Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 3:49 pm**

Jaymann wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 2:19 pm and does it rise to the level of shouting fire in a theater?

Somewhere, Mr Fed is feeling itchy.

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 4:30 pm**

Zarathud wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 1:50 pm If he’s on the board, they can’t punish him for his speech. It’s an investment to avoid consequences.

Which is going to be interesting, as he's now being held up as the "savior of free online speech" by the usual suspects. I suspect the pressure to "DO SOMETHING!!!" is going to mount very quickly.

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 4:33 pm**

I somehow have a feeling he will very strongly protect all free speech (that he agrees with).

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 4:35 pm**

Skinypupy wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 4:30 pm Which is going to be interesting, as he's now being held up as the "savior of free online speech" by the usual suspects. I suspect the pressure to "DO SOMETHING!!!" is going to mount very quickly.

I fear that he is both arrogant enough and in need of praise enough that he's going to believe it and then I'd be taking this thread off the R&P deep end with my response. I've long since held that he was the 2nd head of two headed coin of two of the most prolific Twitter personalities.

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 4:50 pm**

I'm actually quite interested to see how this little experiment turns out. I expect it's going to hand a disproportionately loud megaphone to lots of garbage people in the name of "free speech"...even though it has exactly nothing to do with that at all.

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 6:11 pm**

Too many people who spout on about free speech don't even seem to know what it refers to.

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 7:07 pm**

ImLawBoy wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 4:33 pm I somehow have a feeling he will very strongly protect all free speech (that he agrees with).

Which has a strong potential for abuse given what he's recently done by throwing in his support for the recent Trucking Convoy, which in turn had a lot of foreign influence and funds in trying to change governmental policies. Sorry for the politics here, but not sure how to sidestep it in this case. He's also had the gall to compare our leader, a foreign one to him, (using a meme) with one who's committed war crimes.

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 7:43 pm**

What, he committed war crimes by siccing government troops on russian assets using trucks to damage the economy?

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 8:05 pm**

From what I recall, Musk aims to make Twitter's algorithm open source, and allow users to choose what types of tweets they see and what order they see 'em in. Letting users choose their own algorithm -- even if only to listen to the lies they want to hear -- versus being manipulated by Twitter's proprietary algorithm that routinely serves up vast quantities of curated bullshit anyway, doesn't strike me as all that worrisome. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 9:29 pm**

I predict Musk will destroy the Tweets, making a very expensive lesson on ego and hubris in the digital age.

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 9:51 pm**

Blackhawk wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 6:11 pm Too many people who spout on about free speech don't even seem to know what it refers to.

Yeah, that peeves me. The 1st Amendment prohibits the government from censoring speech. It doesn't require anybody to publish yours. "Henry Mencken famously said that “freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.” [*Update: Jay Rosen tweets that the correct source of the quote, “freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one” is A. J. Liebling."]

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 10:54 pm**

Well, if Twitter becomes a haven for hate speech, misinformation, and the American radicals, and then refuses to take action to limit the impact, they could very well start losing big-name users. Whether those with a genuine objection, those who fear the backlash, or those who do it for the good press. A world with less Twitter would be a good thing.

It's not likely, but I can hope.

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2022 11:47 pm**

Jaymann wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 7:43 pm What, he committed war crimes by siccing government troops on russian assets using trucks to damage the economy?

No, the Canadian Trucker convoy and the foreign funds, which he contributed to as a show of support. He tweeted a meme comparing our PM to Hitler (Wish I was kidding) when things weren't going their way, which he then claimed was a joke. This is his idea of free speech?

Posted: **Wed Apr 06, 2022 12:12 am**

Rumpy wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 11:47 pm
Jaymann wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 7:43 pm What, he committed war crimes by siccing government troops on russian assets using trucks to damage the economy?
No, the Canadian Trucker convoy and the foreign funds, which he contributed to as a show of support. He tweeted a meme comparing our PM to Hitler (Wish I was kidding) when things weren't going their way, which he then claimed was a joke. This is his idea of free speech?

I see no reason it shouldn't be. As Douglas Murray aptly puts it, "Disagreement is not oppression. Argument is not assault. Words — even provocative or repugnant ones — are not violence. The answer to speech we do not like is more speech."

Posted: **Wed Apr 06, 2022 1:17 am**

Oh, I wish they would have listened to that themselves, honestly. The problem is when radicals feel they are the voice of reason and won't listen other opinions, in other words free speech as long as they're the ones voicing it. And they are the ones that claimed to feel under oppression. Blocking city streets for a month and causing loads of disruption and financial loss because you're not getting what you want is not free speech. It's disruption pure and simple.

Posted: **Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:32 am**

Kraken wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 9:51 pm
Blackhawk wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 6:11 pm Too many people who spout on about free speech don't even seem to know what it refers to.
Yeah, that peeves me. The 1st Amendment prohibits the government from censoring speech. It doesn't require anybody to publish yours. "Henry Mencken famously said that “freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.” [*Update: Jay Rosen tweets that the correct source of the quote, “freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one” is A. J. Liebling."]

I think Musk understands that, and is specifically trying to argue that Twitter is the de facto Town Square.

Posted: **Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:45 am**

Unagi wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:32 am I think Musk understands that, and is specifically trying to argue that Twitter is the de facto Town Square.

I haven't seen the argument but that is his statement. I don't buy it. He thinks of it as his town square because he has 80 million followers and loves having no advertising budget for his companies. But how many of the poors does he follow? How many of those 8 million does he converse with or listen to? His ability to enforce his idea of free speech took a $2.64 billion outlay, which he then promoted and his equity on that 78 million rose 20%+ overnight after his promotion. I suppose when those who believed they were squelched proclaimed they were going to take their ball and go home, and everyone else said fine, thank goodness but then it didn't pan out hurt his ability to advertise for free.

Bright side, this has gotta chap DWAC's ass. Kind of ironic, in that the head on the two headed coin gets burned. Or perhaps it doesn't. It's not like the other head ever uses his own money or cares about investors in his ventures.

Posted: **Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:46 am**

Anonymous Bosch wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 8:05 pm From what I recall, Musk aims to make Twitter's algorithm open source, and allow users to choose what types of tweets they see and what order they see 'em in. Letting users choose their own algorithm -- even if only to listen to the lies they want to hear -- versus being manipulated by Twitter's proprietary algorithm that routinely serves up vast quantities of curated bullshit anyway, doesn't strike me as all that worrisome. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

If that's all I suspected he were going to do, I'd be less concerned. I don't know much about algorithms and things like that, but I do know that Twitter recently kept suggesting I might be interested in Ohio State content, so there's clearly something amiss there.

I'm more concerned about things like his recent tweets suggesting that Twitter is the new town square and as such should strictly adhere to free speech principles (see here). If he were to go that route (which would likely entail removing content warnings for misinformation, restoring certain banned accounts, etc.), that would make Twitter a much less pleasant experience for me. He and Twitter would be within their rights to do so, of course, but I don't have to like it. I also question how rigorously he'd adhere to those principles when someone starts posting some questionably sourced criticisms of Teslas. Maybe he'd surprise me and say, "What are you gonna do? Free speech and all - fight speech with more speech!" If I were a betting man, though, I'd bet against that and bet that he'd come up with a flimsy justification for a double standard.

Posted: **Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:49 am**

Zarathud wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 1:50 pm If he’s on the board, they can’t punish him for his speech. It’s an investment to avoid consequences.

Twitter has been one of his favorite and most successful tools in manipulating TSLA share price. Of course he wants to gain control of the platform.

Posted: **Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:50 am**

LawBeefaroni wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:49 am
Zarathud wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 1:50 pm If he’s on the board, they can’t punish him for his speech. It’s an investment to avoid consequences.
Twitter has been one of his favorite and most successful tools in manipulating TSLA share price. Of course he wants to gain control of the platform.

^^^^^
!!!!

Posted: **Wed Apr 06, 2022 11:01 am**

So the way to combat russian bots is to build better bots?

Posted: **Wed Apr 06, 2022 2:21 pm**

Russian bots deserve free speech, too, because otherwise they'll never have democracy!

Posted: **Mon Apr 11, 2022 3:18 pm**

Surprised no one here has yet mentioned Musk decided he doesn't want to be on the board and that he tweeted a bunch of stuff and then deleted it.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/11/elon-mu ... rrage.html

Elon Musk went on a tweetstorm over the weekend, lobbing numerous critiques of Twitter. But the Tesla and SpaceX CEO appears to have deleted several of his spiciest takes, as he’s dropped his plan to join the social media company’s board.

Musk’s tweets included suggestions on how to transform Twitter and its products. On Saturday, he asked his roughly 81 million Twitter followers to vote on whether the company should turn its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter.

In another since-deleted tweet, Musk suggested Twitter Blue subscribers should be allowed to pay with dogecoin, get an “authentication” checkmark and keep the offering free of advertisements.

“Everyone who signs up for Twitter Blue (ie pays $3/month) should get an authentication checkmark,” Musk wrote. “And no ads. The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive.”

Musk posted a separate poll, which has since been deleted, asking people to vote on whether Twitter should drop the “w” from its name.

CNBC were pretty careful not sound like they were attacking him this morning as they described the events. Though they did imply that titter was risque and not a joke. That was strange to me.

Wow... In googling this I'm seeing some of his other deleted tweets, like a picture of Hitler pleading to stop being compared to Trudeau.

I now also get why titter is not a laugh. I guess he has deleted tweets about creating a university acronym TITS in the past.

Posted: **Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:36 pm**

LordMortis wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 3:18 pm Surprised no one here has yet mentioned Musk decided he doesn't want to be on the board and that he tweeted a bunch of stuff and then deleted it.

Wow... In googling this I'm seeing some of his other deleted tweets, like a picture of Hitler pleading to stop being compared to Trudeau.

Yeah, that's the one I was referring to earlier in the thread. It just feels so surreal.

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:30 am**

Rumpy wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:36 pm
LordMortis wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 3:18 pm Surprised no one here has yet mentioned Musk decided he doesn't want to be on the board and that he tweeted a bunch of stuff and then deleted it.

Wow... In googling this I'm seeing some of his other deleted tweets, like a picture of Hitler pleading to stop being compared to Trudeau.

Yeah, that's the one I was referring to earlier in the thread. It just feels so surreal.

I saw your post and it totally black holed from my memory and then I actually saw the tweet.

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:41 am**

The whole Musk thing was strange. The Twitter announcement got into the specifics about him not joining the board. There is a heavy implication that the background check was a factor. In any case, it is looking possible that Musk might engage in a hostile takeover.

https://twitter.com/paraga/status/1513354622466867201

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:52 am**

I don't see it. That's just transparency of process. Much more likely, he just doesn't want to be either fiduciary or one smaller voice. He's impulsive and whimsical. I don't know that he'll do it, but I can easily envision him taking over Twitter for his personal vehicle for his freedom of expression.

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2022 8:00 am**

LordMortis wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:52 amI don't see it. That's just transparency of process.

It could be transparency. It could be an unnecessary detail in a carefully prepared statement while they are preparing to defend the company as well. It also could be that they conducted the background check and were questioning elements when it all fell apart. That's the beauty of making a statement like this.

It's very much like sports announcements when players and the team are having issues. Timmy Touchdown was expected to pass a physical, be ready to play football, and report on 4/9 but did not appear at training camp.

Much more likely, he just doesn't want to be either fiduciary or one smaller voice. He's impulsive and whimsical. I don't know that he'll do it, but I can easily envision him taking over Twitter for his personal vehicle for his freedom of expression.

Right. This whole thing doesn't surprise me in that respect.

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2022 12:34 pm**

I read speculation that he chafed at the condition that he not buy any more stock -- that he intends to take it over.

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2022 12:57 pm**

Maybe he would or did fail the background check lol.

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2022 1:34 pm**

LordMortis wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:30 am
Rumpy wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:36 pm
LordMortis wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 3:18 pm Surprised no one here has yet mentioned Musk decided he doesn't want to be on the board and that he tweeted a bunch of stuff and then deleted it.

Wow... In googling this I'm seeing some of his other deleted tweets, like a picture of Hitler pleading to stop being compared to Trudeau.

Yeah, that's the one I was referring to earlier in the thread. It just feels so surreal.
I saw your post and it totally black holed from my memory and then I actually saw the tweet.

There's freedom of speech, and then there are things like what he posted. And to think he could have had controlling interest is what alarms me. That was posted while Ottawa was dealing with the Convoy after Trudeau had announced the Emergency Measures Act. He was considered a major supporter of the convoy, ie lots of funding on his part, and didn't like what Trudeau was doing and considered it an overreach, hence the tweet posted as a direct response. Those who feel this was regular regular free speech, it wasn't. It was in support of an extremist group and vocal minority who saw themselves as the only voice of reason and wanted to end all mandates. Meanwhile, the narrative coming out of Faux News, was that Canada was under Trudeau's tyranny, and that the Convoy was going to save us from oppression. Yeah, I wish I was kidding. I was sitting there wondering, what oppression? We've had it pretty freaking good, perhaps more than most Countries, precisely because we've been vigilant about vaxxing and masking up. Musk should stick to what he does best, building cars and rockets, and stick his nose out of politics and policy of a country he doesn't even live in.

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:27 pm**

Since this thread is called “Social Media Discussion” I thought I’d mention an article I read (most of) this morning. It’s kind of long and maybe a bit pretentious for my taste, but the author does make some interesting points about how social media has evolved over the past decade and how it’s influenced society as a whole. YMMV.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... el/629369/

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:46 pm**

Rumpy wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 1:34 pm
LordMortis wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:30 am
Rumpy wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:36 pm
LordMortis wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 3:18 pm Surprised no one here has yet mentioned Musk decided he doesn't want to be on the board and that he tweeted a bunch of stuff and then deleted it.

Wow... In googling this I'm seeing some of his other deleted tweets, like a picture of Hitler pleading to stop being compared to Trudeau.

Yeah, that's the one I was referring to earlier in the thread. It just feels so surreal.
I saw your post and it totally black holed from my memory and then I actually saw the tweet.
There's freedom of speech, and then there are things like what he posted. And to think he could have had controlling interest is what alarms me. That was posted while Ottawa was dealing with the Convoy after Trudeau had announced the Emergency Measures Act. He was considered a major supporter of the convoy, ie lots of funding on his part, and didn't like what Trudeau was doing and considered it an overreach, hence the tweet posted as a direct response. Those who feel this was regular regular free speech, it wasn't. It was in support of an extremist group and vocal minority who saw themselves as the only voice of reason and wanted to end all mandates. Meanwhile, the narrative coming out of Faux News, was that Canada was under Trudeau's tyranny, and that the Convoy was going to save us from oppression. Yeah, I wish I was kidding. I was sitting there wondering, what oppression? We've had it pretty freaking good, perhaps more than most Countries, precisely because we've been vigilant about vaxxing and masking up. Musk should stick to what he does best, building cars and rockets, and stick his nose out of politics and policy of a country he doesn't even live in.

The convoy wasn't really about ending pandemic mandates. It was about ending the current federal government.

It may have also been about ethics in game journalism.

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:19 pm**

Max Peck wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:46 pm
Rumpy wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 1:34 pm
LordMortis wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:30 am
Rumpy wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:36 pm
LordMortis wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 3:18 pm Surprised no one here has yet mentioned Musk decided he doesn't want to be on the board and that he tweeted a bunch of stuff and then deleted it.

Wow... In googling this I'm seeing some of his other deleted tweets, like a picture of Hitler pleading to stop being compared to Trudeau.

Yeah, that's the one I was referring to earlier in the thread. It just feels so surreal.
I saw your post and it totally black holed from my memory and then I actually saw the tweet.
There's freedom of speech, and then there are things like what he posted. And to think he could have had controlling interest is what alarms me. That was posted while Ottawa was dealing with the Convoy after Trudeau had announced the Emergency Measures Act. He was considered a major supporter of the convoy, ie lots of funding on his part, and didn't like what Trudeau was doing and considered it an overreach, hence the tweet posted as a direct response. Those who feel this was regular regular free speech, it wasn't. It was in support of an extremist group and vocal minority who saw themselves as the only voice of reason and wanted to end all mandates. Meanwhile, the narrative coming out of Faux News, was that Canada was under Trudeau's tyranny, and that the Convoy was going to save us from oppression. Yeah, I wish I was kidding. I was sitting there wondering, what oppression? We've had it pretty freaking good, perhaps more than most Countries, precisely because we've been vigilant about vaxxing and masking up. Musk should stick to what he does best, building cars and rockets, and stick his nose out of politics and policy of a country he doesn't even live in.
The convoy wasn't really about ending pandemic mandates. It was about ending the current federal government.

It may have also been about ethics in game journalism.

Oh, I know. But most don't know know that. And to add to that, not only was it about ending the current federal government, but it was also about the outside influence involved in trying to achieve that. Most outside the country don't realize just how much of a crisis it was.

Posted: **Thu Apr 14, 2022 6:27 am**

CNBC is reporting Musk essentially says I will buy 100% of Twitter for fifty...4/20 or the company is doomed.

No link yet.

Edit but here's a tweet about it

https://twitter.com/CNBCJulianna/status ... 9827496960

"My offer is my best and final offer...if offer is not accepted, "I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder...I don't have confidence in management."

Posted: **Thu Apr 14, 2022 7:21 am**

I love when insane people have an asston of money. What could go wrong? I look forward to Trump openly planning a coup on Twitter again.

Posted: **Thu Apr 14, 2022 8:00 am**

This would be another instance of the world bailing out Trump. Truth Social face planting wouldn't matter.

Posted: **Thu Apr 14, 2022 8:15 am**

If he has all that money laying around, maybe he could speed up my Starlink order that I placed 2 years ago.

Posted: **Thu Apr 14, 2022 8:26 am**

So the next question is will his impulsive, beholden to nothing but his whims, see him taking out loans against his TSLA to follow through (or will funding be secured through other means) or will he turn a different way if things don't instantly come up roses for him?

What's the price of dogecoin? His whim was to monetize twitter through subscription payable in dogecoin, which he had invested in "as a joke."

The man leaves me so deeply conflicted. His vision often sees so much good made real and his actions... don't...

Posted: **Thu Apr 14, 2022 8:28 am**

rittchard wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:27 pm Since this thread is called “Social Media Discussion” I thought I’d mention an article I read (most of) this morning. It’s kind of long and maybe a bit pretentious for my taste, but the author does make some interesting points about how social media has evolved over the past decade and how it’s influenced society as a whole. YMMV.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... el/629369/

Thought this was a good piece and some of the prescriptions he mentions such as protecting children 15 and below at least are good ideas.

Octopus Overlords

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