1760 replies to this topic

[G-Man]

Well as I have said before, I would say the majority of active users of the platform do trust it. Why should a private company care if people that don't use it and will never use it, trust it? It doesn't make sense.

[Mike K.]

People arbitrarily cut off from Twitter certainly don’t trust it.

If only people with certain views can trust it, it’s a failed platform.

[G-Man]

^That is entirely untrue. It would be a failed platform if it ran out of money and went out of business. It has nothing to do with the trust unless that hits the bottom line. It is a private company.

[Mike K.]

It is a public company, but it’s being taken private.

You can still make money and not be trusted (see CNN).

[G-Man]

Yes but as a business it can only "fail" if it goes out of business.

[G-Man]

If the outcome people want is trust, they should be asking for Twitter to become a public utility not a for profit business.

[Mike K.]

Well, that’s not quite true. MySpace proverbially failed, but it’s still in business.

Twitter still can’t turn a profit. In that sense, it’s already a failure. It’s also failing at applying equal censorship measures to its users. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t have Musk moving to buy it.

[Mike K.]

I think he also wants it to become profitable, something its founders and current executive team have been unable to do.

[Mike K.]

If the outcome people want is trust, they should be asking for Twitter to become a public utility not a for profit business.

That’s perhaps a good idea, but Twitter refuses to indulge those requests, as do the other big social media companies.

[Victoria Watcher]

He paid $750 per active user for it. So it might be profitable soon (it has turned a profit in two years) but it’ll be a while before he gets his investment back.

[G-Man]

So it has been its most profitable in the two years that people are complaining the most about it? Interesting.

[Victoria Watcher]

It sells ads.

It’s most profitable when many people use it.

It has not been profitable since Trump was kicked off.

[G-Man]

Twitter almost doubled its revenue in 2021 over 2020 so I am not sure that Trump was a positive influence on revenue.

Twitter is a niche product. It is not like Facebook. There is a learning to how to use Twitter so it will never have the same user base. I personally like that about it. As I have said before I really don't care about the free speech aspect and most daily users don't either. I think most users just don't want a product they love screwed up due to a loud group that for the most part don't use it.

[Mike K.]

I wouldn't worry about it, then. Nothing is going to change for you.

 

Under Musk, what it sounds will happen is the next time a Hunter Biden laptop story emerges, Twitter will not arbitrarily determine if it's true or not. And Twitter is not niche. If the CBC and local media quotes its content every single day, it is part of the public realm, and ubiquitous.

[Mike K.]

William Shatner wants to be the new face of Twitter, he told Musk via, well, twitter.

 

Musk responded by telling Shatner he'll always be his Captain.

 

So there we go, see ya later, bird logo.

[G-Man]

By social media standards it is niche. It has about half the daily users of instagram and about 14% of what Facebook has.

If the focus changes from small connected communities to trolling from right and left on everything it will certainly be ruined.

[max.bravo]

I’m not a Twitter user, but my impression was that Twitter is primarily a political opinion platform. G-man, are you sure you aren’t a niche (non-political) user on a broader political platform?

[Mike K.]

It’s not popular among kids and teens, that’s for sure.

Good thing is, anyone worried about Musk owning Twitter can go ahead and make their own Twitter.

[Victoria Watcher]

I personally like that about it. As I have said before I really don't care about the free speech aspect and most daily users don't either.

Probably many people do not care much for free speech. Certainly there are parts of the world that yearn for control over their lives and even vote willingly for security over freedom. It’s not a great path, look at Russia.  Iran.  China.  Venezuela.  The entire Middle East, save for Israel.  Most of Africa.

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 May 2022 - 10:47 AM.

[Nparker]

...Certainly there are parts of the world that yearn for control over their lives and even vote willingly for security over freedom. It’s not a great path, look at Russia.

Look at Ottawa, January-February 2022.