5 ms·

Maybe they should’ve considered whether it was wise to tie they research to a company that might not exist in 5 years

esskay 4y ago
That clearly wasn't even an issue in the past. It's only since Musk took over that theres been anything said on the possibility of Twitter closing up shop, which as we all know frm Musks' well know history of spewing nonsense, will not happen.
- philliphaydon 4y ago
  Other than Twitter losing money every year?
  - pavlov 4y ago
    Twitter was profitable in 2018 and 2019.
    - philliphaydon 4y ago
      Barely profitable in 2 years but bleeding money for the rest of its existence including the last 3 years…
      - pavlov 4y ago
        Twitter's 2021 wasn't really that bad. They increased revenue about 37% year-over-year to $5 billion, at a loss of $220M. In the pumped-up investment environment of 2021, that kind of relatively small loss was an acceptable trade-off for such high growth. The revenue collapse of 2022 is clearly almost entirely due to the new ownership who did their best to destroy advertiser trust, first by spending six months disparaging the company, then by indiscriminately firing moderation and ad sales teams.
        zimpenfish 4y ago
        > at a loss of $220M. Due to an $800M lawsuit settlement - without that, they'd have been on $580M profit. Which isn't terrible on $5B revenue.
- rchaud 4y ago
  Why can't it happen? Twitter has $13bn in debt on its balance sheet thanks to the ridiculous purchase price. Last week's bond payment of $300m is on its own, half of what their total net debt was pre-Musk ($600m)[0]. Twitter's revenue last year was $5bn. In a year's time it will probably be a fraction of even that; Twitter's user base isn't growing and isn't going to magically become more valuable in an economy where advertisers are cutting back on spending. [0] https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-elon-musks-twitter-faces-mountain-of-debt-falling-revenue-and-surging-costs-11669042132 https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-elon-musks-twitter-faces-mo...
hyperpape 4y ago
If no researchers studied Twitter, that would be a massive failure to analyze a major piece of online activity. I believe that no one giving even basic thought to what researchers do would endorse what you just said.
anigbrowl 4y ago
More like a huge new source of sociological data collected at massive scale appears, and you'd be a complete idiot not to study it. I feel your comment is like saying astronomy is a bad career choice because pollution and cloudy weather are likely to limit the scope of your research opportunities.

That clearly wasn't even an issue in the past. It's only since Musk took over that theres been anything said on the possibility of Twitter closing up shop, which as we all know frm Musks' well know history of spewing nonsense, will not happen.

philliphaydon 4y ago
Other than Twitter losing money every year?
- pavlov 4y ago
  Twitter was profitable in 2018 and 2019.
  - philliphaydon 4y ago
    Barely profitable in 2 years but bleeding money for the rest of its existence including the last 3 years…
    - pavlov 4y ago
      Twitter's 2021 wasn't really that bad. They increased revenue about 37% year-over-year to $5 billion, at a loss of $220M. In the pumped-up investment environment of 2021, that kind of relatively small loss was an acceptable trade-off for such high growth. The revenue collapse of 2022 is clearly almost entirely due to the new ownership who did their best to destroy advertiser trust, first by spending six months disparaging the company, then by indiscriminately firing moderation and ad sales teams.
      - zimpenfish 4y ago
        > at a loss of $220M. Due to an $800M lawsuit settlement - without that, they'd have been on $580M profit. Which isn't terrible on $5B revenue.
rchaud 4y ago
Why can't it happen? Twitter has $13bn in debt on its balance sheet thanks to the ridiculous purchase price. Last week's bond payment of $300m is on its own, half of what their total net debt was pre-Musk ($600m)[0]. Twitter's revenue last year was $5bn. In a year's time it will probably be a fraction of even that; Twitter's user base isn't growing and isn't going to magically become more valuable in an economy where advertisers are cutting back on spending. [0] https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-elon-musks-twitter-faces-mountain-of-debt-falling-revenue-and-surging-costs-11669042132 https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-elon-musks-twitter-faces-mo...

hyperpape 4y ago

If no researchers studied Twitter, that would be a massive failure to analyze a major piece of online activity. I believe that no one giving even basic thought to what researchers do would endorse what you just said.

anigbrowl 4y ago

More like a huge new source of sociological data collected at massive scale appears, and you'd be a complete idiot not to study it. I feel your comment is like saying astronomy is a bad career choice because pollution and cloudy weather are likely to limit the scope of your research opportunities.