The Fate of Twitter

[OldPhiKap]

Absolutely, great shows!

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

I thankfully missed most of that, had to high-tail from Columbia SC from the Halloween show the night before. So many roads, so many roads….

[Jeffrey]

I thankfully missed most of that, had to high-tail from Columbia SC from the Halloween show the night before. So many roads, so many roads….

Ah-hoo, werewolves of London!

[OldPhiKap]

Ah-hoo, werewolves of London!

It was a very electric show, band and crowd. I’ll tell you a story if we ever get a chance to cross paths.

[acdevil]

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.

Reading this answer makes me understand your arguments in the crypto thread much better.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

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.

My understanding is that if someone opens a fake account, it gets reported, and Twitter takes away the checkmark and bans them, keeping the 8$. This offers a monetary penalty against that behavior by bots and scammers. Am I missing something?


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.

Maybe he bit off more than he could chew financially, but from his comments on Twitter, he doesn’t seem that worried to me. I guess time will tell.

[cato]

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

Or at least charm and stunning handsomeness.

[JasonEvans]

My understanding is that if someone opens a fake account, it gets reported, and Twitter takes away the checkmark and bans them, keeping the 8$. This offers a monetary penalty against that behavior by bots and scammers. Am I missing something?

Well, the damage is done by the time the account gets closed and banned. The $8 is actually not a disincentive at all both because it is a pretty trivial amount of money and because the moment Twitter locks your account, you can demand a refund of the $8 through your credit card company for Twitter failing to provide the service they promised for the $8.

Maybe he bit off more than he could chew financially, but from his comments on Twitter, he doesn’t seem that worried to me. I guess time will tell.

I'm not sure what comments of his you are reading, but I have seen him begging advertisers to stick around and he has bemoaned the financial state of the company in several Tweets. He has also told his employees that bankruptcy may be coming, a foolish business move as it encourages Twitter's best employees to flee as fast as they can.

None of that sounds like the actions of someone who "doesn't seem worried."

[-jk]

Hmm...

"Social media platform Twitter has halted its plans to build a crypto wallet as part of ongoing changes kick-started last week by its new owner, Elon Musk, the online publication Platformer wrote Thursday."

Bailing on crypto or looking for another angle?

I guess only the Top Twit knows.

-jk

[Wheat/"/"/"]

Hmm...

"Social media platform Twitter has halted its plans to build a crypto wallet as part of ongoing changes kick-started last week by its new owner, Elon Musk, the online publication Platformer wrote Thursday."

Bailing on crypto or looking for another angle?

I guess only the Top Twit knows.

-jk

He ditched the title Chief Twit and now goes by the title “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator”.

I’m seeing him comment and make plans to take action on all kinds of advice from users on how to improve the platform.

This guy thinks outside the box, there’s no telling what he might implement next.

[JasonEvans]

He ditched the title Chief Twit and now goes by the title “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator”.

I’m seeing him comment and make plans to take action on all kinds of advice from users on how to improve the platform.

This guy thinks outside the box, there’s no telling what he might implement next.

I will certainly concede that he has been wildly successful in a number of different arenas (you would be shocked at how many diverse companies he owns). While his start the past couple weeks at Twitter has been anything but smooth, it would not be a shock at all if he turns it into something even bigger and better than what it was.

Dude may be quirky and march to the beat of his own drummer, but he didn't just luck into being the richest person in the history of mankind.

[Kdogg]

Just thinking about the math. Twitter's total revenue last year was around $5 billion. How many people does Elon think will sign up to pay $8 a month to provide free content? The first 11 million would service just the debt. Lets be generous and say he's only lost 20% of advertisers. Well that requires another 11 million people. For context, the streaming service Peacock has just 15 million subscribers and it's only $5 a month. He would need 10% of his daily active users to start paying to be at the same place the company was a year ago.

He ditched the title Chief Twit and now goes by the title “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator”.

I’m seeing him comment and make plans to take action on all kinds of advice from users on how to improve the platform.

This guy thinks outside the box, there’s no telling what he might implement next.

I'm genuinely interested. As an active user, are you willing to pay for it?

[UrinalCake]

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

Did he get that with a subscription to BMG music?

[Wheat/"/"/"]

Well, the damage is done by the time the account gets closed and banned. The $8 is actually not a disincentive at all both because it is a pretty trivial amount of money and because the moment Twitter locks your account, you can demand a refund of the $8 through your credit card company for Twitter failing to provide the service they promised for the $8.

Bots and scammers had been opening fake accounts for no cost on Twitter, flooding the platform. The 8$ gets expensive quick if they are banned as soon as they get opened, which seems to be happening. Bot traffic seems less now than before he bought it, at least to me.
I saw where he was considering different color checkmarks for different users…public figures blue, business orange, politicians green, athletes red, etc…as long as the platform aggressively deletes fake accounts as reported, we should have confidence in those with checkmarks we follow.

I'm not sure what comments of his you are reading, but I have seen him begging advertisers to stick around and he has bemoaned the financial state of the company in several Tweets. He has also told his employees that bankruptcy may be coming, a foolish business move as it encourages Twitter's best employees to flee as fast as they can.

None of that sounds like the actions of someone who "doesn't seem worried."

He’s making long range plans for the platform, so he must think he will keep it for a while, right?

[Wheat/"/"/"]

I will certainly concede that he has been wildly successful in a number of different arenas (you would be shocked at how many diverse companies he owns). While his start the past couple weeks at Twitter has been anything but smooth, it would not be a shock at all if he turns it into something even bigger and better than what it was.

Dude may be quirky and march to the beat of his own drummer, but he didn't just luck into being the richest person in the history of mankind.

I agree. Let’s see what he does with Twitter before judging him on success, or failure.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

I'm genuinely interested. As an active user, are you willing to pay for it?

Probably not, at least until there’s services available that I would deem worth 8$ a month.

I don’t see a need to be verified, so I’ll just be a follower.

[Jeffrey]

It was a very electric show, band and crowd. I’ll tell you a story if we ever get a chance to cross paths.

Sounds good; I’m looking forward to it.

[LasVegas]

I don’t even use the twitter app. I use Tweetbot. No ads and a better timeline!

[JasonEvans]

Bots and scammers had been opening fake accounts for no cost on Twitter, flooding the platform. The 8$ gets expensive quick if they are banned as soon as they get opened, which seems to be happening. Bot traffic seems less now than before he bought it, at least to me.
I saw where he was considering different color checkmarks for different users…public figures blue, business orange, politicians green, athletes red, etc…as long as the platform aggressively deletes fake accounts as reported, we should have confidence in those with checkmarks we follow.

I agree that the verification check mark thing will be pretty easy to fix. It has created an amusing diversion thus far that shows the unintended consequences of tinkering without really thinking through all the possibilities. I will say that tinkering like that is not exactly what I would want from a corporate leader. It isn't a good look.

More importantly, I don't see anyone saying that the "for a fee" check marks are going to create a meaningful revenue stream for the company. That is the whole reason Elon began tinkering with this, to get more cash flow. I doubt it provides much relief at all in that regard. I am yet to run into anyone who says they will be willing to pay $8/month for a verification check mark.

[Matches]

I don’t even use the twitter app. I use Tweetbot. No ads and a better timeline!

Same. Tweetbot is a far superior experience.

[burnspbesq]

But what happens when some jerk impersonates a government official

It would be the best kind of poetic justice if somebody were to impersonate the FTC and say that the agency was making a criminal referral over violations of the consent decree.