6 ms·
All of these moves make sense when you zoom out and realize Musk has no interest in Twitter as a business. It is a megaphone to amplify his own voice and the vo
by mike_d 4y ago
All of these moves make sense when you zoom out and realize Musk has no interest in Twitter as a business. It is a megaphone to amplify his own voice and the voices that support his viewpoints. Having third party API consumers able to pull in content and reorder it other than how he wants it presented is counter to that goal.
The genius of Fox News was "why spend money on buying political attack ads when you can just buy the network and run them all day long." Twitter is just becoming that too.
- babyshake 4y agoI would love to see this "buying social media company to force everyone to pay attention to you"incorporated into the last season of Succession, although I am sure it was my mostly written before all of this Musk Twitter drama.
- croes 4y agoBut these third parties brought traffic and helped Twitter being relevant.
- Finnucane 4y agoExcept that Fox is profitable, and it isn’t clear how much musk is willing or able to pay out of his own pocket for the privilege. I don’t think he planned for that.
- heywherelogingo 4y agoWhat an absurd statement - everything he's done is to make twitter profitable and viable as a business - reduced headcount, reduced systems, reduced perks, .... He was already high profile in numerous spheres so no amplification was required. It's obvious that you don't share his viewpoints, and so you're simply slinging mud. It's the opinion of many that Musk didn't even want twitter, as a megaphone or otherwise, that he screwed up, obligating himself, and now has to make a successful business of it.
- dang 4y agoCan you please make your substantive points without name-calling ("what an absurd statement") or swipes ("It's obvious that you don't share his viewpoints, and so you're simply slinging mud")? The site guidelines specifically ask commenters to avoid those things, and your post would be just fine without them. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- olalonde 4y agoAlso consistent with his stated goal of making the business profitable.
- clouddrover 4y ago> The genius of Fox News was "why spend money on buying political attack ads when you can just buy the network and run them all day long." No, that's a misunderstanding. What Fox News cares about is growing and maintaining an audience because that's what profitable. In pursuit of that profit, Fox News will foster its community however it can. And so, driven by profit seeking, Fox News has embraced total nihilism. Fox News will spin any narrative, tell any lie, invent any fiction if it thinks it is what its audience wants to hear. The more Fox News offers its audience comforting fictions, no matter how untrue, the better for the bottom line. You don't have to believe me on that. It's what Fox News says of itself: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/03/08/tucker-carlson-phony-fox-00086126 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/03/08/tucker-car... https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/fox-news-dominion-voting-lawsuit-2020-election-conspiracy/673111/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/fox-news-d...
- weaksauce 4y agofox news was quite literally built as an answer to "how do we stop watergate from happening again to the republican party" look up the roger ailes papers from when it was founded
- jimt1234 4y agoWhy do we have to tell the people what they need to hear? Why can't we just tell them what they wanna hear? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWenPDBtMw4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWenPDBtMw4
- recuter 4y agoWhat are his viewpoints and how are they amplified considering anybody can post anything?
- cmh89 4y ago>What are his viewpoints Musk is very vocal about his far-right views. He's anti-union, anti-public health, etc. >how are they amplified considering anybody can post anything? Anyone can post anything, but Musk can and has systemically prioritized his tweets over organic content.
- recuter 4y ago> Anyone can post anything, but Musk can and has systemically prioritized his tweets over organic content. I'd be interested in any sort of proof. > Musk is very vocal about his far-right views. He's anti-union, anti-public health, etc. Please show specific examples of his far-right views, so I can understand what specifically you mean by that term other than things you personally find disagreeable.
- haskellandchill 4y ago> I'd be interested in any sort of proof. Have you been paying attention? https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/14/23600358/elon-musk-tweets-algorithm-changes-twitter https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/14/23600358/elon-musk-tweets... "This story is based on interviews with people familiar with the events involved and supported by documents obtained by Platformer."
- recuter 4y ago[flagged]
- vore 4y agoThis is such a classic "just asking questions" move. You could save a lot of time in your day if you concern trolled a little less. In any case, you sure did a lot of creative reading to avoid reading this sentence: The algorithm now artificially boosted Musk’s tweets by a factor of 1,000 – a constant score that ensured his tweets rank higher than anyone else’s in the feed. But that doesn't matter, does it? You're just going to construct something out of precision-selected tidbits anyway as a rebuttal. Really, I think that if you have something to say, you should just say it out loud from the outset instead of leading people around by the nose and wasting everyone's time.
- hn2017 4y agoPrecisely. That is his end goal to spread right wing viewpoints. https://www.axios.com/2022/10/30/elon-musk-paul-pelosi-tweet-rumor https://www.axios.com/2022/10/30/elon-musk-paul-pelosi-tweet...
- SV_BubbleTime 4y ago[flagged]
- HyperSane 4y ago"Axios exists to spread left wing viewpoints. How is that any better?" Right wing tends to be very egalitarian compared to the right's support of a social hierarchy and wealth concentration.
- newsclues 4y ago"All of these moves make sense when you zoom out and realize Musk has no interest in Twitter as a business. It is a megaphone to amplify his own voice and the voices that support his viewpoints. Having third party API consumers able to pull in content and reorder it other than how he wants it presented is counter to that goal." I don't remember being a highly profitable venture before, so what was the previous owners intentions with owning the business but not caring if it generated a reasonable return? What propaganda were they spewing?
- dragonwriter 4y ago> I don’t remember being a highly profitable venture before It was profitable on an ongoing basis (the most recent reported period had a one-time charge that made it unprofitable, IIRC) though not “highly profitable”. Since the Musk takeover was announced – leading to forward advertising sales drying up even before it was consummated – its been (by Musk’s own description, including as to the timing, though he places the blame elsewhere) hurtling toward bankruptcy.
- Sherl 4y agoWhoever Controls the Media, Controls the Mind. - Jim Morrison
- nerdix 4y agoThat might make economic sense if you build it with relatively small investment from the ground up. Doesn't make economic sense at all if you buy it for $44 billion when it was already on shakey financial grounds.