Elon Musk buys Twitter to bring back Free Speech

[Love Zhaoying]

3 hours ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Jack Dorsey himself thinks so which in my opinion is about the best recommendation one could get for running Twitter:

 

So..is the founder of a company the best person to trust then? Cool!

[Ayashe Ninetails]

8 minutes ago, Aethelwine said:

I am curious to know how important Twitter is for the freedom of information internationally for getting reports out of conflict zones and from areas that might otherwise be unable to get their stories out?

There is a lot of this, and Twitter absolutely has been used in these ways, but this is also where mis-(and dis)information comes heavily into play. Unless you take the time to thoroughly vet your sources, which apparently not a ton of people do on there, you can very easily fall into that trap.

It happens a lot during school lockdowns, for example. People just out there saying things and other Twitter users run with it, but it's not the truth, despite how official it may look (someone's posted video that's actually from an entirely different event that happened months ago or longer). This also happens with natural disasters, like hurricanes or wildfires.

There's also the trend that some news orgs engage in these days - they'll tweet to some random user "Hi I'm from Blahblah News is this your video? May we use it in our broadcast if we give you credit?" Like hello...y'all are gonna verify that video first I hope, right?

But yes, Twitter can absolutely be used to spread awareness and news at a rapid pace, but this is why it's critical to tackle mis/disinfo on the platform. I hope Elon takes it seriously.

In short, this is my favorite meme about Twitter - "Y'all get on this app and talk, and just say things. Just be saying and talking."

 

[Love Zhaoying]

21 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

There is a lot of this, and Twitter absolutely has been used in these ways, but this is also where mis-(and dis)information comes heavily into play. Unless you take the time to thoroughly vet your sources, which apparently not a ton of people do on there, you can very easily fall into that trap.

It happens a lot during school lockdowns, for example. People just out there saying things and other Twitter users run with it, but it's not the truth, despite how official it may look (someone's posted video that's actually from an entirely different event that happened months ago or longer). This also happens with natural disasters, like hurricanes or wildfires.

There's also the trend that some news orgs engage in these days - they'll tweet to some random user "Hi I'm from Blahblah News is this your video? May we use it in our broadcast if we give you credit?" Like hello...y'all are gonna verify that video first I hope, right?

But yes, Twitter can absolutely be used to spread awareness and news at a rapid pace, but this is why it's critical to tackle mis/disinfo on the platform. I hope Elon takes it seriously.

In short, this is my favorite meme about Twitter - "Y'all get on this app and talk, and just say things. Just be saying and talking."

 

So, Twitter has a robust and unbiased fact-checking service then. Right? 😹

[Jackson Redstar]

Free Speech maybe not, but Fair Speech. And this whole idea that any social media outlet can act as the Ministry of Truth is laughable at best. We are all adults, we should know by now just because we read something posted doesn't mean it is true, We have the ability to look into the claims, read both affirming and dissenting opinions - and ultimately make up our own minds on what we choose to believe or not to believe. And what has been deemed misinformation has often turned out to be true a year later. As is often said, there are 2 sides to every story and quite often, the truth lies somewhere in between

[Theresa Tennyson]

4 hours ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Twitter is the closest thing we have to a global consciousness.

 

1 hour ago, Coffee Pancake said:

Twitter is deliberately, carefully and precisely engineered to be antagonistic.

And there you go.

[Rilee Dallas]

I've never used twitter. That's a lot of money to buy something I've never used!

[Paulsian]

woh elong is going to have* to battle the google bots on youtube already getting elong ads.... 

AI is at war with its' self now.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Paulsian
type

[Arielle Popstar]

4 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

He doesn't play well with others (the most crucial skill needed for a social leader)...here's some of the article explaining this:

Your point is countered by a portion of the article you copy/pasted:

Quote

At Tesla and SpaceX, Musk earned a reputation as a hard-charging, hands-on leader who played a crucial role in product and engineering decisions, at times micromanaging to a fault. But even Musk, hardly a paragon of humility, would readily acknowledge that those companies’ triumphs were not the results of his efforts alone. They were the work of large teams of talented, idealistic employees who were attracted to his vision and highly motivated to help bring it to fruition.

 

[Arielle Popstar]

1 hour ago, Love Zhaoying said:

So..is the founder of a company the best person to trust then? Cool!

If you have a vision for what and where you want the company to go, would you not be the most qualified to choose a successor to carry that vision through?

[Love Zhaoying]

14 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

1 hour ago, Love Zhaoying said:

So..is the founder of a company the best person to trust then? Cool!

If you have a vision for what and where you want the company to go, would you not be the most qualified to choose a successor to carry that vision through?

Not the point I was referring to, which is:  The founder / CEO / Execs have the highest interest to do whatever it takes, say whatever they need to say, for the company to be successful.  In general, corporations serve the stockholders.  So, rather than put the "public" first, the "company" (and thereby the stockholders, hopefully) comes first.  Unless I was a stockholder, or a stakeholder in the company, what the execs say (including the founder) shouldn't necessarily be taken at face value.  Just like politicians (sorry!), these guys didn't get where they are today by being totally, 100%, honest all the time with a positive intent for society and humanity.

 

[StarlanderGoods]

1 hour ago, Jackson Redstar said:

Free Speech maybe not, but Fair Speech. And this whole idea that any social media outlet can act as the Ministry of Truth is laughable at best. We are all adults, we should know by now just because we read something posted doesn't mean it is true, We have the ability to look into the claims, read both affirming and dissenting opinions - and ultimately make up our own minds on what we choose to believe or not to believe. And what has been deemed misinformation has often turned out to be true a year later. As is often said, there are 2 sides to every story and quite often, the truth lies somewhere in between

 

If you have one side, saying that if you shoot yourself in the head you become a wizard, and the other side saying that if you shoot yourself in the head you will probably die.  The truth is not "somewhere in between", sometimes people are just wrong.

[Luna Bliss]

1 hour ago, Arielle Popstar said:

5 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

He doesn't play well with others (the most crucial skill needed for a social leader)...here's some of the article explaining this:

Your point is countered by a portion of the article you copy/pasted:

Quote

At Tesla and SpaceX, Musk earned a reputation as a hard-charging, hands-on leader who played a crucial role in product and engineering decisions, at times micromanaging to a fault. But even Musk, hardly a paragon of humility, would readily acknowledge that those companies’ triumphs were not the results of his efforts alone. They were the work of large teams of talented, idealistic employees who were attracted to his vision and highly motivated to help bring it to fruition.

Expand  

 

What people know or express (and don't forget that something like building a rocket is different from managing a social media platform) can be different from what they actually do. The more relevant paragraph from the article I posted:

"On Tuesday and Wednesday, he issued a series of tweets critical of both Twitter as a company and individual Twitter employees, including its top policy executive, Vijaya Gadde. Those tweets have helped to fuel an ugly, and at times violently racist, harassment campaign against her — and signaled that he won’t hesitate to use the platform against his own workers. They also likely poisoned the well for any relationship between Musk and Gadde, or anyone at the company who was loyal to her".

The entire article sheds some light too:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/27/jack-dorsey-elon-musk-singular-solution/

[Love Zhaoying]

15 minutes ago, StarlanderGoods said:

If you have one side, saying that if you shoot yourself in the head you become a wizard, and the other side saying that if you shoot yourself in the head you will probably die.  The truth is not "somewhere in between", sometimes people are just wrong.

Shades of Videodrome! *Edit* But what about Fight Club? Huh? Huh? 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Love Zhaoying

[Luna Bliss]

Tesla being sued over rampant discrimination against Blacks:

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/11/1080073061/california-sues-tesla-racism-fremont

Statement from NAACP president:

"Mr. Musk: free speech is wonderful, hate speech is unacceptable. Disinformation, misinformation and hate speech have NO PLACE on Twitter. Do not allow 45 to return to the platform. Do not allow Twitter to become a petri dish for hate speech, or falsehoods that subvert our democracy. Protecting our democracy is of utmost importance, especially as the midterm elections approach. Mr. Musk: lives are at risk, and so is American democracy."

[Love Zhaoying]

6 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Tesla being sued over rampant discrimination against Blacks:

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/11/1080073061/california-sues-tesla-racism-fremont

Statement from NAACP president:

"Mr. Musk: free speech is wonderful, hate speech is unacceptable. Disinformation, misinformation and hate speech have NO PLACE on Twitter. Do not allow 45 to return to the platform. Do not allow Twitter to become a petri dish for hate speech, or falsehoods that subvert our democracy. Protecting our democracy is of utmost importance, especially as the midterm elections approach. Mr. Musk: lives are at risk, and so is American democracy."

Can I cancel? Too soon?

[Luna Bliss]

7 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Can I cancel? Too soon?

lol cancel!!  I need to cancel this country and move across the southern border. I thought the deep south and the plains where I live was the worst, but now Florida!?  How did it get so crazy there?  BTW, my brother is in Florida too.

Twitter will transcend all borders.  *Shudders*

[Ceka Cianci]

Remember when forum battles used to be in black and white, before we got color forums?

The good ole days..

 

hehehe

[Silent Mistwalker]

4 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Remember when forum battles used to be in black and white, before we got color forums?

The good ole days..

 

hehehe

The guy on the right is using bad form. 🤭

[Love Zhaoying]

9 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Remember when forum battles used to be in black and white, before we got color forums?

The good ole days..

 

hehehe

I'm so old I remember ASCII drawings of "flames", on IBM3270 terminals, on BITNet forums.

[Luna Bliss]

The more I google the worse it gets:

https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-mocks-people-who-are-pro-ukraine-and-for-transgender-rights

Last time I'm spending my break on this...I've had enough!

[Bree Giffen]

57 minutes ago, StarlanderGoods said:

 

If you have one side, saying that if you shoot yourself in the head you become a wizard, and the other side saying that if you shoot yourself in the head you will probably die.  The truth is not "somewhere in between", sometimes people are just wrong.

[Luna Bliss]

4 minutes ago, Bree Giffen said:

 

[CaithLynnSayes]

[Luna Bliss]

6 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

 

[Lindal Kidd]

5 hours ago, Coffee Pancake said:

Twitter is deliberately, carefully and precisely engineered to be antagonistic.

THIS! THIS!! THIS!!! And Facebook too, it just allows posts at longer length.

A direct and strong correlation can be drawn between the rise of these social media giants and the amount of polarization in this country (and probably in the world at large, too). Trump knew this instinctively, which is why he used it as his main means of communication.