Elon Musk's twitter replacement

First we had Truth Social and now we have Musk Central?

In the latest line of tweets from SpaceX and Tesla's Elon Musk, the billionaire says he believes that Twitter, which "in practice functions as a public square, fundamentally undermines democracy if the principles of freedom of expression are not followed." When asked if he could consider starting his own media platform, Musk replies that he is "seriously considering this".

Elon Musk is well known for embarking on just about anything from cars, space rockets, human-computer interfaces, rescue equipment to people trapped in a cave, space internet, tunnels and solar cell roofs. You simply do not know what that man will do next, so why not a social media platform?

More memes than social? ​

 

Every popular social media platform is (or will be) overrun by trolls and bots. Especially bots. If Musk gets his wish, it won't be any different. As far as freedom of speech goes... sometimes people get it confused with something else. They think if they can't say the crap they want to say their freedom of speech is suppressed. Really? Every SMS has its rules. They maybe biased, but they are their rules. Speaking of freedom: if you don't like their rules, you're free to leave.

PS I follow Musk on Twitter, he tweets that kinda stuff just to throw the dogs a bone. I won't be surprise if he's made millions off of Twitter. Not sure why he'd want to compete with that.

 

Well most people think that the Constitution of the United States says that no one can take away the right to Freedom of Speech. It only applies to the U.S. Government. The private sector is not bound by the Bill of Rights. They can have any rules they want to and if you do not like it you can leave, as @qwikad.com has stated. Twitter, Facebook, etc.... can censor anything they wish to as they are NOT the Government.

As for Musk and his social platform he has a lot of work to do tomake a go of it. He has to convince people that his service is, not only safe but a better alternative to what is already in place. That will be a big uphill battle as the mindset of people must be changed in order to accomplish what he wants. He will need to change people's minds about him and his holdings. He will need to convince people that this is not some stunt like he has done in the past.

 

The free speech issue is an important and complicated one, even stating facts can get some banned if the facts don't support a particular political view. You really think hes motivated by a earning a few million?

 

Many of us here in the U.S. had been complaining about the bias on Twitter, FaceBook, Google, Amazon, etc., for many years, but this total bias was brought into full view during the 2020 election campaign and immediately after. Any conservative who still thought that Twitter (or any of these other sites) was going to try to be "fair" was totally disabused of that notion. Imagine, the sitting and former President of the U.S. was banned from posting on multiple social media sites! However, I think that the ultimate display of how bad that bias is, was when Amazon'z AWS de-platformed Parler.com which, at the time, was the up and coming conservative social media site! It showed the conservative world, in no uncertain terms, how wildly biased High Tech is. Now, as some have mentioned above, it is entirely Twitter's right to become a propaganda arm of China and the loony left and they can ban or censor anyone they want as a private company. I defend their right to be stupidly playing into the hands of our enemies.

Conservatives are way behind in the social media with a lot of ground to make up. But it can be done and Musk could be the person to do it. Or Trump, himself, might be the person to begin to tear down the monopoly that the current Leftists have. There will be a massive base of people who will provide traction and ultimate success. Another possibility (that I really do not favor) would be for the government to decide that, in fact, they are a dangerous monopoly and begin to regulate them much like is done for other monopolies like the broadcast airwaves, phone lines, electrical grid, etc.

My preference, however, would be for conservatives to flex their own muscles with their own platforms and let them compete, despite the loony Left having a tremendous head start. It was no difference in the 1980's/1990's when broadcasters on TV and radio were 99% leftists and had been for 40 years; talk radio sprung up to provide an alternative for the other half (or more) of the country. Talk radio continues to be a raging success, despite losing its biggest star, Rush Limbaugh. The same will likely happen once a conservative social media site gets enough traction to not just be about politics, but cover all of the topics for people that FB does, for example. It is, in fact, a massive opportunity for the right players. I am not surprised that Musk would recognize this as he has proven to be a visionary before.

 

Not all people who appose the far left are conservatives, that's what the far left wants to believe, and wants others to believe. The definitions of what is right and left, liberal and conservative is almost completely absent. I like some conservative views, but most would be left leaning, but I'm against the extremists, and they are extreme in their views. Details are important, but they are difficult to articulate which is why most people get shut down by the extremists and their attacks.

 

Bah this is all moot now. He bought a 9% stock in Twitter. Only an idiot would open a rival business to one he has a stock in now.

Publicity stunt as usual.

 

Supposedly he bought more stock than Dorsey himself. The guy is genius, one thing I don't get about him is he believes in 30-50 years living on Mars will be safer than on Earth. The thing is we only think Mars is habitable. What if it isn't. All the money he's spending on his star ships could be used to end poverty and on other noble causes.

 

Genius might be a bit far for him. Well it is entirely possible for mars to be colonized. It just takes the money and drive to do it. Nothing is impossible if you have the the backing. Problem is he will not likely to see it come to fruition. Most of us in our lifetimes will not see it happen.

Eccentrics, which is what I call people with more money then they will ever need, tend to think of big dreams and not ending the problems we currently are going through. They think of their own dreams instead of their fellow man.

 

The problem is that with such a minority position in the company, he will not be able to fix the issues he was talking about.

He could throw all of his wealth at poverty and nothing would change. The government had thrown more money than he could ever dream at poverty and only made things worse. Most poverty exists because of bad luck, bad choices, etc. That does not change when you throw money at it.

On another note, it took eccentric visionaries like Marco Polo, Columbus, Vasco da Gama, etc., to risk small fortunes on scary expeditions to new lands. I don't know if Mars will be habitable, but it certainly is a place of mystery and wonder that will work quite well as PR for this nascent industry of space exploration. I am glad that private industry is involved in this; that is where innovation, risk-taking, etc., come from and that is what this type of industry needs. Can't wait for the first mining company to head out to an asteroid.

 

His dreams are for the benefit of man kind, deflecting asteroids, moving the human race off the planet, electric cars including battery advancements, Neuralink which may lead to preventing certain deceases. You people just think small, it is ignorance or delusion.

Billions of people are living in absolute poverty, hes not responsible for that, and he can't stop it. Inequality is natural, a small minority gets the majority, that's Pareto distribution, a natural law of the universe.

 

Whoa just hold up there, just because I don not happen to agree with someone or something now I am ignorant, I think small, or I am ignorant? This is exact reason why most people can not communicate anymore.

I agree he will not be able to do what he wants, the fact that he did it speaks volumes. The problem is just as anything else, everyone speaks of free speech as a legal right but they do not take the time to understand it only applies to Government bodies. Private entities are not bound by this right. I can make a platform and do as I wish with it because I am a private person. I can ban all Government bodies from using it if I want. My rules are my rules if you don't like them you are free to leave.

 

True to a point. The fly in the ointment is that Twatter, FecesBook, et alia are not truly private sector companies that rise and fall by their own policies. They have government protections in many ways effectively making them an arm of the government. As an arm of the government they should be bound by the Constitution in America. Elsewhere it does not matter because others do not have a Constitution like America has.

Bottom line is that social media platforms should EITHER be bound by the Constitution in America OR lose all government support for their activities.

 

Is Twitter really worth that much? I remember Google acquired YouTube for close to $2 bln. and I thought it was outrageous. Those were different times tho and YT wasn't as popular. But $41 bln.??? I guess Musk really wants it. The question is why.

 

Musk is all about vision. He recognizes that the current leftist social media monopoly is unhealthy and wrong. It is possible (not guaranteed) that if he did own Twitter, he could turn the whole industry around and make it unbiased and uncensored as he has talked about. If he did that, all of the conservatives who left in droves would flock back and Twitter would likely achieve traffic and relevance as never before. He would profit perhaps as never before. To me, this could be the most important short-term thing he could do for the country and the rest of the world.

 

Have you seen the hysterical reaction of the Left to the possibility that Twitter might stop censoring conservatives if Musk is successful? They are THAT afraid of open discussions and debates and, Musk, who had the gall to say that not having free and open social forums is a threat to civilization, has threatened to stop the leftist fascism that is being perpetrated by Big Tech. This just demonstrates that, deep down, the Left knows fully well that their justifications and sacrosanct narratives used to constantly enhance their power over others cannot really stand up to scrutiny and honest debate. Even the low-information types would eventually figure out the Left's evil machinations if they were exposed to alternatives to corrupt leftist dogma.

 

So, it seems like Musk has accomplished what he set out to do: buy Twitter and take it private. Here's the questions that I now have:

1. How long will it take Musk to get rid of the rabid leftist employees who will be trying to "resist" him and freedom of speech to the bitter end?

2. How will this affect Facebook, Google, and other leftist Big Tech? Will they go even further Left in a panic or will they try to moderate their anti-conservative bias a bit? Or will they simply ignore Twitter and continue as always?

Bottomline, it will be very interesting to watch. Conservatives cannot put all of their eggs into the Musk basket, but it may be an effective channel to use while they launch and grow alternatives.

 

It seems to me the fastest way to weed out those he does not want is to require every employee to have a dog in the fire, maybe something like stock options that are worthless unless Twitter becomes profitable. Lefties tend to be short term thinkers, so forcing something "worthless" on them may work. Yeah, I know, tis now a private company, but creating options that cannot be exercised until retirement and then only if Twitter is profitable would either force lefties out or force those that stay to look at their long term bottom line. At worst it would motivate the long term thinkers to look ahead and act accordingly.

We can dream can't we?

As for the others, probably further left simply because that is where the Twitter trash will gravitate.

 

I saw a headline that Twitter has locked its code down for fear that one or more disgruntled, leftist employees might try sabotage. It would be a typical leftist move as they always try to flip over the chessboard when their side has to play fair and loses.