I believe the question about Twitter is "Why do you trust Musk?"

[bronxiteforever]

What in his history makes you think he gives a hoot about you? He is the richest man in the world and the richest man in the world can do whatever he wants. He has to be laughing at all the hand wringing about the wait and see attitude about what he will do next with Twitter.

You stay on Twitter he owns your information as well as his financial backers in Saudi Arabia, Quatar and the cryptocurrency companies (which act to undermine the dollar). You help make him richer. He lives in a consequence free world. You are a number in a column to be monetized by him. Twitter is now a private company. It is Musk’s property period.

Some always post that DU is irrelevant to the Democratic Party. I do not doubt or question those statements by and large because we are not the party big wigs here.

Now, using that same line of reasoning, zoom out and see how Musk perceives you and the rest of us. He could care less about you or me and a mighty moral stand. Just realize how insignificant you are in Musk’s world.

I posted an article about the EU warning him to play by their rules. I would imagine the richest man in the world, has contacts in Italy, Hungary and other authoritarian regimes within the EU. I wonder if the EU will really have the institutional power to force Musk to follow the rules. I hope it does but we will see.

Musk is a libertarian who hates taxes and Democrats. He wants a cryptocurrency to avoid government oversight. He is as Ayn Randian as can be. He supported Abbott in Texas. Expecting Musk to be something other than he always has been is a fools errand but one he will appreciate.

[Wounded Bear]

1. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ nt

[Hugh_Lebowski]

4. Indeed $$$$$$ is the potential mitigating factor here, while all the above may be true, still first

and foremost, Musk's biggest commitment is to the almighty dollar, and success in general.

He's not gonna want to see his $50B+ investment go down in flames and hence for him to become a laughing stock.

That concern may well temper some of the bad behavior he might normally be ready to engage in.

This is why it probably makes some sense to 'wait and see'.

[samnsara]

2. believe me no one who stays on twitter trusts musk as far as they can throw him

[JohnSJ]

3. I think the OPs analysis is correct. I also think it won't matter to many, who do not see the

dangers lurking.

90% of the airwaves of talk radio are right wing. There is no "equal time" or "fairness" doctrine anymore.

[leftstreet]

6. Social media is interactive. Right wing radio is not

Social media is a danger to corporate media

[JohnSJ]

7. True, but they are also both subtly addictive, and both feedback on each other

[bronxiteforever]

11. That is why social media is a prime target for bot farms.

[Scrivener7]

5. Exactly this, but you and I are speaking mostly to deaf ears.

Buckle up. We'll have to take this ride anyway. Twitter will give him even more power to do the things you list that he wants to do.

[brooklynite]

8. Are you under the impression that the previous owners cared about you?

I don't imagine Musk is something different; I'm not prepared to imagine a right-wing hellscape in social media until it appears.

[bronxiteforever]

10. Musk said he was different than the previous owners.

I don’t believe he ever retracted that.
Maybe your influence will change his heart.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. Yeah that's kind of how capitalism works. We sell our time, work, and attention, and have to pay for

places to sleep and things to eat, always interacting with people who don't care about us and who use our resources for their own gain. What's one more?

[brooklynite]

13. The worst economic system except for all the others.....

[CentralMass]

12. There are clearly so called "Musk fanboi's" out there that worship the guy.

Personally I think he brilliant guy with deep pockets who is an innovator and visionary. He has accomplished big things. However he tarnishes it all by being an asshole on a regular basis. But it his choice to do as he pleases.

I'm not a big twitter user. I mainly follow a number of interesting people and rarely reply or tweet. I deactivated my account on the latest news. If I don't reactivate it with 30 days it turns into a pumpkin (get permanently deleted). I'll see how it goes over the next 28 days. However when the Orange Anus and his rabid minions had free reign on the platform they were fomenting violence and sedition etc.
Banning that was the right thing to do. Letting it back in is the wrong thing. I'm voting with my feet at this point. A meaningless act to anyone but myself.

[redstatebluegirl]

14. I went out this morning to cancel my account.

Took me a while to figure out how to do it. I did peek at theh feed for a minute and noticed a considerable uptick in nuts, MAGATS, racists, nasty people . I have blocked tons of them over the past few years. It isn't worth it to me to stay on there. I go there very infrequently, I get my news from various sources, would neer get it from Twitter or facebook.

I keep my facebook page to see what my great nieces are up to and some former students. I may let it go soon. They can email me pictures and updates.

Social media is a big part of what is wrong with this country right now. The bots are running things and it is so easy for Russia and China to manipulate small minded Americans through these platforms.

[iemanja]

16. Is Musk the only tweeter on Twitter?

Why do you assume he edits every post?

[bronxiteforever]

18. Lol! I don't know how you got that out of my op.

No he certainly won’t edit anything.

[iemanja]

19. "I believe the question about Twitter is "Why do you trust Musk?'"

I consider the point completely irrelevant. FWIW, I rarely use Twitter, but people running around DU trying to censor the site pisses me off. Shyte sources are used here on a daily basis, and no one complains. Twitter contains useful and non-useful information. It's not the job of DUers to protect the fragile from that information.

[bronxiteforever]

25. To think I have the power to censure Twitter

is a hallucination. I put out facts.
Should Russian bots be allowed? I don’t know how you square that with your support of Ukraine. Musk certainly wants to solve the war. What do you think of his suggestion?

No one complains about sources on DU? Really that is certainly untrue false etc.
There is a rule about using certain sources.

A job of Duers to protect the fragile? I assume adults are here and can make up their own minds on whether to agree or disagree with my point. I have never thought DU fragile.

Let’s agree to stay in touch and see how this works out.

[iemanja]

28. Are you arguing that Russian bots

fake members, are the same as using a source some don't like--like Twitter? The first already violates DU rules. The second doesn't.

When do people complain about Politicsusa or the Palmer report? I've never seen it.

[bronxiteforever]

30. Interesting

You said Shyte sources are used here on a daily basis, and no one complains. And then you listed
When do people complain about Politicsusa or the Palmer report?
I guess in iemanja world I should have assumed it was these two. Given my omniscience over all DU posts I should have know.

[Caliman73]

22. Nothing indicates that the concern is about individual Tweets.

Musk has control over the entire direction of the company. He has toyed with the idea of allowing Trump back onto the platform. The talk is that he plans to eliminate 75% of the workforce, which means much less content moderation. The right wing is already celebrating the takeover.

We don't trust Musk because he has already shown, several times, that he has his own agenda that does not include making life better for the average person.

I am predicting that Twitter will be a greatly diminished company, full of right wing bile within the next 2 years.

[iemanja]

24. This post is in the context of the threads asking to ban Twitter on DU

So pretending this isn't about tweets in general doesn't pass the smell test.
Why the fuck would you trust any billionaire/corporate owner? I sure don't. People used and quoted twitter when Trump and his allies were allowed to freely broadcast their crap all over Twitter. We're supposed to believe that suddenly twitter is unacceptable because Musk bought it and he might let those people back on? No thank you.

[bronxiteforever]

26. This is a complete lie. I never said DU should ban Twitter.

In fact I never came close to that. Show where I said this.

[iemanja]

27. Nor did I claim you did

I said your post is "in the context of" posts asking to ban Twitter or label in the subject line that the post uses Twitter. Is that statement false? No.
You are making an argument against Twitter. Am I supposed to pretend it is disconnected from the rest of the posts on the site today?

[bronxiteforever]

29. So I am responsible for all posts on DU related to Twitter today.

Interesting….Arguing against Twitter is not the same as banning Twitter from DU.
You, of course, know that.

[iemanja]

31. Why don't you tell me the purpose of your post?

Why are you arguing that Twitter is untrustworthy as of Musk's buying it?

[Torchlight]

17. It looks as though the conversation is shifting to

two fundamental, but opposing factions: cede disputed ground (platform I suppose, in this case) to the opposition, or remain and defend the disputed ground. And it's heartening to hear good points brought up by both sides of the argument.

Twitter's not my bag. I come across links and read them, but I lack any real interest in the platform. I'm not making a moral or social choice by avoiding it, it's just not my thing, so I don't really have a dog in this hunt. But I can't help but think back to the early nineties.

Many of us watched in real time as hate radio gobbled almost the entirety of talk radio immediately after the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, and narrowed the minds of a vast swath of their targeted demographics, both directly and (more insidiously) indirectly (sourced from FAIR). A few incursions into this fiercely held territory by liberal voices were quickly rendered moot with efficient PR counters by the right wing media moguls who had called dibs (again, sourced from FAIR).

I'd certainly hate to see the right wing mouth machine conquer another medium at the expense of rational and dissenting voices. Though the internet can still seem as wide and open as the Wild West did in the first half of the nineteenth century, the right-wing believes itself inheritor to a manifest destiny, and will use and exploit any medium it can effectively strengthen itself.

[leftstreet]

20. Do people shop at WalMart because they trust the owners?

Given the lack of trust people have in all institutions from churches to media to government, why would they expect to "trust" any owner of a social media platform?

[blueinredohio]

23. Most people shop at Wal-Mart because they have to eat.

You don't have to be on social media.