Elon Musk: Always A Douche

[Josquius]

I guess it's... Interesting? Increasingly choosing the image to go with an article has seemed to drop down in importance with even the BBC et al often going with the most worthless of stock photos.
This pushes them to the front.
Which... If this was something like Instagram, image focussed, would fit the brand and be a worthy sacrifice in ux.
For twitter though... Headline blurbs are basically what it's all about.

[Syt]

Unsure how credible the source is, but it confirms my biases.



(Though I assume most of us have worked for similar managers at some point or other )

Also, this:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/aug/29/twitter-x-political-ads-us-policy-misinformation

Twitter allows US political candidates and parties to advertise in policy switch
Announcement by the Elon Musk-owned social media platform has experts concerned over misinformation ahead of 2024 election

The social media company formerly known as Twitter said Tuesday it would now allow political advertising in the US from candidates and political parties, reversing previous policies and raising concerns over misinformation and hate speech ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Before billionaire Elon Musk acquired the company, now called X, in October 2022, Twitter had banned all political ads globally since 2019. In January, the platform lifted the ban and began allowing "cause-based ads" in the US that raise awareness of issues such as voter registration, stating that it planned to expand the types of political ads it would allow on the platform.

The move to allow all political ads in the US could help X grow its revenue at a time when many advertisers have fled or reduced spending on the platform for fear of appearing next to inappropriate content. It also comes as Musk has attempted to position X as a "town square" for elections, hosting Ron DeSantis's campaign announcement in May.

In a blog post on Tuesday, X said it would grow its teams to combat content manipulation and "emerging threats".

The company said it would create a global advertising transparency center, which would let users see what political ads were being promoted on X, and added it would continue to prohibit political ads that spread false information or seek to undermine public confidence in an election. This is in keeping with the company's goal of "seeking to preserve free and open political discourse", the blog post said.

Since Musk's acquisition, X has faced questions about its readiness for the US presidential election after laying off thousands of employees, including those who had worked on the trust and safety team.

The platform, like other social media companies, has long been criticized by researchers and lawmakers for not doing enough to prevent misleading or false content during major elections.

Those criticisms intensified surrounding the 6 January 2021 events, in which former president Donald Trump used Twitter extensively to rile up his supporters, who ultimately stormed the US capitol. Trump was removed from the platform after the incident, but Musk unilaterally lifted the ban in November 2022.

Despite the reactivation of his account, Trump remained silent on Twitter until last week, when he shared a picture of his mugshot after surrendering at a Georgia county jail on racketeering and conspiracy charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

His official return has sparked concern from a number of misinformation experts, and civil rights advocates had previously warned that Trump's return, accompanied by a loosening of content moderation policies, would "open the floodgates of disinformation" and abuse.

Twitter, now called X, did not respond to request for comment.

[Syt]

So over the weekend there was a thing on Twitter to ban the Anti-Defamation League, making the hashtag #BanTheADL the number one trending item in the US at least.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/elon-musk-boosts-antisemitic-propaganda-twitter-anti-defamation-league-1234817008/

Musk chimed in, saying the ADL had been doing good work in the past but had gotten infected by the woke mind virus. He claims that the ADL is running a campaign to put Twitter out of business by flagging offensive content and he's made unsubstantiated claims that ad revenue was still down 60% down because the ADL was putting pressure on advertisers. Also, he's posted that he would take the ADL to court and sue them for defamation.

[Syt]

[Syt]

[Josquius]

You know you're the villain when....

[The Minsky Moment]

Free speech through bogus defamation lawsuits.   The Musk Ministry of Truth is in full gear.

[The Minsky Moment]

I don't know what "document discovery of all communications between the ADL an advertisers" will show but Musk's tweet ("X?") indicates that communications between Elon Musk/X and advertisers will be an interesting avenue of discovery.  And potentially give us all the opportunity to see the many reasons advertisers are really giving for dropping the artist formally known as Twitter.

[HVC]

The only person who destroyed half of Twitters revenue stream is Elmo himself.

[Syt]

[FunkMonk]

jesus christ

[The Minsky Moment]

Hmm.  "X" says account suspended.

[HVC]

Hmm.  "X" says account suspended.

Maybe he made fun of Musk?

[The Minsky Moment]

Hmm.  "X" says account suspended.

Maybe he made fun of Musk?

He cast aspersions on little goblins so yes.

[DGuller]

Is there a full story behind it?  Things can always fall through the cracks, and that's what gets meme'd.  It could also be that the decision got changed when this went public.