Elon Musk makes $43 Billion offer for private buyout of Twitter (6 Viewers)

[superchuck500]

Yeah, I just saw some of the things he wanted to do, like adding an ad free service (I assume monthly subscription), adding an edit button for tweets and a few other things. Makes sense.

I guess. Twitter has explored those things - it's not like they're revelations. For example, one problem with the edit button is how it impacts likes and retweets if someone can change the content. I have always thought a 60 second edit window would be good to fix typos but there may be technical hurdles there too (typos can be resolved by taking the 60 seconds before you post not after).

 

[St. Widge]

Especially for a platform like Twitter you can either be a place of unregulated content or you can be a successful business - but it's a fallacy to think you can be both. But if Musk's offer is accepted, he will probably end up running it very much like it is run now or, without the same exposure to shareholders as a private business, he can choose to let it be less of a business and more of a forum, which would be his choice.

I don't know if the sale will be approved. I'm a longtime shareholder of Twitter, since the days of the IPO and I think it can be more valuable than $54/share. I would vote no if it goes to full vote, though it might just be a board vote.

Given Musk's ego, I suspect it will be run much like it is now except he will be the one deciding which content is okay and which content is not. He just wants to be the Bond villain of Twitter and mold the content to what he wants.

 

[St. Widge]

Facebook first please

Yeah, you more or less control the content you see on Twitter. So, if you think it's a cesspool, you are following the wrong people. Facebook on the other hand controls the content we all see with their algorithms.

 

[St. Widge]

I don't agree with this analogy. Twitter is not a message board with topics posted and listed in forum sections. The block and ignore features are there and can be used.
Elon and team could also make separate spaces in Twitter for "Family Friendly" to "Wild West".

Elon would just make the whole thing Elon friendly. He isn't going to make it a free speech haven. He's going to make it a haven for speech that Elon approves of.

 

[St. Widge]

I guess. Twitter has explored those things - it's not like they're revelations. For example, one problem with the edit button is how it impacts likes and retweets if someone can change the content. I have always thought a 60 second edit window would be good to fix typos but there may be technical hurdles there too (typos can be resolved by taking the 60 seconds before you post not after).

Yep and if it's a bad error, you can always delete the Tweet and start over.

 

[Heathen Saint]

So the guy who cries about lack of freedom of speech from a private company wants to buy it for $43 billion to make it his version of freedom of speech


Makes sense. Not a big fan of the guy, but can see how this would happen.

 

[Heathen Saint]

Well, based on his comments, he seems to think Twitter has been too restrictive in their banning of some people/organizations from the platform.

And how exactly would he be any different than any other billionaire in transforming it? We've seen this song and dance.

Side note and not to you personally but those I've seen on social media... it feels inherently dirty and a bit nonsensical for middle class humans to cheerlead for a billionaire.

I dunno, maybe I'm the one who needs an intervention

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

All the people upset should just go make their own twitter. /sarcasm.

Yes, that's how private companies work.

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

Slightly tangential to this, I assume Musk does not have $45billion in cash, so does he need to sell his stock to make the purchase (if it's approved)? Or is he going to offer to do a stock swap?

And Elon's commitment to free speech is a bit spotty. He's been known to fire employees for what they say on social media - not exactly the same, but it's not like he has an absolute commitment to free speech. But if he buys the company he can modify it the way he sees fit, and users can decide if they like those changes of if they'd like to move to a different platform.

 

[EGLSShin]

I think Elon buying twitter can be a good thing if he's really committed to a freedom of speech platform, this includes heavy criticism involved in SpaceX or Tesla/whatever he is involved in currently to be allowed to stand in the open, if not, then its just status-quo continuing. As an avid user of 10 years, twitter admins have cherrypicked all kinda stuff about what is allowed vs what isn't allowed. They have never treated things even remotely fairly. There are people who get banned for posting the most lukewarm stuff whilst allowing violent regime's to tweet(ISIS) for the longest while. They've allowed some people to call for violence on twitter against people while banning some because it felt like insinuated without them actually calling for violence. One instance, twitter was banning people for telling "journalists" at failed publications that went under to "learn to code" that is not even remotely ban worthy.

They have a horrible misinformation problem that plagues their entire sphere and instead of trying to fix that, they go after low hanging fruit trolls who call someone fat much more harshly. The entire platform is a mess, there is a severe lack of transparency ripe with shadowbans(people not being able to see your tweets until their followers physically click on persons profile, which destroys any interaction). They have also censored certain hashtags from being able to trend, so there have been many issues that have happened in the 10 or so years I've been on twitter.

 

[jboss]

I think only billionaires should singularly own media outlets. It's a very good and positive thing for our society, to me.

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

He has also said that he thinks that Twitter has unlocked value - which means he thinks he has a better business model and is going this for business interests, not social/speech interests.

He's made a number of comments to that effect, and my assumption is if he does buy the company (if he backs out it wouldn't be the first time he did something like this), it will be to make money and not for any other reason.

 

[WhoDatPhan78]

It does seem odd that people think twitter going from a oligarchy to a dictatorship will be a win for free speech. We will see i guess.

people love dictatorships when they love the dictator.

 

[DaveXA]

And how exactly would he be any different than any other billionaire in transforming it? We've seen this song and dance.

Side note and not to you personally but those I've seen on social media... it feels inherently dirty and a bit nonsensical for middle class humans to cheerlead for a billionaire.

I dunno, maybe I'm the one who needs an intervention

Yeah, I hear you. Of course, Musk is no dummy. He knows how to get people's attention and sometimes being a bit controversial is a net positive for business. Musk is very much one of those love/hate guys. Nothing ho hum about him.

 

[tomwaits]

Elon would just make the whole thing Elon friendly. He isn't going to make it a free speech haven. He's going to make it a haven for speech that Elon approves of.

Why do you think that? When he was asked if he was going to restrict information through Starlink, he said no, he wasn't going to restrict speech.
Why do you think on Twitter he would restrict it. That does not follow anything he has said or done regarding free speech.