Elon Musk buys Twitter

[Wombat]

I follow a few folk I respect on Twitter (whether its only a few says more about me, than about how few people I feel able to respect, I don't know) and also for a bit of current events commentary. I believe Musk is an arrogant twat with a capital T, and I'm considering dumping Twitter as a result of his purchase, I don't want to be riled by the Trump imbecile, or Hatey Katey and the like.  One downside is that several times in the last couple of years, I've found the only way to get the attention of companies providing a piss poor service, is by tweeting at them publicly, I'd prefer not to be forced to lose that avenue, by a control freak such as Musk.

[spesh]

There's a comment in an old/ish thread on the BikeRadar forum that's stuck in my mind:

The internet is, and always will be, the ars* end of social interactions. How much of the residual is what varies. Here, the ars* end is well wiped. Twitter is like the morning after a hot curry. Somewhere like 4chan is like constant food poisoning.

This is still the ars* end though.

Where else can you interact with no rules or genuine consequences? It's addictive, just to watch.

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/18144773/#Comment_18144773

[ian]

Oddly, and demonstrating my wife does not do news, my wife genuinely seems to believ Elon Musk is someone I made up (admittedly, only half the people I know are real). He's got a way to go before he cracks her bubble – though her encyclopaedic knowledge of musicals, means Musk the Musical might do it. She still seems to be buying a Tesla (or lining up to wait for one). I'm staying out of that. If we make him rich enough he might go to Mars, I suppose.

[Kim]

Musk the Musical might do it.

You really ought to write that, before one of the techbro fanboys ruins it.

[PeterM]

An interesting article on Ars Technica argued that the major problem with Twitter (and Farcebook) is the algorithmic feed, which prioritises content that arouses engagement, eg, fake gnus and shitposting:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/04/opinion-elon-musk-should-get-rid-of-twitters-algorithmic-feed/

(I use Tweetbot, which provides an old-school timeline.)