6 ms·

He is ingeniously driving up engagement with Twitter by using Twitter itself. Many people want him to fail, expect him to fail, are willing him to fail. Past e

He is ingeniously driving up engagement with Twitter by using Twitter itself. Many people want him to fail, expect him to fail, are willing him to fail. Past evidence of his failures had yet to be found.

systemvoltage 4y ago
I haven't seen any indicators of Twitter failing besides 2FA failures; but every time I read anything on HN, it is doomed to fail. I feel like some of the resentful people here will try to hack into Twitter possibly get caught and see jail time? May be they will do something bad because this kind kind of irrational hate for a billionaire is not normal. Hell, even Peter Thiel doesn't get this vitroil. It reminds me of hate for Bill Gates by far-right nutjobs. Why do you guys hate Elon with your guts with such an intense passion?
- themitigating 4y ago
  1. Supporting the Republican party who I hate for lying about or supporting people who lied/are lying about election fraud. 2. Linking to an article that claimed Paul Pelosi's attacker was involved in a gay love triangle and it was a lover's quarrel. 3. Pedo guy 4. Making blue check marks paid leading to many parody accounts mimicking companies making offensive tweets. Then when those companies cut advertising claiming without evidence activist groups are conspiring against him. Etc
  - systemvoltage 4y ago
    > Republican party who I hate I switched to Republican party since 2020 election, I wouldn't vote for election deniers [1] but plenty of people are doing the right thing. Rationality and reason seems to have shifted from liberals to conservatives. We can't even say biological facts. Many others are leaving the woke non-sense, I want my damn liberal party back from the 90's that was pro free speech and had a kernel of reason. Not this CCP-like authoritarianism path that we're heading towards. That said, party preference shouldn't be the reason to hate someone with passion like this. I admire plenty of progressive leaders and conservatives alike. Regarding 2/3/4, these are not the reasons to pick up pitchforks and hate someone with guts. He has done so many positive things for the world that completely outweight these quibbles. [1] That includes democrats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjnX4IUt_eo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjnX4IUt_eo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX2Ejqjz6TA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX2Ejqjz6TA
    - kenjackson 4y ago
      "Rationality and reason seems to have shifted from liberals to conservatives. We can't even say biological facts. Many others are leaving the woke non-sense," Isn't it the Republicans that are still saying homosexuality is a choice? Aren't they the ones aligned with QAnon woke-conspiracies? Aren't they ones that pushed that Obama was born in Africa? What biological facts do Democrats say you can't say? At worst, Dems maybe bend over too much to be inclusive to those that historically haven't been included.
      - zucked 4y ago
        At this risk of sounding like a "BUT BOTH SIDES" argument - both sides of the major two parties have elements of undesirability. I register as an independent. I vote for representatives that I feel best convey my hope, dreams, and views into the halls of power. Often, those candidates self-identify as liberals. Sometimes, they identify as Republican. Either way, the faster we can get away from having politics be a team sport and have people think for themselves, the better off we'll all be. I'll just hold my breath for that moment. <dies>
        deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - systemvoltage 4y ago
        I know how crooked some of the Republicans are and some of the conspiracy shit that's going around. But, it's not like Democrats are clean, this is what is cooking in the progressive circles, especially in colleges and academia: https://twitter.com/LPofDelaware/status/1583078489430798336 https://twitter.com/LPofDelaware/status/1583078489430798336 What would be helpful is if you try to, with good faith, head over to r/conservatives and see what the discussion is like. They will welcome progressives and disagreeing views. They'll upvote you. The same cannot be said about the reverse. Conservative opinions here are completely unwelcome, not even downvoted but flagged. Turn on the show-flagged filter on HN and I'd wager atleast half of them are totally legit, not rude and not bigoted. They're just offering a different perspective. Both sides are equally consumed and spineless. Republicans caved into Trumpism and the liberals caved into woke ideology. Both sides instead of rejecting extremism, adopted it and dug their heels in. We lost truth and rationality in the process. At this time in history, centrist republicans are the most rational. and...instantly downvoted. Care to please comment below? What do you disagree with what I just said here?
- wilsonnb3 4y ago
  > I haven't seen any indicators of Twitter failing besides 2FA failures; If you ignore everything we are hearing about mass employee exodus and critical teams having no engineers left. > Why do you guys hate Elon with your guts with such an intense passion? To put it bluntly, because he is an asshole. I honestly don’t know how anyone likes him after he called a cave diver who helped save a bunch of children a pedo just because he said that Musks proposed submarine rescue wouldn’t work. His ego is immense and he lacks the emotional maturity to not lash out at people when he is wrong. On top of all that he is a billionaire, which is an inherently immoral thing to be IMO. A good person cannot amass that much wealth and not give away 99% of it to help people who need it.
  - systemvoltage 4y ago
    Why are billionaires immoral? That seems completely backwards. They created value not by coercion, but by commerce and improved the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtJwAYJ9B08 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtJwAYJ9B08 The whole pie has gotten larger since the industrial revolution and has lifted people out of poverty at an unprecendented rate through Capitalism. The current zeitgeist in places like HN and in progressive circles is worrying. There was just a recent thread about how India lifted people out of poverty and people were downvoting pro-Capitalist comments even though that's the truth no matter how you twist it.
    - wilsonnb3 4y ago
      I am pro capitalism and I don't think that the creation of value by billionaires is immoral. The immoral part comes after that when they sit on their horde of money, far too much for anyone to spend in 10 lifetimes, while they should be giving it to people and causes that need it. The only one of the "mainstream", household name billionaires that gets it seems to be MacKenzie Scott.
      - dougSF70 4y ago
        He hasn't not given it away yet...and since most of it is tied up in illiquid stock (space x, twitter) and liquid stock (tesla) he probably can't do so easily. When you and me are billionaires we might have a different perspective.
- Apocryphon 4y ago
  An alternate read on the situation- these strong reactions aren't indications of hatred, they're indications of irritation. Elon Musk, like his friend Kanye West, like the previous POTUS, like Charlie Sheen back in 2011, has become one of those hugely polarizing, hugely attention-seeking celebrity figures. The way he currently injects himself into controversy and actively courts it, the way he actively trolls everyone, the way he tries to steal limelight with initiatives that go nowhere like the Thai cave submarine or Starlink to Ukraine - there isn't really a partisan angle to why this public behavior can seem annoying. Over the last few years, Musk went from a typical technologist CEO to a social media celebrity, and a particularly obnoxious one at that. Even he and Grimes' child has a name that is inscrutable and pretentious, which is something Hollywood celebs are known for. So that's one reason why he elicits such strong responses. Compare him to some similar cases. Larry Ellison is a cutthroat executive, huge Republican donor, and is known to make abrasive and belligerent public statements. He was even temporarily the richest man in the world (there was a week in the early 2000s where Microsoft's stock dipped, putting Gates at #2). But he doesn't get the irritation that Musk gets because he stays off Twitter. He doesn't try to stick himself and his brand everywhere. Brian Armstrong banned activism at Coinbase and that also attracted backlash, but he's not seen as a hugely toxic figure. That's because that announcement was in the form of a long dry company policy statement, not by declaring himself to be a free speech absolutist or some sort of protector of not being political in the workplace. So long story short is, beyond Musk's corporate actions and political stances, he has made himself to be a public irritant. People who don't like his actions and stances are going to be extra-aggrieved by it. I think in some ways there is a certain strategy to it, as we've seen since 2015, to use the negative emotions stirred up in social media to bolster one's aims. Musk has embraced the mantle of a universal celebrity, one who can produce infinite amounts of admiration from his devotees... and infinite amounts of annoyance from those who disagree strongly. A pretty good video likening that public style to magician's tricks here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkvvAQxxo_0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkvvAQxxo_0
- dougSF70 4y ago
  It's the tall poppy syndrome. Truth is, all we know about Elon is his public persona and he uses that to talk up his own book. Much like a16z invest in Adam Neumann's latest venture, not because they think it is a good idea but because their investment will get so much publicity that it might give enough momentum to a bad idea and turn it into a good idea. Most forums have become conformist around a specific set of values, whether they are right-leaning or left-leaning. As soon as you present a different opinion you face the wrath of the community. The net-net is that people coalesce around like minded people. This leads to the creation of echo-chambers comprised of people who won't change their mind. Conversations would never get as heated or barbed in person.
wilsonnb3 4y ago
> past evidence of his failures have yet to be found It’s right there on his Wikipedia page, he was fired from the CEO job at x.com and again after it became PayPal. Not to mention the boring company, hyperloop, that time he called a hero cave diver a pedo for no reason, his relationship with his many children, etc.
- the_only_law 4y ago
  Surely if you close your eyes you won’t see them eh?
- dougSF70 4y ago
  Being fired isn't failing.
  - wilsonnb3 4y ago
    Unless your goal was to be unemployed, I think it is. It's not like he was laid off or the company floundered afterwards, they fired him because they thought he was incompetent and then the company was acquired for $1.5 billion like 1.5 years later. Of course, he still netted like $175 million or something from his stock so I don't think he cares much that he failed. If only all failure was so lucrative.
Thetawaves 4y ago
FSD ... ?

systemvoltage 4y ago

I haven't seen any indicators of Twitter failing besides 2FA failures; but every time I read anything on HN, it is doomed to fail. I feel like some of the resentful people here will try to hack into Twitter possibly get caught and see jail time? May be they will do something bad because this kind kind of irrational hate for a billionaire is not normal. Hell, even Peter Thiel doesn't get this vitroil. It reminds me of hate for Bill Gates by far-right nutjobs. Why do you guys hate Elon with your guts with such an intense passion?

themitigating 4y ago
1. Supporting the Republican party who I hate for lying about or supporting people who lied/are lying about election fraud. 2. Linking to an article that claimed Paul Pelosi's attacker was involved in a gay love triangle and it was a lover's quarrel. 3. Pedo guy 4. Making blue check marks paid leading to many parody accounts mimicking companies making offensive tweets. Then when those companies cut advertising claiming without evidence activist groups are conspiring against him. Etc
- systemvoltage 4y ago
  > Republican party who I hate I switched to Republican party since 2020 election, I wouldn't vote for election deniers [1] but plenty of people are doing the right thing. Rationality and reason seems to have shifted from liberals to conservatives. We can't even say biological facts. Many others are leaving the woke non-sense, I want my damn liberal party back from the 90's that was pro free speech and had a kernel of reason. Not this CCP-like authoritarianism path that we're heading towards. That said, party preference shouldn't be the reason to hate someone with passion like this. I admire plenty of progressive leaders and conservatives alike. Regarding 2/3/4, these are not the reasons to pick up pitchforks and hate someone with guts. He has done so many positive things for the world that completely outweight these quibbles. [1] That includes democrats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjnX4IUt_eo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjnX4IUt_eo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX2Ejqjz6TA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX2Ejqjz6TA
  - kenjackson 4y ago
    "Rationality and reason seems to have shifted from liberals to conservatives. We can't even say biological facts. Many others are leaving the woke non-sense," Isn't it the Republicans that are still saying homosexuality is a choice? Aren't they the ones aligned with QAnon woke-conspiracies? Aren't they ones that pushed that Obama was born in Africa? What biological facts do Democrats say you can't say? At worst, Dems maybe bend over too much to be inclusive to those that historically haven't been included.
    - zucked 4y ago
      At this risk of sounding like a "BUT BOTH SIDES" argument - both sides of the major two parties have elements of undesirability. I register as an independent. I vote for representatives that I feel best convey my hope, dreams, and views into the halls of power. Often, those candidates self-identify as liberals. Sometimes, they identify as Republican. Either way, the faster we can get away from having politics be a team sport and have people think for themselves, the better off we'll all be. I'll just hold my breath for that moment. <dies>
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
    - systemvoltage 4y ago
      I know how crooked some of the Republicans are and some of the conspiracy shit that's going around. But, it's not like Democrats are clean, this is what is cooking in the progressive circles, especially in colleges and academia: https://twitter.com/LPofDelaware/status/1583078489430798336 https://twitter.com/LPofDelaware/status/1583078489430798336 What would be helpful is if you try to, with good faith, head over to r/conservatives and see what the discussion is like. They will welcome progressives and disagreeing views. They'll upvote you. The same cannot be said about the reverse. Conservative opinions here are completely unwelcome, not even downvoted but flagged. Turn on the show-flagged filter on HN and I'd wager atleast half of them are totally legit, not rude and not bigoted. They're just offering a different perspective. Both sides are equally consumed and spineless. Republicans caved into Trumpism and the liberals caved into woke ideology. Both sides instead of rejecting extremism, adopted it and dug their heels in. We lost truth and rationality in the process. At this time in history, centrist republicans are the most rational. and...instantly downvoted. Care to please comment below? What do you disagree with what I just said here?
wilsonnb3 4y ago
> I haven't seen any indicators of Twitter failing besides 2FA failures; If you ignore everything we are hearing about mass employee exodus and critical teams having no engineers left. > Why do you guys hate Elon with your guts with such an intense passion? To put it bluntly, because he is an asshole. I honestly don’t know how anyone likes him after he called a cave diver who helped save a bunch of children a pedo just because he said that Musks proposed submarine rescue wouldn’t work. His ego is immense and he lacks the emotional maturity to not lash out at people when he is wrong. On top of all that he is a billionaire, which is an inherently immoral thing to be IMO. A good person cannot amass that much wealth and not give away 99% of it to help people who need it.
- systemvoltage 4y ago
  Why are billionaires immoral? That seems completely backwards. They created value not by coercion, but by commerce and improved the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtJwAYJ9B08 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtJwAYJ9B08 The whole pie has gotten larger since the industrial revolution and has lifted people out of poverty at an unprecendented rate through Capitalism. The current zeitgeist in places like HN and in progressive circles is worrying. There was just a recent thread about how India lifted people out of poverty and people were downvoting pro-Capitalist comments even though that's the truth no matter how you twist it.
  - wilsonnb3 4y ago
    I am pro capitalism and I don't think that the creation of value by billionaires is immoral. The immoral part comes after that when they sit on their horde of money, far too much for anyone to spend in 10 lifetimes, while they should be giving it to people and causes that need it. The only one of the "mainstream", household name billionaires that gets it seems to be MacKenzie Scott.
    - dougSF70 4y ago
      He hasn't not given it away yet...and since most of it is tied up in illiquid stock (space x, twitter) and liquid stock (tesla) he probably can't do so easily. When you and me are billionaires we might have a different perspective.
Apocryphon 4y ago
An alternate read on the situation- these strong reactions aren't indications of hatred, they're indications of irritation. Elon Musk, like his friend Kanye West, like the previous POTUS, like Charlie Sheen back in 2011, has become one of those hugely polarizing, hugely attention-seeking celebrity figures. The way he currently injects himself into controversy and actively courts it, the way he actively trolls everyone, the way he tries to steal limelight with initiatives that go nowhere like the Thai cave submarine or Starlink to Ukraine - there isn't really a partisan angle to why this public behavior can seem annoying. Over the last few years, Musk went from a typical technologist CEO to a social media celebrity, and a particularly obnoxious one at that. Even he and Grimes' child has a name that is inscrutable and pretentious, which is something Hollywood celebs are known for. So that's one reason why he elicits such strong responses. Compare him to some similar cases. Larry Ellison is a cutthroat executive, huge Republican donor, and is known to make abrasive and belligerent public statements. He was even temporarily the richest man in the world (there was a week in the early 2000s where Microsoft's stock dipped, putting Gates at #2). But he doesn't get the irritation that Musk gets because he stays off Twitter. He doesn't try to stick himself and his brand everywhere. Brian Armstrong banned activism at Coinbase and that also attracted backlash, but he's not seen as a hugely toxic figure. That's because that announcement was in the form of a long dry company policy statement, not by declaring himself to be a free speech absolutist or some sort of protector of not being political in the workplace. So long story short is, beyond Musk's corporate actions and political stances, he has made himself to be a public irritant. People who don't like his actions and stances are going to be extra-aggrieved by it. I think in some ways there is a certain strategy to it, as we've seen since 2015, to use the negative emotions stirred up in social media to bolster one's aims. Musk has embraced the mantle of a universal celebrity, one who can produce infinite amounts of admiration from his devotees... and infinite amounts of annoyance from those who disagree strongly. A pretty good video likening that public style to magician's tricks here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkvvAQxxo_0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkvvAQxxo_0
dougSF70 4y ago
It's the tall poppy syndrome. Truth is, all we know about Elon is his public persona and he uses that to talk up his own book. Much like a16z invest in Adam Neumann's latest venture, not because they think it is a good idea but because their investment will get so much publicity that it might give enough momentum to a bad idea and turn it into a good idea. Most forums have become conformist around a specific set of values, whether they are right-leaning or left-leaning. As soon as you present a different opinion you face the wrath of the community. The net-net is that people coalesce around like minded people. This leads to the creation of echo-chambers comprised of people who won't change their mind. Conversations would never get as heated or barbed in person.

wilsonnb3 4y ago

> past evidence of his failures have yet to be found It’s right there on his Wikipedia page, he was fired from the CEO job at x.com and again after it became PayPal. Not to mention the boring company, hyperloop, that time he called a hero cave diver a pedo for no reason, his relationship with his many children, etc.

the_only_law 4y ago
Surely if you close your eyes you won’t see them eh?
dougSF70 4y ago
Being fired isn't failing.
- wilsonnb3 4y ago
  Unless your goal was to be unemployed, I think it is. It's not like he was laid off or the company floundered afterwards, they fired him because they thought he was incompetent and then the company was acquired for $1.5 billion like 1.5 years later. Of course, he still netted like $175 million or something from his stock so I don't think he cares much that he failed. If only all failure was so lucrative.

Thetawaves 4y ago

FSD ... ?