Elon & Twitter

[ohmman]

ROFL @ the people here commenting on selling ads . . . who have clearly not even paid for an online ad before.

Google - MASSIVELY profitable, just on "impressions", much more so on "clicks"
Facebook - not exactly a well-moderated platform, still sells tons of ads daily for just about everything

There is plenty, PLENTY of room for Twitter in the social media ad space. All they have to do it provide a reasonable way to generate "impressions" for their ad buyers to the user base, and undercut the above 2 companies on cost, and believe me businesses will try them out.

And yes, I speak from experience here, my business works closely with some very VERY large advertisers (you've probably ridden in one of their ride-share services in the past quarter). They are ALWAYS looks for new avenues to spread their advertising.

I think Twitter has underperformed in its category, and I've been clear about that. That said, we were talking about subscription models, not selling ads. I personally don't see a strong path forward for that model on the current platform, and I don't think "exclusive content" is going to make a big dent in that either. They certainly can do better and probably serve more ads, but Elon has commented that he'd rather get rid of advertising and pivot to the subscription model.

I'm not sure how your comments above are pertinent in that context. I mean, sure, he might change his mind, but if we're to take Elon at his word, he said "I hate advertising," he said "no ads," and he has suggested that Twitter Blue or some version is the best way forward. So it doesn't matter about impressions or ad selling. It matters how he plans to get people to sign up for a recurring subscription to argue with other people. Hell, we offer that for free here.

 

[bkp_duke]

I think Twitter has underperformed in its category, and I've been clear about that. That said, we were talking about subscription models, not selling ads. I personally don't see a strong path forward for that model on the current platform, and I don't think "exclusive content" is going to make a big dent in that either. They certainly can do better and probably serve more ads, but Elon has commented that he'd rather get rid of advertising and pivot to the subscription model.

I'm not sure how your comments above are pertinent in that context. I mean, sure, he might change his mind, but if we're to take Elon at his word, he said "I hate advertising," he said "no ads," and he has suggested that Twitter Blue or some version is the best way forward. So it doesn't matter about impressions or ad selling. It matters how he plans to get people to sign up for a recurring subscription to argue with other people. Hell, we offer that for free here.

Subscription models are just a bot filtering mechanism. If you require someone to either be verified as human (i.e. gov ID reviewed by a real person), or you require them to pay (bots love going en-masse - this makes things far less economical for the group behind the bots), you overall improve your customer base. That base is then far more attractive for advertisers, which would be a separate, and different matter (selling them ads - not verifying identity as "human"). Subs are the only way to do this, but they are a good way to do it.

Subscriptions are going to be the primary revenue stream, ads are. And the ads can be sold at higher prices when you prove to the businesses running ads that they are serving those up to real people, not bots.

EDIT - and I don't believe Elon can get around ads. His backers just won't foot the bill for something like that. Nothing in the SEC filings indicate that fundamental a shift in the business model, regardless of what he's said on Twitter (scam ads on Youtube, etc.).

 

[EVNow]

Facebook - not exactly a well-moderated platform, still sells tons of ads daily for just about everything

Facebook has real people and very low on abuse in spite of low moderation. It’s also a place where there are separate spaces for every little group and you can’t freely post whatever you want wherever you want. So people can’t repeatedly threaten to rape female journalists or keep posting oven photos to threaten Jewish journalists - these happened a lot on Twitter before moderation.

BTW, FB has a very large group of contractors in other countries who check videos posted for illegal content.

Facebook adding 3,000 reviewers to combat violent videos

Facebook is planning to hire thousands to help review user content following multiple high-profile incidents of people sharing videos of suicide and murder.

money.cnn.com

 

[heltok]

Another potentially controversial tweet:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1535733409083011073

Link is paywall. It refers to this interview:

 

[JRP3]

It's a good thing there is nothing more important to worry about than who a person identifies as. Elon very concerned with the big problems in the world...

 

[bkp_duke]

Another potentially controversial tweet:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1535733409083011073

Link is paywall. It refers to this interview:

This is one of the reasons I left practice. I was in the trained group that has to prescribe the hormones for these "changes" (not just any physician can write those kinds of scripts). What I saw when visiting with children/teenagers that were considering gender re-assignment was an incredibly large percentage of patients with deep-seeded psychological issues. Issues that needed to be worked through with a psychologist before life-altering surgery should even be considered. Per my psych colleagues, they were seeing suicide rates 10X above the normal baseline for this group (40% had made at least one attempt), and that was after gender reassignment.

Transgenderism had become "socially popular" and there were huge numbers of attention-seeking people undergoing the transition without thinking through the long-term consequences. Afterwards, many MANY of them came to us asking to "go back", not understanding that many of the changes were irreversible.

Because it had become such a politically charged topic and you could not bring up concerns with these patients like this without some of them wanting to brand you, it was a substantial contributing factor for me moving on from practice.

My point? Elon is not wrong when he says that what we are "being told" about gender differences is a different argument depending upon the goals of the group using it. No matter what side of the argument you are on, that is clear (that these groups are being used as pawns for others' agendas).

 

[JRP3]

Elon falling into a simple trap, as are many others. You take a minor issue and a powerless group and create fear around it which distracts from actual problems and provides a target for anger and frustration. More proof that his genius does not apply to all topics.

 

[EVNow]

Because it had become such a politically charged topic

Exactly. This is the point I was making earlier - it is now one more wedge issue because political parties want it to be.

Elon is so naive he doesn't even realize he is just getting sucked into the culture war.

 

[FlatSix911]

Here's a bit of good advice for everyone... ignore the drama and get back to work.

Tesla workers ask Elon Musk what to do with Twitter drama – the CEO says 'ignore'

At a company-wide meeting yesterday, Tesla employees asked Elon Musk what to do with the Twitter drama around his attempt...

electrek.co

"This position has created a lot of drama, especially on the left of the political spectrum, and it is also impacting Tesla employees. One of those employees asked Musk during an all-hands meeting at Tesla yesterday “how the Twitter drama affects people at Tesla and what … can you do to shield them from it”.
The CEO thought about it for a second and said to ignore Twitter: 'Well, you know. Ignore Twitter. Ignore. Ignore.'

Musk then went on his pitch for buying the social media company and trying to turn it into a free-speech platform. Interestingly, he mentioned during the pitch that he is aiming for about 80% of Americans to be on the platform: 'In the case of Twitter, it’s about how can we assure that there’s a digital town square that is inclusive and as trusted as possible and where ideally, I don’t know, 80% of Americans are on it.' They can speak their minds with reasonable freedom. That would be a massive jump from the roughly ~25% of adults in the United States reportedly using the platform.'

 

[_Redshift_]

I guess 80% of Americans will be on Twitter “by the end of the year”

 

[JRP3]

I don’t know, 80% of Americans are on it.

He's delusional.

 

[Buckminster]

Bill Gates doesn't allow just anyone to reply to his tweets. Elon may enjoy switching that feature off!

 

[_Redshift_]

Bill Gates doesn't allow just anyone to reply to his tweets. Elon may enjoy switching that feature off!

Just to do that, spend $44 B and trash TSLA. Win win!

 

[FlatSix911]

He's delusional.

I don't think he will reach his goal...

"Interestingly, he mentioned during the pitch that he is aiming for about 80% of Americans to be on the platform"

 

[Knightshade]

I don't think he will reach his goal...

"Interestingly, he mentioned during the pitch that he is aiming for about 80% of Americans to be on the platform"

Did he actually say that, or is someone misquoting where he mentioned he thought 80% of people were not the "fringe/far" aspect of each party?

 

[Buckminster]

Just to do that, spend $44 B and trash TSLA. Win win!

Three quarters of investors here don't think Elon cares about TSLA valuation:
Poll; Does Elon want the TSLA market cap to increase?
TSLA is already trashed. Can only go up from here.

 

[ohmman]

Did he actually say that, or is someone misquoting where he mentioned he thought 80% of people were not the "fringe/far" aspect of each party?

It’s quoted above in @FlatSix911’s excerpt. He said ideally, though, which I think is an aspirational concept and probably not a realistic goal.

 

[juanmedina]

more twitter BS.

 

[_Redshift_]

View attachment 816285

more twitter BS.

Well, I hope he doesn’t repeat his “80% of all Americans on Twitter “ stuff.

 

[Daniel in SD]

more twitter BS.

Seems like communication with your future employees is probably a good idea.
It will definitely be leaked so that will also provide more fodder for this thread.

Well, I hope he doesn’t repeat his “80% of all Americans on Twitter “ stuff.

Maybe he wants to beat Facebook? Supposedly they’re at 70%.