News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Tweetbot. April 2011 – January 2023 by riazrizvi on Friday January 20, 2023 @02:47PM (#34458747)
This feels like the same thing with Gawker and the HBO show Silicon Valley.

It feels like people with money are shutting down, neutering, avenues where they receive criticism.

Since much of the money for the buyout came from the Saudis and the Chinese, it feels like the people behind this are more concerned with subduing Twitter than turning a profit. Maybe why they had to make it private, it’s illegal to run a public company into the ground.

Re:Tweetbot. April 2011 – January 2023 by dualboot on Friday January 20, 2023 @02:53PM (#34458833)
Agree 100%

Elon has always slashed customer service and PR in the companies he runs.

Twitter for all it's warts, was still a haven for public accountability when traditional customer service avenues fell short.

Not surprising that following an unprecedented consolidation of wealth (2020), we see someone take that opportunity to dismantle that.

Re:Tweetbot. April 2011 – January 2023 by riazrizvi on Friday January 20, 2023 @03:51PM (#34459750)
Social media has been the driver of an enormous level of democratic empowerment, an unprecedented new degree of bottom-up communication. I think society hasn't experienced such a structural shift to political power distribution since the printing press's arrival in the West. Unlike China, the West had no central authority, so what was printed and distributed could not be properly suppressed.

The counter-reaction to this, I believe, is the increased concentration of wealth and push toward monopoly and control.

If democracy prevails, I believe social media, like Youtube, Reddit etc will drive a level of cultural, scientific and technological enlightenment to equal the Renaissance.

If autocracy prevails, if the whole world falls under the dominion of a single authority, we will all end up in one single shithole country.

Re:Tweetbot. April 2011 – January 2023 by dylan604 on Friday January 20, 2023 @03:15PM (#34459168)
>Since much of the money for the buyout came from the Saudis and the Chinese,

ooooo, I like the dark place you're taking this. I didn't give one iota about Twitter before the Musk debacle, but I have been enjoying the shit show since it started. I can't stop paying attention into just how much of a future Business 101 case study this will become. I remember when everyone said how Reed Hasting navigated the Netflix debacle of trying to separate the DVD side of the business as a future case study. I feel like Musk saw that and said, "hold my beer! I'll show you how to ruin a company's brand!!!"

Re:Tweetbot. April 2011 – January 2023 by DoughnutHole on Friday January 20, 2023 @02:55PM (#34458871)
What happened to Silicon Valley that was in the same vein as Gawker’s destruction?