Elon Musk: Smartest Guy in The World or Complete Clown?

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Hasn't this always been the case in every society ever? I would imagine it was far worse back when information to backcheck wasnt immediately accessible and all you had to rely on was hearsay from your neighbor or a traveling newspaper reader. Politics used to be freaking violent and deadly (much more so than today) just 100 years ago. Im just saying lets not resort to hyperbole, lets keep some perspective.

How old are you? Social media is most definitely doing irreparable harm to society. The shit you see on social media(the internet) was largely the stuff of tabloid rags even 30 years ago. The ability to disseminate misinformation to hundreds of millions of people and present it as fact is what makes it so terrible. There’s always been hate/con men/propaganda out there but it wasn’t easy to reach the general populace that’s the difference.


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[CarlMega]

there have been countless idological leaders with worse ideas and larger reaches in the past

help me out, count out some of those ideological leaders and their reach. Maybe we can do a ranking of them - particularly the unelected ones.

[californiagrown]

That back in the day he had a quarter of the US population - the farmers, if you will - tuning in to his show to listen to him spew hate?

"When we get through with the Jews in America, they'll think the treatment they received in Germany was nothing."

-Father Coughlin.


Excuse me if I think Elon trolling on twitter for the lolz is a far cry.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

One guy with a radio broadcast reaching an estimated 30 million. That’s the same as 24/7 access to hundreds of millions of twitter followers. That’s not even including all the myriad other social media platforms. Are you really obtuse or are you that big of a Musk supporter? This isn’t the first time that you’ve come to his defense


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[J. Barron DeJong]

I disagree that Elon’s spewing racist and trans hate is harmless, and it’s certainly not just for ‘the lulz’.

[CarlMega]

"When we get through with the Jews in America, they'll think the treatment they received in Germany was nothing."

-Father Coughlin.

Excuse me if I think Elon trolling on twitter for the lolz is a far cry.

I can agree that is horrible and indefensible. Have you clicked any threads on twitter lately? I can attest to reading hate speech, overt racism and language that rises to that same level - basically starting since Elon took over. How'd that happen?

It's almost like by dropping the content moderation, amplifying rhetoric from fringe, hateful voices - he's having them do the talking for him. Weird.

[californiagrown]

help me out, count out some of those ideological leaders and their reach. Maybe we can do a ranking of them - particularly the unelected ones.

I think its important to look at the level of engagement too. Ie. what does the viewer have to do to consume the ideologue and how do they interact with it.

Fucker Carlson or Glen Beck for example averaged like 3 million daily views. Thats 3 million people setting aside 60 minutes each day (hour long show?) to consume their content and become indoctrinated. Musk gets a few hundred thousand retweets and a few million likes which take a literal second, to a few seconds to record. That's only a few seconds of indoctrination to an active audience of about the same size as Fox's top personalities during their peak (3 million viewers of Fox vs 3 million likes of a tweet).

Which also underlines how amazing and appalling it is that Father Coughlin had such a wide and strong appeal.

[californiagrown]

I can agree that is horrible and indefensible. Have you clicked any threads on twitter lately? I can attest to reading hate speech, overt racism and language that rises to that same level - basically starting since Elon took over. How'd that happen?

It's almost like by dropping the content moderation, amplifying rhetoric from fringe, hateful voices - he's having them do the talking for him. Weird.

To me it sounds like the 4chan crowd just migrated to twitter. Do you think Elon has code or an algorithm that is amplifying hate drivel? Or do you think what is happening is mostly a product of humans having a zero consequence environment? I tend to think its that most civil people just stopped using and engaging on twitter and so the 4chan crowd became the majority.

[ex-powderbroker]

I tend to think its that most civil people just stopped using and engaging on twitter and so the 4chan crowd became the majority.

well he unbanned complete neo nazis, silences people who report on stuff like nazi links to mass shooters, and personally amplifies crappy people / daily wire / etc by engaging with them and making sure he is in everyone’s feed at all times.

did you miss that?

[CarlMega]

I think you are off point.

Yes, by opening a mainstream social media platform to racists.... you get more racists. Thanks Elon.

And check out what & who Elon likes and favorably replies to... he's bringing the wackos right to your living room. Couple that with who he routinely shades.... the adults and voices against racism, authoritarian and violent wackadoodles. It's clear who he is promoting.

Listen, this isn't hard. It like if you bought a media giant - national and local newspapers, TV, movies and then packed them filled with lunatics, white power freakshows and disingenuous kooks. You are legitimizing those voices, you are giving them a forum, you are defacto endorsing them.

[mcphee]

The point is that only a small percentage of active twitter users log on specifically to follow Elon, there have been countless idological leaders with worse ideas and larger reaches in the past, and that saying this current iteration on twitter "is causing irreparable harm to society and by extension democracies in general" is quite hyperbolic.

I know you’re management now and don’t need to read through the whole thing anymore but I was clearly talking about social media as a whole and not just Elon’s version of Twitter, sport.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I know you’re management now and don’t need to read through the whole thing anymore but I was clearly talking about social media as a whole and not just Elon’s version of Twitter, sport.

He’s too impressed with himself to see the big picture. That’s par for the course with ambitious young managers.


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[Cisco Kid]

"When we get through with the Jews in America, they'll think the treatment they received in Germany was nothing."

-Father Coughlin.


Excuse me if I think Elon trolling on twitter for the lolz is a far cry.

Your statement that the dissemination of dangerous bull shit then was same volume as today is wrong. on so many levels. Quantity, quality and impact for starters.

[californiagrown]

well he unbanned complete neo nazis, silences people who report on stuff like nazi links to mass shooters, and personally amplifies crappy people / daily wire / etc by engaging with them and making sure he is in everyone’s feed at all times.

did you miss that?

Apparently. What happened with the banning of folks for reporting on stuff like Nazi links to mass shooters, etc?

[mcski]

The point is that only a small percentage of active twitter users log on specifically to follow Elon, there have been countless idological leaders with worse ideas and larger reaches in the past, and that saying this current iteration on twitter "is causing irreparable harm to society and by extension democracies in general" is quite hyperbolic.

Maybe you have already forgot the last potus used it to threaten other countries, demonize opposition, spew hate, stoke division, delegitimization judicial decisions, and create a subvert election confidence and incite a riot in the hopes of bypassing the election process. Twitter’s megaphone went far beyond is subscriber base.

Hearst is a good comparison though w his yellow journalism

[californiagrown]

Maybe you have already forgot the last potus used it to threaten other countries, demonize opposition, spew hate, stoke division, delegitimization judicial decisions, and create a subvert election confidence and incite a riot in the hopes of bypassing the election process. Twitter’s megaphone went far beyond is subscriber base.

Hearst is a good comparison though w his yellow journalism

Yeah I was thinking Hearst too. He was also largely responsible for criminalizing hemp too, right? Had wood pulp interests and dislike Mexicans so smeared both in his news.

Trump has still been getting his message out without Twitter and is a FAAAR more dangerous idealogue IMO. Meanwhile Elon is hemorrhaging users and running Twitter into the ground. He is actually limiting twitters reach by courting extremists and trying to troll moderate America.

Basically, I think Twitter was far more powerful pre Elon. Once he took over it's become a joke.

[Trackhead]

[CarlMega]

Sure, there's saying what you want... that ambition feels childish and sort of pathetic IMHO. Throwing some dollar signs around that is gauche and reveals one to be wanting in character.

The Buddha figured this out way back: abstain from false speech, abstain from slanderous speech, abstain from harsh speech, and abstain from idle chatter

Edit: The real consequence is you reveal yourself to be a careless, empty, self aggrandizing moran.

[californiagrown]

I know you’re management now and don’t need to read through the whole thing anymore but I was clearly talking about social media as a whole and not just Elon’s version of Twitter, sport.

My apologies. I was busy cracking the whip on my team to get the TPS reports done early so i can get my bonus. Dont worry the proletariat will be fine, i bought them extra pretzels.

Social media is legitimatized by its users. When normal people and legit organizations use a SM platform as a main and vital pipeline for information then it is legitimatized, even if there is disinformation and extremists sparingly mixed in. Twitter has seen a mass exodus of normal people and legit organizations as it has been a crappy user experience of late, and has been opened up to and overrun by the 4chan crowd- it has been delegitimatized by the critical mass of disinformation, extremists and trolls. It has made elon King Troll of the Nerdy Incels, but it hasnt given him the power and reach that i see many ascribing to him.

On the brightside, out of the 3 companies he runs, i sure am glad it's twitter he is running into the ground. Hell, maybe thats his goal here- to expose the cesspool and let it kill itself.

[mcphee]

My apologies. I was busy cracking the whip on my team to get the TPS reports done early so i can get my bonus. Dont worry the proletariat will be fine, i bought them extra pretzels.

Social media is legitimatized by its users. When normal people and legit organizations use a SM platform as a main and vital pipeline for information then it is legitimatized, even if there is disinformation and extremists sparingly mixed in. Twitter has seen a mass exodus of normal people and legit organizations as it has been a crappy user experience of late, and has been opened up to and overrun by the 4chan crowd- it has been delegitimatized by the critical mass of disinformation, extremists and trolls. It has made elon King Troll of the Nerdy Incels, but it hasnt given him the power and reach that i see many ascribing to him.

On the brightside, out of the 3 companies he runs, i sure am glad it's twitter he is running into the ground. Hell, maybe thats his goal here- to expose the cesspool and let it kill itself.

Don’t half quote me and continue to insist that I was talking about Elon’s Twitter.

Fuckin lumberghs.

[CarlMega]

Former CEO takes full accountability for people who no longer see value in service:

In a Twitter Spaces on Monday, Musk admitted to the company's severe financial challenges. “Half of our advertising disappeared overnight because we’re insisting on free speech… they’re literally trying to drive Twitter bankrupt,” he said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...W7h?ocid=hpmsn

Could be:

After Musk became the CEO of Twitter, he faced controversy immediately as the number of racist comments spiked exponentially, including the use of the N-word.

Racists and trolls flooded Twitter, testing whether the CEO of Tesla would stand by his claim of being a "free speech absolutist."

The number of trolls using the N-word on Twitter rose by 500% within 12 hours after the $44 billion deal was finalized, according to a report by the Network Contagion Research Institute, a group which researches social media content to determine threats that could materialize.

Bringing the incel lulz:

Both former and current employees at Twitter said they do not believe revenue will rise soon since advertisers may not like the increase of ads containing cannabis products and online gambling as well as more pornography and hate speech in tweets, according to the report.

[adrenalated]

Slightly off topic from Elon's social media fuckery, but can we talk about how much his physical products suck too?

Unfortunately, I have to rely on Starlink for my residential internet. Where I live there are no hardwired high speed internet options at all, and my only other option is line-of-sight wireless that tops out at 25 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload. Since I work from home that won't cut it and credit to Starlink, when things are working it's pretty reasonably fast.

The problem is the hardware (all of which is proprietary, of course) is hot fucking garbage. The kit consists of three basic components, a dish, a cable, and a router. It's 600 fucking dollars. The router doesn't have an ethernet out port so if you want to connect a hardwired device you have to throw down an extra $25 for that privilege.

I've had the service for less than 10 months and I'm now on:
-my 2nd dish
-3rd cable
-3rd ethernet adapter
-4th router (two of which were DOA)
And either the ethernet adapter or router just died AGAIN.

Seriously, what the fuck? I've had faulty electronics before but NEVER this kind of frequent and systemic failure. Clearly this shit is poorly designed, poorly built, or both and to top it off it is impossible to call, difficult to send a message, responses take several days, and shipping replacement parts often takes weeks.

I wish there were other options available so that I could take this $625 of shitty fucking hardware and gleefully burn it.
[/rant]

[shroom]

come save us uncle Jeff

[Supermoon]

If Musk had taken the 20+ billion he’s lost on the Twitter deal and spent that money hiring the best tech people on the world to run his companies he’d probably have made a good return. Instead, he bumble fucks around like an asshole and ruins a huge company and his reputation in one fell swoop.

But at least the incels like him are happy!

[Cruiser]

Are Elon and elno the same dude? Cuz either answer is gonna leave me confused