be inflamed.

[dudog84]

The problem is that in the past, those types of things would have been easy to spot, because of the verification system.

Musk altered the verification system so that anyone who pays $8 can create a verified account.

Anyone doing so fraudulently is violating Twitter’s TOS, and Twitter will catch them and delete the account - at some point. But how much damage is done in the interim? Musk’s misunderstanding and alteration of the verification system has made it much easier for bad actors and scammers to reach a larger audience, appear more credible, and do real damage.

I'm shocked! Shocked, I say. A rich guy buying a company and thinking he knows more than everyone who has worked there for years? Shocked!

[Jeffrey]

I quit FB awhile back so can’t comment on what it’s like now. Twitter has, IMO, been superior to FB as a news source. It’s more immediate and there are fewer made-up memes circulating amongst the credulous. You could curate your Twitter pretty effectively to only follow legit and reliable news sources, whereas you probably can’t avoid your lunatic uncle’s white nationalist posts on FB.

Making it harder to tell who is who on Twitter undermines all of that.

Thanks for the education! In the end, I might be glad I avoided both.

[Jeffrey]

Yes but don't overlook the intense sincerity of the moment...however passions might be inflamed.

Is that the 81.00 Woodford Reserve talking?

[bundabergdevil]

Yes but don't overlook the intense sincerity of the moment...however passions might be inflamed.

Hey, I can't spork you either but appreciate the love. Hope you find God at the bottom of that glass!

[Kdogg]

What are the loan terms? Given your statement, he must have refused to provide any collateral. And, that’s very interesting and revealing.

Annual interest payment of $1 Billion on $12.7 Billion, so not good. Even for uncollateralized loans, that’s extremely high. I would not be surprised if the terms require a balloon payment in 12 to 24 months. Those type of loans aren’t built to be long. He would have been so much better off if he didn’t delay the purchase. If this closed in spring the interest would be less, he wouldn’t have his legal bills and he wouldn’t have Twitter’s legal bill (or conversely the money they paid out).

[OldPhiKap]

Free legal advice:

Don’t smoke dope and then enter into binding contracts while high.

[duke79]

Free legal advice:

Don’t smoke dope and then enter into binding contracts while high.

ALWAYS good advice!

[acdevil]

Stay away from Infomercials as well. That’s how my roommate ended up with the six disc Totally 90s collection.

[Jeffrey]

Free legal advice:

Don’t smoke dope and then enter into binding contracts while high.

We could have us a high time, living the good life, well I know.

[MChambers]

I really have the feeling that Twitter is going quickly. Musk fired so many, and discouraged so many more, that the company is truly screwed. Advertisers are fleeing, so revenue will drop. Systems problems are likely. See this article here: https://www.technologyreview.com/202...-coming-weeks/

Someone on Twitter said, “If I bought something for $44 and broke it the first week, I’d be upset.” Pretty well sums it up.

Oh, and the FTC can’t be happy. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...er/ar-AA13YGmR

Also, lots of folks I follow have opened Mastodon accounts.

[OldPhiKap]

We could have us a high time, living the good life, well I know.

Don’t be that way.

[Jeffrey]

Annual interest payment of $1 Billion on $12.7 Billion, so not good. Even for uncollateralized loans, that’s extremely high.

Not sure 7.9% is an extremely high unsecured rate in November 2022. I wouldn’t want that paper.

[Jeffrey]

Don’t be that way.

You told me goodbye, how was I to know?

[Wheat/"/"/"]

It’s potentially going to be dangerous at some point.

It’s all well and good to laugh off a fake Lebron account saying he wants out of Los Angeles.

But what happens when some jerk impersonates a government official and says that everyone needs to evacuate an area? Or countless other awful scenarios.

That issue predates Musk.

He’s aggressively attacking the problem by charging 8$ with his Blue Checkmark plan to verify accounts, and he’s already deleted and banned accounts of people impersonating others.

The guy has owned Twitter for what, less than two weeks? I’m willing to give him time to address some of the problems Twitter has had in the past and I’m interested in his ideas on how to make it better.

[OldPhiKap]

You told me goodbye, how was I to know?

Saw this a few times, none better than Richmond 11.1.85. You there for those two?

[Jeffrey]

Saw this a few times, none better than Richmond 11.1.85. You there for those two?

Absolutely, great shows!

OTOH, it was a total setup for the Richmond PD! Man, they arrested hundreds both nights.

[Matches]

That issue predates Musk.
.

It does not. Fake accounts have been around forever - Musk has allowed them to at least temporarily become “verified” by paying $8.

Pre-Musk if you saw a blue check you had an assurance that the person/ entity was who they said they were. Now you have assurance that whoever runs the account paid $8. That isn’t better.

[JasonEvans]

That issue predates Musk.

Ummm, no it didn't. Old Twitter had a system where verified sources got a check mark so you would know to trust them. Stuff coming from accounts without a check mark drew far, far more scrutiny. Musk changed the system and now anyone who wants to can get a check mark for $8. The inability of the public to differentiate true accounts from fake ones is the major problem right now and that problem is 100% Musk's doing.

The guy has owned Twitter for what, less than two weeks? I’m willing to give him time to address some of the problems Twitter has had in the past and I’m interested in his ideas on how to make it better.

It is nice that you are willing to give him time but... well... you don't really matter. The folks who matter are:

• the bankers and investors who loaned him money
• the regulators who demand compliance and can shut you down for failure to comply
• the talented employees who built and maintain what is a very complex architecture of programming
• and the advertisers who provide Twitter with the cash flow to survive

There is a pretty good bit of evidence that those folks are not showing nearly the same level of patience as you. And that is a potentially fatal problem for Twitter.