Elon Musk. Twitter. Babylon Bee.

[Josh]

Really looks like Elon is in over his head.

I don’t think the wealthiest man in the world who helped found and run PayPal, launched the first successful mass market electric car, and made SpaceX successful is “in over his head” with a relatively simple social media company.

Firing half the employees, then deciding he needs some of them back less than 3 days later.

No one has been fired. There was a notification of a large layoff 3 months from now. Perhaps some of those people have earned keeping their jobs past that. Maybe many more will.

Trying to roll out new programs in the span of a week, (mind you, doing this while he fires half the workforce)

Twitter has a huge staff making big salaries. I’ve often been pressured to roll out new programs in a week. That’s how fast paced tech startups go.

and now banning parody accounts (so much for free speech)

He banned a celebrity who changed her name to “Elon Musk” and then retweeted Democratic campaign related statements. That’s hardly parody; it was impersonation which has always been against the rules.

[Robert]

He banned a celebrity who changed her name to “Elon Musk” and then retweeted Democratic campaign related statements. That’s hardly parody; it was impersonation which has always been against the rules.

He also said if she wanted her account back, she could have it

for $8.

I have to admit, the guy can troll better than me. For some of you who knew me before I was stuck with running this forum, you would know that is saying something. He has shown me that you can run it and still troll, so I may start up again. I kind of did already, right Ken?

[Ken]

He banned a celebrity who changed her name to “Elon Musk” and then retweeted Democratic campaign related statements. That’s hardly parody; it was impersonation which has always been against the rules.

He also said if she wanted her account back, she could have it

for $8.

I have to admit, the guy can troll better than me. For some of you who knew me before I was stuck with running this forum, you would know that is saying something. He has shown me that you can run it and still troll, so I may start up again. I kind of did already, right Ken?

He can troll all he wants. But that isn't going to make advertisers come back. To the contrary. Honestly, punching up is a time-held American tradition. Punching down is unseemly.

And I don't asking everyone to pay $100/year to the world's richest man in order to use twitter (or get a useless blue check) isn't going to be the winning argument that he thinks it is.

[Josh]

He banned a celebrity who changed her name to “Elon Musk” and then retweeted Democratic campaign related statements. That’s hardly parody; it was impersonation which has always been against the rules.

He also said if she wanted her account back, she could have it

for $8.

I have to admit, the guy can troll better than me. For some of you who knew me before I was stuck with running this forum, you would know that is saying something. He has shown me that you can run it and still troll, so I may start up again. I kind of did already, right Ken?

He can troll all he wants. But that isn't going to make advertisers come back. To the contrary. Honestly, punching up is a time-held American tradition. Punching down is unseemly.

And I don't asking everyone to pay $100/year to the world's richest man in order to use twitter (or get a useless blue check) isn't going to be the winning argument that he thinks it is.

Twitter is free. $100/year is for people who want to have a blue check so they can feel better than other people. That seems very reasonable.

Musk has already said he wants to move on from relying on advertising. Facebook is also facing plummeting ad revenues.

[Robert]

Twitter is free. $100/year is for people who want to have a blue check so they can feel better than other people.

I will continue to use it for free.

The $8 a month will come with larger posts and added features.

Hmmm, maybe we could cut some people's voices to 140 characters here.

[Sliceitup]

Really looks like Elon is in over his head.

I don’t think the wealthiest man in the world who helped found and run PayPal, launched the first successful mass market electric car, and made SpaceX successful is “in over his head” with a relatively simple social media company.

Firing half the employees, then deciding he needs some of them back less than 3 days later.

No one has been fired. There was a notification of a large layoff 3 months from now. Perhaps some of those people have earned keeping their jobs past that. Maybe many more will.

Untrue. They receive several months severance but we’re most definitely not still on the job. They were locked out of accounts, etc.

Trying to roll out new programs in the span of a week, (mind you, doing this while he fires half the workforce)

Twitter has a huge staff making big salaries. I’ve often been pressured to roll out new programs in a week. That’s how fast paced tech startups go.

If you can point me to a business that has been successful with a new owner coming in, after zero substantial talks with the company before this about how the transition will work, who then fires half the work force within days, and ends up with a healthy thriving business then please point me in that direction. If you can find me a business owner who would recommend it then I’d also like to hear from them.

and now banning parody accounts (so much for free speech)

He banned a celebrity who changed her name to “Elon Musk” and then retweeted Democratic campaign related statements. That’s hardly parody; it was impersonation which has always been against the rules.

[Josh]

Really looks like Elon is in over his head.

I don’t think the wealthiest man in the world who helped found and run PayPal, launched the first successful mass market electric car, and made SpaceX successful is “in over his head” with a relatively simple social media company.

Firing half the employees, then deciding he needs some of them back less than 3 days later.

No one has been fired. There was a notification of a large layoff 3 months from now. Perhaps some of those people have earned keeping their jobs past that. Maybe many more will.

Untrue. They receive several months severance but we’re most definitely not still on the job. They were locked out of accounts, etc.

They are still employed by Twitter, including receiving full pay and benefits.

The fact they don't have access to the same computer systems they did a week ago has nothing to do with whether or not they are employed. I have had a job where I was locked out of certain accounts, or my entire department was. That is a normal part of job duties changing and tightening up security.

If you can point me to a business that has been successful with a new owner coming in, after zero substantial talks with the company before this about how the transition will work, who then fires half the work force within days, and ends up with a healthy thriving business then please point me in that direction. If you can find me a business owner who would recommend it then I’d also like to hear from them.

This is how basically every LBO is conducted, and American business has been rife with LBOs since the 1980s. I've been a contractor before in a business that gets bought out and goes through this - the current workforce gets decimated post-acquisition and is often replaced by the acquirer's people and systems.

Elon Musk is not a novice. He has taken over multiple successful businesses and made them even more profitable, including inventing entire new market categories, such as online payments (PayPal) and electric cars (Tesla), not to mention SpaceX. It is very interesting to see people claim they know how to run a business better than Elon Musk, who is the wealthiest man in the world, and who got that way with shrewd operation of businesses he got involved with.

[Ken]

I don’t think the wealthiest man in the world who helped found and run PayPal, launched the first successful mass market electric car, and made SpaceX successful is “in over his head” with a relatively simple social media company.



No one has been fired. There was a notification of a large layoff 3 months from now. Perhaps some of those people have earned keeping their jobs past that. Maybe many more will.

Untrue. They receive several months severance but we’re most definitely not still on the job. They were locked out of accounts, etc.

They are still employed by Twitter, including receiving full pay and benefits.

The fact they don't have access to the same computer systems they did a week ago has nothing to do with whether or not they are employed. I have had a job where I was locked out of certain accounts, or my entire department was. That is a normal part of job duties changing and tightening up security.

If you can point me to a business that has been successful with a new owner coming in, after zero substantial talks with the company before this about how the transition will work, who then fires half the work force within days, and ends up with a healthy thriving business then please point me in that direction. If you can find me a business owner who would recommend it then I’d also like to hear from them.

This is how basically every LBO is conducted, and American business has been rife with LBOs since the 1980s. I've been a contractor before in a business that gets bought out and goes through this - the current workforce gets decimated post-acquisition and is often replaced by the acquirer's people and systems.

Elon Musk is not a novice. He has taken over multiple successful businesses and made them even more profitable, including inventing entire new market categories, such as online payments (PayPal) and electric cars (Tesla), not to mention SpaceX. It is very interesting to see people claim they know how to run a business better than Elon Musk, who is the wealthiest man in the world, and who got that way with shrewd operation of businesses he got involved with.

Honestly I have absolutely zero idea how this is all going to go down long term. None of us do. But I am looking forward to the Netflix documentary on this whole saga that will no doubt show up in 15 months or so. That should be highly entertaining. From Musk basing is initial Twitter share offer on an old pot-smoking meme, to his efforts to squirm out of the deal that he agreed to until getting sued, and then finally his takeover and management of the place.

I'm willing to bet there are all manner of Twitter and Musk insiders who will be willing to dish out the goods and it will be one entertaining story. And by then we will know whether he has set $44 BILLION dollars on fire on a lark, or whether he is the genius that will finally figure out how to monetize Twitter.

Being a Billionaire tech bro doesn't mean one always makes the smartest business choices. Look at Zuckerberg. He has set what.... $20 BILLION on fire with his "metaverse" project that no one seems to want? Since he started that project Facebook or META had lost fully 3/4 of its total value. If I were an investor in Facebook I'd not be very happy right now. That is worse than Bitcoin. Personally I find it amusing when companies that actually produce nothing of value get their bubbles burst.

[temporal1]

Ken:
Honestly I have absolutely zero idea how this is all going to go down long term.

100% agree.

In the meanwhile, i’m enjoying his clever tweets, very much appreciate his choice to avoid profanity, vulgarity, coarseness, violent words. i hope he keeps it up. It indicates self-respect and respect for others. i hope it rubs off on his detractors!

i wish him well in his endeavors. i’ve never paid attention to him in the past. To me, a random, eccentric guy.

[Robert]

Twitter has had a massive increase in subscribers and it has had the maximum amount of posts the site has ever had. So far, it seems to be a net positive. Those advertisers who are pulling back are the dumb ones right now if we are just looking at numbers.

I am finding it quite entertaining myself. I have not posted anything, but am just enjoying the view. Well, I did post one thing ...

Ban Assault hammers.