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> What's interesting are the conditions that led to it happening to these people, both inside and outside Twitter. Which, in your estimation, are?...

Ancapistani 4y ago
Inside Twitter, I don't have enough context to say much in detail. I will say that 7.5k employees seems very high given their product offerings, and that the existence of things like an "ML Ethics, Transparency, and Accountability Team" at least lend credence to the idea that many of those people weren't contributing directly to the company's revenue. Outside of Twitter: the purchase was high profile and novel, made by a popular figure whose star seems to still be on the rise. There was drama around it for months, and we still don't really know if Musk really meant to buy it. Musk's personality alone is interesting. Then there are the responses of people approximately split down party lines in the US, the various communities that use Twitter heavily today, advertisers, and high-profile people who have run afoul of Twitter in the past. Finally - and perhaps most impactful of all, though it's not been extensively discussed here - there is the possible impact this will have on US politics. Exactly how much of Trump's popularity ~2015-2020 was due to his tweets? Will his account be reinstated? If so, will he use it? Will he resume using it the way he did before, or will he feel less encumbered by Twitter's policies and be even more bombastic/inflammatory? How will that impact the 2024 presidential election? From where I sit, I have no idea where things will end up. Any outcome from "Musk loses tens of billions of dollars as Twitter ceases operation" to "Elon Musk sends his congratulations to President Trump from his home at the SpaceX lunar outpost after his election to a second term". If you don't find such a range of possibilities interesting, I don't know what to tell you :)

Ancapistani 4y ago

Inside Twitter, I don't have enough context to say much in detail. I will say that 7.5k employees seems very high given their product offerings, and that the existence of things like an "ML Ethics, Transparency, and Accountability Team" at least lend credence to the idea that many of those people weren't contributing directly to the company's revenue. Outside of Twitter: the purchase was high profile and novel, made by a popular figure whose star seems to still be on the rise. There was drama around it for months, and we still don't really know if Musk really meant to buy it. Musk's personality alone is interesting. Then there are the responses of people approximately split down party lines in the US, the various communities that use Twitter heavily today, advertisers, and high-profile people who have run afoul of Twitter in the past. Finally - and perhaps most impactful of all, though it's not been extensively discussed here - there is the possible impact this will have on US politics. Exactly how much of Trump's popularity ~2015-2020 was due to his tweets? Will his account be reinstated? If so, will he use it? Will he resume using it the way he did before, or will he feel less encumbered by Twitter's policies and be even more bombastic/inflammatory? How will that impact the 2024 presidential election? From where I sit, I have no idea where things will end up. Any outcome from "Musk loses tens of billions of dollars as Twitter ceases operation" to "Elon Musk sends his congratulations to President Trump from his home at the SpaceX lunar outpost after his election to a second term". If you don't find such a range of possibilities interesting, I don't know what to tell you :)