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The key quote which other comments are overlooking: > Here are some examples: you can write as many polite letters to advertisers as you want, but you cannot r

The key quote which other comments are overlooking: > Here are some examples: you can write as many polite letters to advertisers as you want, but you cannot reasonably expect to collect any meaningful advertising revenue if you do not promise those advertisers “brand safety.” That means you have to ban racism, sexism, transphobia, and all kinds of other speech that is totally legal in the United States but reveals people to be total assholes. So you can make all the promises about “free speech” you want, but the dull reality is that you still have to ban a bunch of legal speech if you want to make money. And when you start doing that, your creepy new right-wing fanboys are going to viciously turn on you, just like they turn on every other social network that realizes the same essential truth. The one thing that can be counted on Elon doing is Elon doing what makes him the most money.

lastofthemojito 4y ago
Elon has also talked about open sourcing "the algorithm" or letting people customize the algorithm that suggests content for them, etc. I suspect that plays in here - by default, Twitter users (and unauthenticated browsers) will probably continue to see Twitter the same way as today, with relatively safe, moderated content. Logged-in folks will also have the option to go into unmoderated mode, which will drop you into the cesspool if you so desire. Presumably respectable companies will only advertise on the default layer; ads in the cesspool will be for "edgy" t-shirt companies and extremist politicians and others who don't care about their brand being displayed next to questionable content (or prefer it!). Illegal content of course must continue to be moderated regardless.
- ilyt 4y ago
  Well, giving users of social media tools to filter stuff they want to see themselves rather than making site's moderators be moral guardians of the site (lmao) is certainly a better approach.
ThrowawayR2 4y ago
To play the devil's advocate: So why haven't advertisers abandoned Fox News? As long as Musk limits his newly acquired toy to being no worse than Fox News (which is plenty bad!), he can still keep advertising dollars coming in.
- zach_garwood 4y ago
  There are some outrageous takes on Fox News sometimes, and advertisers do abandon certain talking heads from time to time. But Fox isn't non-stop firehose of bile. Twitter is by default, even with it's current moderation. It's already worse than Fox News.
- uni_rule 4y ago
  Because Fox News is stable, banal, they play the respectability card. Internet users on the other hand can be fucking volatile. Advertisers don't care how hot the takes are on cable news, they just want to sell shit to the elderly, they do care if their ads are placed around overt fascists because that's where their association attracts bad press. Same thing that happened to Youtube in 2017. People gave a bunch of large brands bad mainstream press because their ads played on fringe/conspiratorial/violent content and they, responding to the bad press they receivdd specifically, gave Youtube a heavy ultimatum about keeping ads off that sort of content before they abandon the platform. The rest is history.
- mikkergp 4y ago
  So yeah actually, I was thinking about this but advertisers have abandoned Fox News in droves. They have a relatively narrow advertising block it's mostly middle of the road car and insurance companies and other big brands with big money who don't mind focusing on that particular segment. (Don't get me wrong it is a lot of companies, but I don't think twitter has the grab to be this picky yet) I suspect part of the problem with Twitter is that then you probably are ending up trying to build a conservative social network, and I suspect there isn't a big enough market for a conservative social network, at least as big as the one that Twitter wants to be. Maybe as time goes on and more conservatives end up younger.

lastofthemojito 4y ago

Elon has also talked about open sourcing "the algorithm" or letting people customize the algorithm that suggests content for them, etc. I suspect that plays in here - by default, Twitter users (and unauthenticated browsers) will probably continue to see Twitter the same way as today, with relatively safe, moderated content. Logged-in folks will also have the option to go into unmoderated mode, which will drop you into the cesspool if you so desire. Presumably respectable companies will only advertise on the default layer; ads in the cesspool will be for "edgy" t-shirt companies and extremist politicians and others who don't care about their brand being displayed next to questionable content (or prefer it!). Illegal content of course must continue to be moderated regardless.

ilyt 4y ago
Well, giving users of social media tools to filter stuff they want to see themselves rather than making site's moderators be moral guardians of the site (lmao) is certainly a better approach.

ThrowawayR2 4y ago

To play the devil's advocate: So why haven't advertisers abandoned Fox News? As long as Musk limits his newly acquired toy to being no worse than Fox News (which is plenty bad!), he can still keep advertising dollars coming in.

zach_garwood 4y ago
There are some outrageous takes on Fox News sometimes, and advertisers do abandon certain talking heads from time to time. But Fox isn't non-stop firehose of bile. Twitter is by default, even with it's current moderation. It's already worse than Fox News.
uni_rule 4y ago
Because Fox News is stable, banal, they play the respectability card. Internet users on the other hand can be fucking volatile. Advertisers don't care how hot the takes are on cable news, they just want to sell shit to the elderly, they do care if their ads are placed around overt fascists because that's where their association attracts bad press. Same thing that happened to Youtube in 2017. People gave a bunch of large brands bad mainstream press because their ads played on fringe/conspiratorial/violent content and they, responding to the bad press they receivdd specifically, gave Youtube a heavy ultimatum about keeping ads off that sort of content before they abandon the platform. The rest is history.
mikkergp 4y ago
So yeah actually, I was thinking about this but advertisers have abandoned Fox News in droves. They have a relatively narrow advertising block it's mostly middle of the road car and insurance companies and other big brands with big money who don't mind focusing on that particular segment. (Don't get me wrong it is a lot of companies, but I don't think twitter has the grab to be this picky yet) I suspect part of the problem with Twitter is that then you probably are ending up trying to build a conservative social network, and I suspect there isn't a big enough market for a conservative social network, at least as big as the one that Twitter wants to be. Maybe as time goes on and more conservatives end up younger.