Twitter and The Musk

[GrantDawg]

Hi, I'm Grantdawg, and I am addicted to TikTok. There is actually a bunch of creative and funny stuff on TikTok. Never have gotten into Instagram, because I agree that photos aren't my favorite form of communication. But seeing a guy with a puppet scare his wife over and over again to tell her bad jokes? Yes, please.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

But seeing a guy with a puppet scare his wife over and over again to tell her bad jokes? Yes, please.

Pooks?

I mean, that's the bulk of the recommends I get on IG, rarely just a straight photo anymore.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

TikTok and Instagram make no sense to me. I hate photos, so an entire app devoted to influencers and narcissism sounds awful. My kids continually send me TikToks and I think I've laughed at like a half-dozen total.

Although worse was (is? Does it still exist?) Snapchat - like 6-8 years ago, my kids would take pics making stupid faces or of literally nothing, and while driving at night, it was repeated flashes in the dark. About all I got out of that was gossip from my kids telling me about X or Z person who Snapped getting drunk, doing drugs, or having sex.

This is also me and probably a sign I'm getting old. Give me a chance to scroll Reddit for an hour and see dumb stories, stupid ass memes, and other stuff? Awesome. It even has some videos and they tell me what they are and I can roll right by them if I don't want to see them. But you want me to just watch movies 30s to 90s at a time of all that? Websites that went hard pivot to video were dumb and, generally decreased their viewership. And now you want me to just do that for hours on end on an app? Hard pass.

SI

[GrantDawg]

Hey, Pooks!

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[Atocep]

Love Tik Tok. Never got into Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or any other social media platform. My wife and son jumped on the bandwagon around the beginning of the pandemic and I thought it was stupid until I started using it more and more.

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Despite having virtually no content that isn't so-so comedy, cat videos, and pron teasers.

Hey, it's your algorithm

[Atocep]

The irony in the tik tok ban is the proposed bill to ban it because of its Chinese government influence takes us one step closer to treating the internet like China does.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

TikTok and Instagram make no sense to me. I hate photos, so an entire app devoted to influencers and narcissism sounds awful. My kids continually send me TikToks and I think I've laughed at like a half-dozen total.

Although worse was (is? Does it still exist?) Snapchat - like 6-8 years ago, my kids would take pics making stupid faces or of literally nothing, and while driving at night, it was repeated flashes in the dark. About all I got out of that was gossip from my kids telling me about X or Z person who Snapped getting drunk, doing drugs, or having sex.

I don't get Tik Toc either but my wife spends at least 30 minutes every night in bed cackling away. At least she isn't laughing in bed at me anymore.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Atocep

The irony in the tik tok ban is the proposed bill to ban it because of its Chinese government influence takes us one step closer to treating the internet like China does.

I pointed this out to my wife yesterday. Her work pays for her phone and I'm curious if they would ban it. Probably nt since they do a lot of business with China ( Duracell)

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I pointed this out to my wife yesterday. Her work pays for her phone and I'm curious if they would ban it. Probably nt since they do a lot of business with China ( Duracell)

I don't think many people realize how far S.686 goes. Anyone not familiar with it needs to take a look. This bill would completely reshape the internet and give the government full control over it, your data, and any hardware, software, ect with a userbase over 1,000,000.

The way the bill is written the government could take a look at your ring data, alexa data, ect without letting you know. They just have to label something a threat to the US government and that's not something that's subject to review. The presidentially appointed Secretary of Commerce and his chosen board make that decision. Future secretaries can't even investigate past applications per the bill.

Want to use a VPN to get around the goverment overreach or keep the government from accessing your data when they want it (again, without letting you know)? Yeah, that's a now a felony under this bill.

[GrantDawg]

And the "For You" in Twitter is going to get even worse. Elon says that after April 15th, only verified accounts will be recommended on the "For You." I'm still dime as ling as there is a follow tab. I just get a feeling that will be going soon.

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[cuervo72]

Won't that kind of be like TikTok then? Captive audience to what they serve you, just a different algorithm/emphasis.

[GrantDawg]

No. It means only the people who pay the $8 will be in the feed. So, only Elon fan-boys.

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[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Hey, Pooks!

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

Scariest thing yet perhaps, that I knew that despite not Tikking nor Tokking

[Mota]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I'm going to say I haven't really noticed a major change in Twitter. There are a few people who have left, but for the most part I still have most of my sports people, my news people, my Twitter of Time friends, law gurus and a few political accounts I follow. Less celebrity interaction than there used to be, but that's about it. I only look at the "following" tab, because the algorithm for the "for you" feed is a hot mess. I feel like that will probably change soon. It is just a matter of time before he does away with the ability to just see post from people you want, and stop allowing chronological browsing. That is what killed Facebook for me.

I hate that about Facebook! It keeps showing me some friend's post from 3 days ago that I don't really care about, meanwhile I'd just like to see chronological updates from all of my friends.

[Mota]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

And the "For You" in Twitter is going to get even worse. Elon says that after April 15th, only verified accounts will be recommended on the "For You." I'm still dime as ling as there is a follow tab. I just get a feeling that will be going soon.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

That would be a perfect time to cancel the account.

[Ksyrup]

I don't ever look at the For You tab but the couple times early on that they used to default to it, it was obvious in about 30 seconds it wasn't my normal feed.

If that becomes the only feed, I'm out. I already spend less time on Twitter since they killed 3rd party apps.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I don't get Tik Toc either but my wife spends at least 30 minutes every night in bed cackling away. At least she isn't laughing in bed at me anymore.

They've mastered the quick dopamine hits. Not everyone wants to watch a 10 minute YouTube video with an ad in front.

Their algorithm is really good too. Unlike other social media companies, you don't need to have a million followers or whatever to go viral. Just from a programmer perspective, it's really well done.

[RainMaker]

Years ago I would have said this stood no shot at passing constitutional muster, but the courts have changed a lot and it's not really about the laws or rights anymore.

House Energy and Commerce Cmte. Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) is drafting legislation that would ban TikTok, calling the app "an immediate threat."

When asked if there's a realistic pathway for it to become law, Rodgers tells CBS News' @MacFarlaneNews, "Yes." pic.twitter.com/ENpZ4qpo1I

— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 29, 2023

[RainMaker]

I also get the feeling this bills is about more than TikTok. They could make a law that just bans TikTok if they wanted to. This has some nefarious stuff in it and is very vague.

It lets the government ban any app or software they deem a national security threat. It doesn't go after the company, but the users. Up to a $1 million fine and up to 20 years in prison for a conviction for having used an app deemed unsafe. This includes if you use a VPN to access those apps. It is also not subject to FOIA.

They get broad rights to monitor internet traffic of all kinds from your home. Cameras, smart devices, and anything else that accesses the internet. Patriot Act for the internet.

And this has bipartisan support and a real chance of passing.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I also get the feeling this bills is about more than TikTok. They could make a law that just bans TikTok if they wanted to. This has some nefarious stuff in it and is very vague.

It lets the government ban any app or software they deem a national security threat. It doesn't go after the company, but the users. Up to a $1 million fine and up to 20 years in prison for a conviction for having used an app deemed unsafe. This includes if you use a VPN to access those apps. It is also not subject to FOIA.

They get broad rights to monitor internet traffic of all kinds from your home. Cameras, smart devices, and anything else that accesses the internet. Patriot Act for the internet.

And this has bipartisan support and a real chance of passing.

Yeah I think I posted this in the Biden thread. It's seriously overlooked right now and it has strong support from both parties.

Ring, Alexa, ect could all be accessed by the Government without your knowledge if they decide a piece of hardware used to make them is a security threat. The people that decide are a board appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, which means voters have no say in what happens and future Secretaries of Commerce can't review decisions made by their predecessors.

It's government takeover of the internet.

[sterlingice]

The government has hard a bipartisan desire to do this going back quite a ways - remember the SOPA and PIPA protests?

SI

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

The government has hard a bipartisan desire to do this going back quite a ways - remember the SOPA and PIPA protests?

Yeah, they've been trying for a long time. I think one of the "features" of this bill is they can ban torrent software and sites where copyright infringement is a concern in the US. It's a bill to protect very wealthy businesses who lobby politicians, nothing to do with safety.

[Atocep]

When Rand Paul is the voice of reason on the tik tok bill something is off.

[Lathum]

I wonder if this verification stuff is the real reason the Saudi’s bankrolled Musk. They are going to be able to hammer Twitter with misinformation and we’ve proved as a country we will believe anything we see on the internet’s that fit our belief system.

[RainMaker]

He made the algorithm source code public today and lol.

oh my god. i swear to you this is real. the algorithm source code literally has a carve out just for elon’s posts pic.twitter.com/r4dkycAQLN

— soul nate (@MNateShyamalan) March 31, 2023

[NobodyHere]

What language is that?

[Radii]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

What language is that?

scala - which I know nothing about unfortunately, but that's the extension on the source files in the repo

[RainMaker]

Looking through the full code, it seems like a lot of it is scala. But there does seem to be some Java and Python/Starlark mixed in.

[GrantDawg]

Everyone was ready for the great blue check-mark removal day that was supposed to happen on April 1st. It didn't. Instead Elon has said he will wait a few weeks "to give organizations time to pay for verification", and also changed all of the legacy check marks to say "This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account."

[Ksyrup]

I saw a bunch of screenshots of Blue check imposters posting some pretty hilarious stuff.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Everyone was ready for the great blue check-mark removal day that was supposed to happen on April 1st. It didn't. Instead Elon has said he will wait a few weeks "to give organizations time to pay for verification", and also changed all of the legacy check marks to say "This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account."

Washington Post had a story that said the checkmarks have to be removed manually. They have no system in place to just drop them from everyone's account. And I guess dropping them causes other issues.

Decent chance it never happens since it seems like a massive pain and he lies incessantly.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Washington Post had a story that said the checkmarks have to be removed manually. They have no system in place to just drop them from everyone's account. And I guess dropping them causes other issues.

Decent chance it never happens since it seems like a massive pain and he lies incessantly.

I think the current situation is better for him. He has diluted the actual verification part of the check mark, and he has made it look like some of the legacy blues have actually paid him $8. This helped stop what most people were going to do to battle the change, which was to block every blue check mark they see. I know that was my plan.

[albionmoonlight]

Yup. I don't know if he stumbled into this by accident, but it is much better for his ultimate goal of turning twitter into a right wing disinformation site that has enough residual good will that normal people still take it seriously.

[Lathum]

The app is total garbage. The reply button doesn’t work and if you click the hour glass to see what’s trending, then click a topic nothing happens.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Yup. I don't know if he stumbled into this by accident, but it is much better for his ultimate goal of turning twitter into a right wing disinformation site that has enough residual good will that normal people still take it seriously.

I think he wants to turn it into Netflix where 50 million people are sending him $8 a month. Likely his only option now that advertisers have fled.

It'll never happen because you just aren't going to get many people willing to post on a site for a monthly fee. He just never understood what made Twitter valuable.

[Flasch186]

Oh he knew

He just didn’t think his bluster would be held to account


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[QuikSand]

How is this not obvious?

Legacy check was supposed to be verification but also became a status symbol because you couldn’t buy it.

If you can buy it, no more status.

But now it doesn’t even verify.

Twitter can sell analytics & search. And true verify to add value to platform. https://t.co/QM2MIaWE4C

— zeynep tufekci (@zeynep) April 2, 2023

I buy this explanation as the one that makes the most sense at this point. This tweet and her short thread behind it all add up. He's neither as dumb as he somewhat seems, nor as smart as he and his followers believe. He's just flailing around looking for something that might fit, and is seemingly unbothered by the messiness of doing it all in this fashion.

[RainMaker]

I mean he crushed the value of the company by over $20 billion in 6 months. I think he's pretty dumb. That's incredibly hard to do.

[bronconick]

And he's fiddling with it all the time. I'm thinking if he was this involved in Tesla or SpaceX, either of those would've crashed and burned the same.

[RainMaker]

They apparently got rid of the little note that showed when something was retweeted and by who for some reason. That's kind of annoying.

[albionmoonlight]

One way that he has outsmarted his haters is how he has managed to keep so many of them on Twitter making fun of him.

I think that most of them know deep down that their presence there helps him. Impression counters don't care if the impressions are positive or negative.

But for a lot of them, they just can't help getting in that one really awesome dis of Elon, even though it is putting money in his pocket.

He knows how to play the suckers.

[Ksyrup]

I passed a Tesla on the highway yesterday that a "SpaceX" emblem on the bottom left rear panel. Is that a special edition Tesla?

[Brian Swartz]

I think it's easy to underestimate just how wrong even really smart people are capable of being.

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by Lathum

How do I disengage from that battle when I have a gay son and a daughter and one side is literally trying to take both of their rights away?

Thankfully I live in a blue state and have the money to make sure my daughter could get the healthcare she needs regardless, but not everyone is so fortunate, and if the GOP regains power the status quo could shift.

They literally want a nation where a woman with a non viable pregnancy has to be on the cusp of death before giving her life saving care, let alone banning things like morning after pills, etc...

And this is just two issues, never mind their election nonsense, etc...This isn't the time to disengage. Democracy dies in darkness.

Hey, I don't claim to fully understand what is going over the pond. I hear of lot of things from the Republican's I find pretty awful. Gay rights, women not having the right to control their own bodies, gun narrow mindedness.

On the flip side I hear about wokism getting out of control. Biological men being allowed to compete in sport again biological females. Political correctness is no longer in the real world.

For me I am not going to spend my life arguing with a stranger on Twitter. I can understand you are in an emotional spot. But from my experience people seldom change their opinions if they are hard right or left. They just die and a new generation comes through with fresh outlooks.

It seems pretty obvious to me the current left versus right war in the U.S. will have no winner. It has gone too far now. Life long resentment on the cards IMO.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

One way that he has outsmarted his haters is how he has managed to keep so many of them on Twitter making fun of him.

I think that most of them know deep down that their presence there helps him. Impression counters don't care if the impressions are positive or negative.

But for a lot of them, they just can't help getting in that one really awesome dis of Elon, even though it is putting money in his pocket.

He knows how to play the suckers.

Impressions are not the issue they have. They have no advertisers to fill those impressions.

[cuervo72]

"I hear a lot of bad things from the Republicans BUT ON THE FLIP SIDE A LOT OF GOOD THINGS TOO"

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Hammer

Hey, I don't claim to fully understand what is going over the pond. I hear of lot of things from the Republican's I find pretty awful. Gay rights, women not having the right to control their own bodies, gun narrow mindedness.

On the flip side I hear about wokism getting out of control. Biological men being allowed to compete in sport again biological females. Political correctness is no longer in the real world.

For me I am not going to spend my life arguing with a stranger on Twitter. I can understand you are in an emotional spot. But from my experience people seldom change their opinions if they are hard right or left. They just die and a new generation comes through with fresh outlooks.

It seems pretty obvious to me the current left versus right war in the U.S. will have no winner. It has gone too far now. Life long resentment on the cards IMO.

I dunno, these seem pretty unequal when you talk about the consequences of each:

"Gay rights, women not having the right to control their own bodies, gun narrow mindedness." = "take away rights from gays, arrest women/force pregnancy, #1 cause of death for children in the US is gun violence"

vs

"On the flip side I hear about wokism getting out of control. Biological men being allowed to compete in sport again biological females. Political correctness is no longer in the real world." = "potential imbalance in sports for the 1% of the population that is trans and whatever the consequences of 'wokeness' are"

Seems a little callous to go "hey, you're really emotional" when someone laid out some real world consequences of these things or dismissive to say something about "lifelong resentment" when there are real, tangible dangers to your family.

SI

[cuervo72]

I mean, it's a matter of scope. How many people are affected by an abortion ruling? How many are affected by attacks on their color, sexuality, religion?

Then compare the magnitude against the number of trans women competing in sporting events. There's...well, that one swimmer, right?

[Radii]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

One way that he has outsmarted his haters is how he has managed to keep so many of them on Twitter making fun of him.

This is one thing I have gotten way better about (in my old age? idk). I canceled my account the day he officially was forced to take over and haven't looked back since. But it's selective, Bezos is an almost equally abhorrent billionaire and I am not letting go of Amazon any time soon, so eh.

[flere-imsaho]

What is "wokism being out of control"? Do you have examples? Are they as widespread as, say, Republicans actively legislating against abortion rights, against gun control, making it illegal to be trans, etc...?