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Oh man, I’m usually not one for drama, but I really want this deal to go through. I don’t use twitter and as such don’t really care if it implodes, but from wha

Oh man, I’m usually not one for drama, but I really want this deal to go through. I don’t use twitter and as such don’t really care if it implodes, but from what I’ve heard twitter has been a cesspool of negativity for a while now and on a slow but steady downtrend in general. I’m sure Musk will try anything to recoup his investment, so it’ll either go out with a bang, or he somehow manages to pull a rabbit out of his hat and actually turn twitter around. Though I don’t think that’s very likely. Either way it’ll be a fun pastime to follow the unfolding of it.

qwertox 4y ago
I like Twitter for all it's spaceflight related stuff from NASA and ESA, DLR and others, where live streams can only occur in form of text and photo updates. I couldn't think of a replacement platform for this use case. Or current news events for which the press is to slow to publish, or where they quote Twitter as the source, like today's "Fuck you" message, which is something which might make it into some history books. Sometimes some IT related posts are interesting, from people who are at the source or generally have a very good understanding of the topic. I never scroll my "feed" or whatever they call it.
- dragontamer 4y ago
  It'd be nice if we all went back to RSS readers, methinks.
  - stjohnswarts 4y ago
    I would posit that 98% of the public didn't use RSS tho, and I think that's a conservative number.
    - owisd 4y ago
      If you count podcasts it would be a lot less than that. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine under the right conditions a (micro)blogging equivalent of Apple Podcasts could take off.
      - dragontamer 4y ago
        You mean Tiktok / Youtube shorts?
stjohnswarts 4y ago
Stock up on the popcorn because once he lets the nutters loose on twitter to say anything and everything they want without limit other than a direct personal threat to someone or directly advocating terrorist actions, it's gonna be a real shit hole. That is if he wants to watch his $44 billion go up in smoke, no sane person will stay there amongst the nuts and Q's
- nullc 4y ago
  > other than a direct personal threat to someon twitter limiting direct personal threats would be a welcome change.
- ajvs 4y ago
  It's already a woke echo chamber. Anything he can do to change that will make it less of a shithole.
- amadeuspagel 4y ago
  I'm sure this kind of thing feels emotionally satisfying to say, but if you think about it for a moment, it doesn't make any sense. It's like saying that RSS is a shit hole, that no one will want to use a feed reader "amongst the nuts and Q's".
  - MrDresden 4y ago
    One is an open protocol, the other a closed ecosystem. So that example doesn't really hold up.
    - amadeuspagel 4y ago
      This comment honestly reads like you reached for the first difference between twitter and RSS you could think of. "No comparison to be made." Really? A lot of people use twitter and RSS for the same purpose, but there's "no comparison to be made"?
      - propertymagnate 4y ago
endorphinbomber 4y ago
Maybe get some first hand information on something before wishing to blow it up because someone told you it's bad? Never understood people taking joy and having fun watching others work get ripped apart.
- Version467 4y ago
  Huh? Just because I don't use twitter doesn't mean that it's a foreign website to me. It's basically impossible to completely avoid interacting with it. Tweets are embedded everywhere, twitter threads get screenshotted and shared on reddit or in youtube videos and every now and again there's an interesting submission on hn that links directly to twitter. I really don't need to use it regularly to know that it's filled with endless "hot takes" designed to aggravate instead of inviting meaningful discussion. The way twitter works actively promotes negativity, which is precisely why I don't use it. Also, I didn't never use it, I left the platform because of the above mentioned reasons. I'm aware that twitter provides plenty of value for plenty of people and that it is very possible to curate your twitter experience in a way that avoids most of the negativity. But if twitter blows up there will be alternatives where the same people can derive the same value from. And in the meantime I will absolutely enjoy a billionaire megalomaniac getting fleeced because he couldn't control is impulses.
  - valtism 4y ago
    I mean, if you just browse website picking out hot-takes and negativity from twitter, maybe it's not twitter that is the drain, but the websites that you visit that amplify those people. I use twitter a lot to stay up to date on tech and follower developers. Your feed is what you make it, and if you curate it to only follow decent people you don't have to read all of the arguments and politics that happen on other parts of the site.
- BatteryMountain 4y ago
  Society has been worse off since it got popular, it's a sewer spewing garbage at us in small chunks. I for one wish it implodes and cannot wait for that day. I don't care who built it, who owns it or how much it is worth on paper. It needs to go. And tiktok too, its the twitter for video. Cannot understand how any rational person can defend either one. Probably because attention span got destroyed so cannot remember life without it. Everyone moans about centralization and screams "The internet is dead / the internet is 5 companies".... well if it implodes, maybe people will start writing proper blogs/arguments/documentation again and not try to make everything digestible in 15 seconds by the dumbest persons. I wish that twitter will ban all politics/politicians off of it and push science topics instead. Ever since politicians hopped onto twitter, it's been a nightmare to be exposed to their thinking patterns and lies. I don't/won' get joy from these platforms disappearing...it would be relief.

qwertox 4y ago

I like Twitter for all it's spaceflight related stuff from NASA and ESA, DLR and others, where live streams can only occur in form of text and photo updates. I couldn't think of a replacement platform for this use case. Or current news events for which the press is to slow to publish, or where they quote Twitter as the source, like today's "Fuck you" message, which is something which might make it into some history books. Sometimes some IT related posts are interesting, from people who are at the source or generally have a very good understanding of the topic. I never scroll my "feed" or whatever they call it.

dragontamer 4y ago
It'd be nice if we all went back to RSS readers, methinks.
- stjohnswarts 4y ago
  I would posit that 98% of the public didn't use RSS tho, and I think that's a conservative number.
  - owisd 4y ago
    If you count podcasts it would be a lot less than that. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine under the right conditions a (micro)blogging equivalent of Apple Podcasts could take off.
    - dragontamer 4y ago
      You mean Tiktok / Youtube shorts?

stjohnswarts 4y ago

Stock up on the popcorn because once he lets the nutters loose on twitter to say anything and everything they want without limit other than a direct personal threat to someone or directly advocating terrorist actions, it's gonna be a real shit hole. That is if he wants to watch his $44 billion go up in smoke, no sane person will stay there amongst the nuts and Q's

nullc 4y ago
> other than a direct personal threat to someon twitter limiting direct personal threats would be a welcome change.
ajvs 4y ago
It's already a woke echo chamber. Anything he can do to change that will make it less of a shithole.
amadeuspagel 4y ago
I'm sure this kind of thing feels emotionally satisfying to say, but if you think about it for a moment, it doesn't make any sense. It's like saying that RSS is a shit hole, that no one will want to use a feed reader "amongst the nuts and Q's".
- MrDresden 4y ago
  One is an open protocol, the other a closed ecosystem. So that example doesn't really hold up.
  - amadeuspagel 4y ago
    This comment honestly reads like you reached for the first difference between twitter and RSS you could think of. "No comparison to be made." Really? A lot of people use twitter and RSS for the same purpose, but there's "no comparison to be made"?
    - propertymagnate 4y ago

endorphinbomber 4y ago

Maybe get some first hand information on something before wishing to blow it up because someone told you it's bad? Never understood people taking joy and having fun watching others work get ripped apart.

Version467 4y ago
Huh? Just because I don't use twitter doesn't mean that it's a foreign website to me. It's basically impossible to completely avoid interacting with it. Tweets are embedded everywhere, twitter threads get screenshotted and shared on reddit or in youtube videos and every now and again there's an interesting submission on hn that links directly to twitter. I really don't need to use it regularly to know that it's filled with endless "hot takes" designed to aggravate instead of inviting meaningful discussion. The way twitter works actively promotes negativity, which is precisely why I don't use it. Also, I didn't never use it, I left the platform because of the above mentioned reasons. I'm aware that twitter provides plenty of value for plenty of people and that it is very possible to curate your twitter experience in a way that avoids most of the negativity. But if twitter blows up there will be alternatives where the same people can derive the same value from. And in the meantime I will absolutely enjoy a billionaire megalomaniac getting fleeced because he couldn't control is impulses.
- valtism 4y ago
  I mean, if you just browse website picking out hot-takes and negativity from twitter, maybe it's not twitter that is the drain, but the websites that you visit that amplify those people. I use twitter a lot to stay up to date on tech and follower developers. Your feed is what you make it, and if you curate it to only follow decent people you don't have to read all of the arguments and politics that happen on other parts of the site.
BatteryMountain 4y ago
Society has been worse off since it got popular, it's a sewer spewing garbage at us in small chunks. I for one wish it implodes and cannot wait for that day. I don't care who built it, who owns it or how much it is worth on paper. It needs to go. And tiktok too, its the twitter for video. Cannot understand how any rational person can defend either one. Probably because attention span got destroyed so cannot remember life without it. Everyone moans about centralization and screams "The internet is dead / the internet is 5 companies".... well if it implodes, maybe people will start writing proper blogs/arguments/documentation again and not try to make everything digestible in 15 seconds by the dumbest persons. I wish that twitter will ban all politics/politicians off of it and push science topics instead. Ever since politicians hopped onto twitter, it's been a nightmare to be exposed to their thinking patterns and lies. I don't/won' get joy from these platforms disappearing...it would be relief.