4 ms·

And AI will only make it worse. I myself have begun retreating from online spaces I used to enjoy, including Twitter. Elon really kicked off a massive shift tow

And AI will only make it worse. I myself have begun retreating from online spaces I used to enjoy, including Twitter. Elon really kicked off a massive shift towards enshitification when he let bots run wild.

A4ET8a8uTh0 2y ago
I am honestly not sure if Elon set the chain reaction here. Twitter was pretty bad from that perspective even before he took over. The change seems to be more related to the new and exciting ways in which humans choose to fool one another ( now its AI enabled bots ). Add to this US presidential campaign and all of a sudden some of the noise is not that surprising. Messy times ahead.
- BadHumans 2y ago
  I don't think he started the fire but he drove the tanker truck of gasoline into it.
  - jandrese 2y ago
    He didn't start the fire, but he did fire all of the firefighters.
courseofaction 2y ago
That was the plan. Destroy the public square. Destroy people's ability to communicate without corporate mediation. A (imperfectly) neutral conversational space became Elon's personal amplification platform overnight. He 'deregulated' it for his own divisive political interests. A preview of the Trumpism he openly supports. I feel we are absolute fools for letting this happen, but it aligns with the interests of the late American Empire oligarchy, so what can do. Elon bought the information space so he could trash it.
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  > it aligns with the interests of the late American Empire oligarchy More importantly, it aligns with his Saudi investors, who see lighting a large pile of cash on fire as a reasonable cost to prevent an Arab Spring in their country.
- lapcat 2y ago
  > I feel we are absolute fools for letting this happen How did "we" let it happen?
- akira2501 2y ago
  > Destroy people's ability to communicate without corporate mediation. Was twitter doing that before he outright purchased it? > I feel we are absolute fools for letting this happen It's a site that gained popularity because celebrities used it to post marketing messages. You didn't "let" anything happen. This was inevitable.
mhh__ 2y ago
I have a slightly nuanced take on this in that I simultaneously believe that Musk is basically culturally retarded and needs someone he can listen to by his side, but also that he fundamentally understands the value of twitter far better than the people he bought it from. There are unsavoury things on Twitter, but the alternative is basically something like Instagram, Threads, or r/all, where people are basically being dosed with Soma every day. At the moment it seems to filter for the extremes - the very smart, the very dumb, the very wise, the foolish. I think there is real utility in that. Where else on the internet do you see bond traders chatting shit about each other just below people arguing if manchester is red or blue.
- akira2501 2y ago
  > is basically culturally retarded What does cultural aptitude even mean? > he fundamentally understands the value of twitter So what would having someone "he can listen to by his side" actually add?
  - mhh__ 2y ago
    > What does cultural aptitude even mean? Guess... Compare musk and Thiel: Both basically autistic, however Thiel's jokes are funny, Musks's seem desperate, Thiel has interesting takes about old and new books, Musk has terrible takes about normie video games etc etc
- anigbrowl 2y ago
  Disagree. As I've said for a long time, he bought with the intention of turning it into what it is now, basically a larger version of Gab.

A4ET8a8uTh0 2y ago

I am honestly not sure if Elon set the chain reaction here. Twitter was pretty bad from that perspective even before he took over. The change seems to be more related to the new and exciting ways in which humans choose to fool one another ( now its AI enabled bots ). Add to this US presidential campaign and all of a sudden some of the noise is not that surprising. Messy times ahead.

BadHumans 2y ago
I don't think he started the fire but he drove the tanker truck of gasoline into it.
- jandrese 2y ago
  He didn't start the fire, but he did fire all of the firefighters.

courseofaction 2y ago

That was the plan. Destroy the public square. Destroy people's ability to communicate without corporate mediation. A (imperfectly) neutral conversational space became Elon's personal amplification platform overnight. He 'deregulated' it for his own divisive political interests. A preview of the Trumpism he openly supports. I feel we are absolute fools for letting this happen, but it aligns with the interests of the late American Empire oligarchy, so what can do. Elon bought the information space so he could trash it.

ceejayoz 2y ago
> it aligns with the interests of the late American Empire oligarchy More importantly, it aligns with his Saudi investors, who see lighting a large pile of cash on fire as a reasonable cost to prevent an Arab Spring in their country.
lapcat 2y ago
> I feel we are absolute fools for letting this happen How did "we" let it happen?
akira2501 2y ago
> Destroy people's ability to communicate without corporate mediation. Was twitter doing that before he outright purchased it? > I feel we are absolute fools for letting this happen It's a site that gained popularity because celebrities used it to post marketing messages. You didn't "let" anything happen. This was inevitable.

mhh__ 2y ago

I have a slightly nuanced take on this in that I simultaneously believe that Musk is basically culturally retarded and needs someone he can listen to by his side, but also that he fundamentally understands the value of twitter far better than the people he bought it from. There are unsavoury things on Twitter, but the alternative is basically something like Instagram, Threads, or r/all, where people are basically being dosed with Soma every day. At the moment it seems to filter for the extremes - the very smart, the very dumb, the very wise, the foolish. I think there is real utility in that. Where else on the internet do you see bond traders chatting shit about each other just below people arguing if manchester is red or blue.

akira2501 2y ago
> is basically culturally retarded What does cultural aptitude even mean? > he fundamentally understands the value of twitter So what would having someone "he can listen to by his side" actually add?
- mhh__ 2y ago
  > What does cultural aptitude even mean? Guess... Compare musk and Thiel: Both basically autistic, however Thiel's jokes are funny, Musks's seem desperate, Thiel has interesting takes about old and new books, Musk has terrible takes about normie video games etc etc
anigbrowl 2y ago
Disagree. As I've said for a long time, he bought with the intention of turning it into what it is now, basically a larger version of Gab.