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If Musk acquires Twitter, I will likely be deleting my account. Am I the only one? Would his acquisition spell the beginning of the end for Twitter?
by andersco 4y ago
If Musk acquires Twitter, I will likely be deleting my account. Am I the only one? Would his acquisition spell the beginning of the end for Twitter?
- seattle_spring 4y agoIf it turns into a 4chan-esque dumping ground (sorry, I mean "bastion of free speech") then yes I definitely would stop using Twitter.
- refurb 4y agoIt kind of already is? I mean, jesus, just read the replies from any political post by damn near anyone who is slightly Twitter famous. It's absolute trash heaped upon burning trash heaped upon dog shit.
- askafriend 4y agoSeems a little dramatic to delete your account, don't you think?
- andersco 4y agoIt really depends on if he follows through on what he is proposing, which seems to be to allow for disinformation and hate speech. If that turns out to not be the case, then I might reconsider.
- wellthatsawrap 4y agoYes. The current information coming from Twatter is is perfectly accurate.
- rb666 4y agoSo making it far worse is a good plan?
- wellthatsawrap 4y agoHow can it be worse? If all Elon did was buy it, fire everyone and liquidate the assets it would be an improvement. Twitter as it stands today is a tool that is being used by nefarious actors to shape the narrative in the US. This is a fact. It's a massive gaslighting and astroturfing operation.
- influx 4y agoCan you point to a source that claims that is what he intends to do? If not, seems like you are the one spewing disinformation.
- andersco 4y agoI would suggest googling “Elon Musk Twitter legal speech” - this was one of the top results https://theconversation.com/amp/if-elon-musk-succeeds-in-his-twitter-takeover-it-would-restrict-rather-than-promote-free-speech-181576 https://theconversation.com/amp/if-elon-musk-succeeds-in-his...
- raspberry1337 4y agoA professor somewhere thinks legal speech will restrict speech?! Oh my! That settles it!
- panick21_ 4y agoHe also said he wanted to make far more accounts with verified identity and he wants to fight bots. Fighting bots seems to me the opposite of 'allow disinformation'. Also, are we currently blocking people for pushing disinformation? Did I miss something?
- assttoasstmgr 4y agoIt's not disinformation if you agree with the bots politically. Gotta keep that dopamine raging somehow. Also I've lost count of how much of last year's 'disinformation' became this year's 'that totally happened'.
- panick21_ 4y agoWell, whatever but bots are just generally bat and annoying. The platform would be better without them.
- assttoasstmgr 4y agoOh, absolutely. The platform is overrun with bots. Here's an interesting exercise to try: search for a unique phrase on Twitter and see how many results you get that are posting verbatim copypasta from seemingly "unique" accounts, especially around popular trending topics. Detecting this should not be too difficult I imagine.
- madeofpalk 4y ago"generally bad and annoying" breaks whatever ideal of 'free speech' one might have. The most concrete thing Musk has said is "twitter should just follow the laws of countries", but spam bots are not illegal - USPS cannot unilaterally ban junk mail because that breaks the first amendment Interviewer: You've described yourself, Elon, as a free speech absolutist, but does that mean that there's literally nothing that people can't say and it's okay? Musk: Well, I think obviously Twitter or any forum is bound by the laws of the country that it operates in. So obviously there are some limitations on free speech in the US, and, of course, Twitter would have to abide by those rules. [...] No, I think, like I said, in my view Twitter should match the laws of the country Quite a struggle for an international website, where the majority of users are outside of the US, to just say "we should follow the laws of countries" as if there's one single internationally compatible law for that.
- FFRefresh 4y agoHow do you currently measure the amount of disinformation and hate speech on Twitter's platform? And how do you define those terms currently? I can promise you, no matter what he does, people/sites you follow will likely extol how terrible the platform has gotten with disinformation/hate speech, even if he does nothing. How will you protect against that negativity bias? Do you have an objective way to know whether it's gotten worse or not, or are you going to rely on anecdotes from the sources you follow?
- assttoasstmgr 4y ago>If that turns out to not be the case, then I might reconsider. It seems rather narcissistic to think that deleting your account would be of any consequence or inflict punishment on anyone. To put it bluntly, someone farting in their own car on the highway (and potentially soiling themselves, getting distracted, and causing a chain-reaction accident) has a greater potential impact to future events than whatever irrelevant drivel you (or I, or anyone) posts on Twitter.
- altacc 4y agoOne deleted account is nothing. Many deleted accounts changes the companies value and ability to profit from advertising. Netflix's current woes are not just about subscriber numbers but the numbers didn't have to go down much to make an impact & focus attention on their challenges.
- assttoasstmgr 4y agoThat will never happen in sufficient volume to make any meaningful impact. I predict roughly the same amount of cancelled Twitter accounts as those that cancelled their Spotify accounts (and proudly announced doing so to their 8 followers on Twitter) after the whole Joe Rogan kerfuffle. Apparently Rogan gained 2M subscribers in the aftermath. [1] For better or worse, Twitter has become the de-facto town square. The clones have tried and failed because the momentum to move sufficient numbers en masse just isn't there. Do you honestly believe that Musk is such an unpleasant figure that hoards of people would suddenly leave the platform? Where would they go? A digital Jonestown? [1] https://news.yahoo.com/joe-rogan-says-gained-2-122749909.html https://news.yahoo.com/joe-rogan-says-gained-2-122749909.htm...
- altacc 4y agoI don't know what will happen if Musk takes over but I've seen enough platforms disappear to know that their long term longevity is not something I'd bet real money on. Every collapsed empire at one time looked immortal.
- 4y ago
- EMM_386 4y ago> It really depends on if he follows through on what he is proposing, which seems to be to allow for disinformation and hate speech. If you have to put a real, verified name behind these posts, at least that can cut into the massive bot armies spreading disinformation and the massive foreign spending that goes into amplifying all of it. Then you would have the benefits of a free speech platform while preventing it from becoming a psunami of noise. You have to stand behind what you say, because your real name is on it. True, we do have politicians and others trying to spin destructive narratives and spread falsehoods, but it is their right in the United States to do so, as long as it does not run awfoul of existing laws. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1517215066550116354 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1517215066550116354
- madeofpalk 4y agoRequiring "Real Name" (and making it public) is an incredibly privileged position that immediately destroys the website for a significant amount of people. Anonymity is very valuable, especially for some of societies' most vulnerable, who should have a place on social media.
- refurb 4y agoExactly. If Musk has his way it'll be nothing but people picking quarrels and provoking trouble. We can't have that.
- influx 4y agoYes, you are the only one.
- andersco 4y agoI can see the headline now: “The one lone user who deleted his Twitter account after Elon Musk’s acquisition”
- hedora 4y agoWhy one user joined uncounted others that deleted Twitter account in aftermath of Tesla Baron's hostile acquisition bid. FTFY.
- happytoexplain 4y agoThe tone of these two comments is pretty amazing to me, on HN (not including dead comments). I don't see what the GP did to deserve such snide mockery.
- newsclues 4y agoWhy is Elon worse than the KSA (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Jamal_Khashoggi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Jamal_Khash...)?
- psychlops 4y agoFirst I'd need to create one.
- bombcar 4y agoCreate two so you can delete both of them!
- throw_m239339 4y agoIf Musk acquires Twitter, I will likely create a Twitter account. > Am I the only one? Would his acquisition spell the beginning of the end for Twitter? And for all Twitter blue checks to go where? Tik Tok?
- ipaddr 4y agoNo.. but there might be an exodus of people like yourself offset by others onboarding.
- andersco 4y agoThe downvotes in response to my question seems to imply a lot of people think a Musk acquisition would be a good thing. Maybe list some of the reasons why?
- mrfusion 4y agoFree speech, A truer town square to debate important issues, Remove bots, add new features, a fresh take on how to raise profits, better management, and he even mentioned building a homeless shelter in their HQ.
- jayd16 4y agoWe're back to believing Elon's promises because...?
- youngtaff 4y agoWhat’s free speech? Twitter can be a pretty hostile place if you’re not a white straight man, can’t see Musk making it any betters for those people who are currently harrassed fir being women, queer or colored
- systemvoltage 4y ago> Twitter can be a pretty hostile place if you’re not a white straight man I've never seen that. I've been a Twitter user since 2009.
- heroicdanger 4y agoThe internet is a hostile place for everybody. Your race and gender is irrelevant.
- polski-g 4y ago> Twitter can be a pretty hostile place if you’re not a white straight man On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.
- smegma2 4y ago
- mlindner 4y agoWhy post about it? You're welcome to do it. Personally I'd wait to see what Musk has planned. He'll obviously tweet about it.
- notacoward 4y agoMaybe not the day of the sale, but at the first whiff of him actually influencing policy I'd start shifting my social-media attention elsewhere. I already see more than enough shallow techno-feudalist opinionating on a certain other site, so I don't need Twitter heading (further) that way too.
- x3n0ph3n3 4y agoDid you also move to Canada when Trump became president?
- jokethrowaway 4y agoI think I'll be creating one (having deleted mine ages ago). That would make Twitter the only big tech company with free speech as a core issue. Nowadays even small tech like DuckDuckGo is actively cherry picking which propaganda to display.
- thatjoeoverthr 4y agoI might bring my account back.
- tux1968 4y agoAs long as he follows through with the idea of a more open platform, with reduced censorship of unpopular people and ideas, I'd create an account. It would be a hopeful sign that freedom of expression isn't on a death march. And not that it would be easy, but I'd probably end up listening more often to people I disagree with.
- Hadriel 4y agoI'd bring my account back
- adamrezich 4y agojust like all those Americans who totally ended up moving to Canada after the 2016 election like they said they would
- kamranjon 4y agoNot sure if joking but I know a number of people who actually did this.
- rzz3 4y agoWhy? What I’m earth changes the next day? I’d you enjoy Twitter, use it. If it stops bringing you joy, stop using it. I, on the other hand, already dislike Twitter and may very well give it another chance under new leadership. But it’s just a social media account, everything doesn’t need to be some kind of statement. If you want to delete it, just do it, we don’t all need to hear about it.
- sascha_sl 4y agoWhat changes? The guy posting the position of Elon's jet is banned, obviously. And I'm sure he'd be petty enough to take a swipe at Chelsea Manning too, if not publically then using all dark pattern moderation tools available.
- corobo 4y agoI don't even know who owns/CEOs it now. I'll be there with popcorn to see what happens but nah I doubt my usage of Twitter will change unless the platform goes boring first
- gadders 4y agoIt looks like he is having a positive effect already and he hasn't even bought the company yet.
- MrMan 4y agoI don't have the ability to downvote I have too little Karma after so many years but I have to ask why care about Twitter? It seems like a waste of time.
- gadders 4y agoHey Andersco - have you deleted your account now?