4 ms·

Twitter is a weapon. its economic condition is only secondary in consideration IMHO.

bobobob420 5y ago
Twitter is not a weapon. Most of the world does not give a hoot about anything that is going on twitter. You might get some new come up in celebrity gossip but that's really about it
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- mcguire 5y ago
  The period between the Arab Spring and Jan, 2021, seems to argue otherwise, no?
- DevKoala 5y ago
  It does matter. A lot of people live in a bubble in which Twitter’s loudest voices are a reflection of the “common sense”. That is why so many governments monitor it.
- robonerd 5y ago
  Most people in the world don't have subscriptions to the NYTimes, but the influence of that newspaper seems undeniable. Percentage of the global population paying attention seems like a poor measure of influence, not least because actual influence is not fairly distributed through the global populations. Influence over 100 US senators counts for much more than influence over 100 US plumbers.
- 2pEXgD0fZ5cF 5y ago
  > Most of the world does not give a hoot Correct, but journalists, politicians and companies do, which is all it needs. Twitter has been way more influential than it deserves to be for a while now.
aNoob7000 5y ago
Let me add some detail to your comment. Twitter is a media weapon, and Musk knows this. This is a platform for Musk to push his agenda.
- markus_zhang 5y ago
  Yes, and it's a special weapon such that the more successful one operates it, the more revenue ot generates. A lot better than say missiles for a non violent option.
- bombcar 5y ago
  If you recognize something is a weapon, you will want to prevent it being used against you, AND potentially want to use it yourself against someone else. They usually go together but not always. You could want people to not have guns without yourself wanting a gun, for example, but still feel "if there's a gun, I want it to be in my control."
- ralusek 5y ago
  He wants to open the platform and add transparency features to the actions the platform takes. He also wants to open source the algorithm. Why is it that people that have an agenda assume that steps towards neutrality are simply an opposing agenda?
  - jayd16 5y ago
    Everything is an agenda even if you like the agenda.
  - hackerfromthefu 5y ago
    People with an agenda may not be honest in what they say in their indignation, either consciously or unconsciously.
soheil 5y ago
Is HN a weapon too?

Twitter is not a weapon. Most of the world does not give a hoot about anything that is going on twitter. You might get some new come up in celebrity gossip but that's really about it

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
mcguire 5y ago
The period between the Arab Spring and Jan, 2021, seems to argue otherwise, no?
DevKoala 5y ago
It does matter. A lot of people live in a bubble in which Twitter’s loudest voices are a reflection of the “common sense”. That is why so many governments monitor it.
robonerd 5y ago
Most people in the world don't have subscriptions to the NYTimes, but the influence of that newspaper seems undeniable. Percentage of the global population paying attention seems like a poor measure of influence, not least because actual influence is not fairly distributed through the global populations. Influence over 100 US senators counts for much more than influence over 100 US plumbers.
2pEXgD0fZ5cF 5y ago
> Most of the world does not give a hoot Correct, but journalists, politicians and companies do, which is all it needs. Twitter has been way more influential than it deserves to be for a while now.

aNoob7000 5y ago

Let me add some detail to your comment. Twitter is a media weapon, and Musk knows this. This is a platform for Musk to push his agenda.

markus_zhang 5y ago
Yes, and it's a special weapon such that the more successful one operates it, the more revenue ot generates. A lot better than say missiles for a non violent option.
bombcar 5y ago
If you recognize something is a weapon, you will want to prevent it being used against you, AND potentially want to use it yourself against someone else. They usually go together but not always. You could want people to not have guns without yourself wanting a gun, for example, but still feel "if there's a gun, I want it to be in my control."
ralusek 5y ago
He wants to open the platform and add transparency features to the actions the platform takes. He also wants to open source the algorithm. Why is it that people that have an agenda assume that steps towards neutrality are simply an opposing agenda?
- jayd16 5y ago
  Everything is an agenda even if you like the agenda.
- hackerfromthefu 5y ago
  People with an agenda may not be honest in what they say in their indignation, either consciously or unconsciously.

soheil 5y ago

Is HN a weapon too?