this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2023
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Twitter always sucked, and always will suck. Explain to me, in pornographic detail, how this is some huge conspiracy, what the end goal of that conspiracy is, and who is perpetuating it.
I absolutely love the ask on pornographic detail, though it's mostly the presence of many seperate but cohesive puzzle pieces. Between how he's gotten kicked out and silenced in most of his business positions, to his children hating his guts, to his dad calling his bluffs, to how he lies on stage making promises no one in the company has even heard, yet alone vetted the viability of, to how he's constantly liking extreme right-wing tweets and openly allowing anti-trans rhetoric...
It's just a very large set of puzzle pieces that spell out a very, very clear picture: Elon is a fascist-sympathising white supremacist, whether it be out of hate or general priviledged lack of empathy, the result is the same. It's mildly hidden in his eclectic pretending and mountain of lies. He doesn't even have an engineering degree like he loves to pretend.
Let's assume that's true.
Let's also assume Twitter collapses under its own weight within the next year.
How does that further Elon's secret goal of spreading his brand of fascism and racism.
If that was Elon's goal, rather than the goal of various other people he's closely associated with (eg Peter Thiel, Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman, to name but two of the most prominent ones), then such a goal could be fulfilled by platforms that take Twitter's place after it's gone - along with all the debt Twitter owes, including rent not being paid, state fines, lawsuits from former investors and staff, and the $13bn loan from the buyout itself.
That isn't to say this was Musk's goal all along, rather that's what it has transformed into.
I always saw it as two possible outcomes: either they make Twitter into what they always wanted from the failed startups that tried to compete against Twitter, and pay off the debt to keep it going; or they run it into the ground and write off the debt, then replace it with something more favourable. The latter seems more and more likely as time has passed.
He didn't want to crash it, that's just a consequence of his politics. He wanted to control what everyone was calling, "the new public square". Nothing more. It just turns out he's a hateful bigot and couldn't keep it in his pants enough to keep what he bought popular.
That's all it is. It's not a grand plan. It's obstinance and greed going awry. He wanted to control it TO ANY BENEFIT he could get. It dying is ALSO a benefit to him, so do not act like this is part of the main plan. It's just a viable plan B or C for a specific step.
The real plan is Project '25 or what ever, and involves A LOT more conservatives than a petulant Musk.
It’s reductive to say that it was just shit. Like any social media tool of course it had shit content. It was also the lifeblood of many journalists and intellectuals, scientists and activists. Go listen to Land of the Giants on podcast and you’ll get the full, two-sided story. (I know you won’t, that comment was for others)
Musk only took an interest in Twitter when it began trying to better manage damaging content. They did a lot in previously undefined territory - and before you tell me that moderation wasn’t new, Twitter had to face issues like whether to ban a sitting president. No forum had to face that before.
Musk’s “freedom of speech” campaign is about protecting the hate speech he loves. So while he sinks this tool that was flawed but trying hard to make itself better, it’s riddled with hate even while it sinks. I’m glad the former Twitter shareholders got a payout at Musk’s expense, but I would have preferred if they hadn’t rushed to hand the platform over to him so they could enjoy that payout.
The platform was powerful. That power worked both bad and good things. Now it’s just powerfully shitty. The shit is now unleashed, and degrading the platform’s potential for good, which was always high even if the realization of that potential was mixed.