[Technology] Elon Musk and Twitter

[jamie (not that one)]

He's trying to create a super app. There are a few around. I suspect later iterations of X will include payments and other financial services, shopping and other distribution and a lot more. Having Twitter gives him the access to the data of every user and therefore a worldwide user base. It's actually pretty clever.

However, considering he's fired most of Twitter's good engineers, clever is the last thing you'll be if you use the X super app for anything more that catching up on Fesshole and winding up Chelsea fans. You might as well just go out and hand over some money to some random strangers.

Creating an amazing app for a fraction of the price will give you access to the same amount of data over time. What he's done with Twitter is an absolute shambles and wouldn't surprise me if all the engineers etc he fired are now at Bluesky (which needs to hurry the f*** up) building his conqueror. That said, I do enjoy Fesshole so will hang about a little longer.

Honestly, I'm pretty sad about Twitter because it was the only really useful social media app. Probably because it wasn't really social media, not the way I used it at least.

 

[herecomesaregular]

There is no way any of the Bond villians have ever been as inept as Elon.

hugely dislikeable man but hardly inept.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Musk has rebranded Twitter as X. The bird has gone too.

New logo:
View attachment 164030

All very strange, or good marketing?

Possibly an age thing, but it just makes me think of the Action Man villain Dr. X.

All night brainstorming session to come up with that character name.

 

[Heart and Soul]

The reactions to what Elon Musk is doing are more dystopian than the actions himself. If you get upset with Twitter changing name or logo or log-in requirements, you have clearly used Twitter too much.
It has been trash since day one, used by trash people wanting to be mean to other trash people. Little says as much about someone as "I use Twitter".

 

[schmunk]

It has been trash since day one, used by trash people wanting to be mean to other trash people. Little says as much about someone as "I use Twitter".

What a load of rubbish.

I use Twitter very little, and have never posted anything (I think) but for what it's good at, it's the best at.

 

[Heart and Soul]

What a load of rubbish.

I use Twitter very little, and have never posted anything (I think) but for what it's good at, it's the best at.

What is it good at? The whole thing was created because a huge sentiment of the population found anything above 280 characters too intellectually challenging to deal with.

 

[schmunk]

What is it good at? The whole thing was created because a huge sentiment of the population found anything above 280 characters too intellectually challenging to deal with.

It's great for reportage - take a look at the Russia invades Ukraine thread and the various "Twitter" threads linked there. Is there any other website / app / whatever which would give a better platform for this fast-moving, frequently updated messaging?

It's the best place for 'breaking' news. Wonder why there's a helicopter hovering overhead? Twitter is the place to go to find out.

It's also really good for snippets of entertainment, e.g. Fesshole, No Context Brits, anon_opin, Jonathan Pie, shirts that go hard... ...to name some that I have followed (plus Brighton & Hove Albion, of course...!)

 

[Perry's Tracksuit Bottoms]

What is it good at? The whole thing was created because a huge sentiment of the population found anything above 280 characters too intellectually challenging to deal with.

Ironically, with your broad generalisations and lack of evidence, it'd be perfect for you.

 

[Heart and Soul]

It's great for reportage - take a look at the Russia invades Ukraine thread and the various "Twitter" threads linked there. Is there any other website / app / whatever which would give a better platform for this fast-moving, frequently updated messaging?

Linked, it's the best place for 'breaking' news. Wonder why there's a helicopter hovering overhead? Twitter is the place to go to find out.

It's also really good for snippets of entertainment, e.g. Fesshole, No Context Brits, anon_opin, Jonathan Pie, shirts that go hard... ...to name some that I have followed (plus Brighton & Hove Albion, of course...!)

There's plenty of information on everything Ukraine/Russia for those who are able to read longer, in-depth articles.
If you need to know why there is a helicopter hovering over you, local Facebook groups are equally good. But of course, sometimes people use 300 or more characters to describe what is happening, which is apparently a bit too much today. Brain turns off around the third sentence, I guess.
You can find equally good entertainment elsewhere. Maybe not as easy to digest, but at least equally funny.

 

[schmunk]

There's plenty of information on everything Ukraine/Russia for those who are able to read longer, in-depth articles.
If you need to know why there is a helicopter hovering over you, local Facebook groups are equally good. But of course, sometimes people use 300 or more characters to describe what is happening, which is apparently a bit too much today. Brain turns off around the third sentence, I guess.
You can find equally good entertainment elsewhere. Maybe not as easy to digest, but at least equally funny.

1) It's not about 'able to' - much of this information is simply short, immediate updates which don't require thousands of words of waffle, and indeed, some of us don't have the luxury of time to trawl through such articles.

2) Facebook can be fairly goof for this, but is often dreadful - for example, every time you go into the app it defaults back to "most relevant" results, rather than "most recent". Facebook posts tend to be even briefer than Twitter, in my experience. In any case, how many paragraphs do you need to write "they're searching for a missing person", or such...?

3) Great, go for it. Don't hurry back.

I appreciate you're trying to be aloofly superior with your disdain for Twitter, but in reality you're coming across as arrogantly uninformed.

 

[pb21]

I think twitter is very useful.

Certainly you can get more detail and analysis in long form articles or books, but as a starting point it's excellent. As for the entertainment, I regularly see posts that make me laugh/smile, but entertainment is subjective, you obviously aren't getting something like an evening at Glyndebourne.

Just avoid all the toxicity.

 

[The Clamp]

He’s modelled X on the Chinese app WeChat. A catch all app for everything. The app created and controlled by that bastion of free speech, the Chinese government. Who never spy on their own people. Ever.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

The reactions to what Elon Musk is doing are more dystopian than the actions himself. If you get upset with Twitter changing name or logo or log-in requirements, you have clearly used Twitter too much.
It has been trash since day one, used by trash people wanting to be mean to other trash people. Little says as much about someone as "I use Twitter".

You sure about that?

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

The reactions to what Elon Musk is doing are more dystopian than the actions himself. If you get upset with Twitter changing name or logo or log-in requirements, you have clearly used Twitter too much.
It has been trash since day one, used by trash people wanting to be mean to other trash people. Little says as much about someone as "I use Twitter".

So … you use twitter then … as that is basically the sort of thing people put on twitter.

 

[Heart and Soul]

1) It's not about 'able to' - much of this information is simply short, immediate updates which don't require thousands of words of waffle, and indeed, some of us don't have the luxury of time to trawl through such articles.

2) Facebook can be fairly goof for this, but is often dreadful - for example, every time you go into the app it defaults back to "most relevant" results, rather than "most recent". Facebook posts tend to be even briefer than Twitter, in my experience. In any case, how many paragraphs do you need to write "they're searching for a missing person", or such...?

3) Great, go for it. Don't hurry back.

I appreciate you're trying to be aloofly superior with your disdain for Twitter, but in reality you're coming across as arrogantly uninformed.

1. What value do you get as an individual or us as an society from getting immediate updates rather than properly fact-checked versions of such events an hour or two later? And is it really that time saving considering how much people spend on social media in general?
2. Sure, Facebook algorithms suck now but that wasn't the case when Twitter came.

Maybe I'm trying to be "aloofly superior". Or maybe I just see through these attempts to defend whatever they are addicted to. If you ask people addicted to cannabis about whether it is good or not, they will start telling you about all the diseases it cures and so forth, and if you ask someone addicted to a video game they are going to tell you they do it because "they like it" despite all evidence showing that too much is too much.
Same goes for Twitter. In reality, it is a type of social media where the fast pace and desire to keep arguments short just turn it into a place where people bully each other and throw harsh words and strange rumours around, pretty much cornering people into taking sides on every single subject, which creates this awful burning hole between people. Twitter is one of the main locomotives when it comes to splitting our societies apart.

You can say it is "entertaining", "quick" or whatever, but is it really worth it? Personally I don't doubt for a second that society would be slightly better off without it.

 

[beorhthelm]

1. What value do you get as an individual or us as an society from getting immediate updates rather than properly fact-checked versions of such events an hour or two later? And is it really that time saving considering how much people spend on social media in general?

if your life isn't enriched by content such as this, i feel sorry for you.

 

[Stat Brother]

1. What value do you get as an individual or us as an society from getting immediate updates rather than properly fact-checked versions of such events an hour or two later? And is it really that time saving considering how much people spend on social media in general?
2. Sure, Facebook algorithms suck now but that wasn't the case when Twitter came.

Maybe I'm trying to be "aloofly superior". Or maybe I just see through these attempts to defend whatever they are addicted to. If you ask people addicted to cannabis about whether it is good or not, they will start telling you about all the diseases it cures and so forth, and if you ask someone addicted to a video game they are going to tell you they do it because "they like it" despite all evidence showing that too much is too much.
Same goes for Twitter. In reality, it is a type of social media where the fast pace and desire to keep arguments short just turn it into a place where people bully each other and throw harsh words and strange rumours around, pretty much cornering people into taking sides on every single subject, which creates this awful burning hole between people. Twitter is one of the main locomotives when it comes to splitting our societies apart.

You can say it is "entertaining", "quick" or whatever, but is it really worth it? Personally I don't doubt for a second that society would be slightly better off without it.

3 words.

World

Bollard

Association.



As an aside a few months ago Richard Herring interviewed Mr Fesshole - well.worth a listen.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

1. What value do you get as an individual or us as an society from getting immediate updates rather than properly fact-checked versions of such events an hour or two later? And is it really that time saving considering how much people spend on social media in general?
2. Sure, Facebook algorithms suck now but that wasn't the case when Twitter came.

Maybe I'm trying to be "aloofly superior". Or maybe I just see through these attempts to defend whatever they are addicted to. If you ask people addicted to cannabis about whether it is good or not, they will start telling you about all the diseases it cures and so forth, and if you ask someone addicted to a video game they are going to tell you they do it because "they like it" despite all evidence showing that too much is too much.
Same goes for Twitter. In reality, it is a type of social media where the fast pace and desire to keep arguments short just turn it into a place where people bully each other and throw harsh words and strange rumours around, pretty much cornering people into taking sides on every single subject, which creates this awful burning hole between people. Twitter is one of the main locomotives when it comes to splitting our societies apart.

You can say it is "entertaining", "quick" or whatever, but is it really worth it? Personally I don't doubt for a second that society would be slightly better off without it.

Worth what? It's free (unless you pay for a white tick)!

I don't see the problem with people who want to use it for whatever they choose to. Live and let live, FFS!

 

[Guinness Boy]

What is it good at? The whole thing was created because a huge sentiment of the population found anything above 280 characters too intellectually challenging to deal with.

That was the whole point. Be witty and informative within a constraint. It’s why so many early adopters were comedians and writers.

Unfortunately it’s now been ruined by the broflakes.

 

[BN9 BHA]

It has been trash since day one, used by trash people wanting to be mean to other trash people. Little says as much about someone as "I use Twitter".

Complete rubbish.
There are many decent people on Twitter including fellow Albion fans I have met.
Twitter is still good for information especially local traffic issues.