It is not hard to imagine that Musk WANTS to concentrate hateful, xenophobic, sexist, paranoid and anti-democratic voices on his platform. Perhaps he thinks the financial losses are "worth it" to get the kind of amplification sought by the oligarchic class? It puts up a quandary to regular folks - try to use the platform to participate in community building? Or get off the thing as a way to dis-incentivize advertisers and other innocent users? Vote with your "feet" and get the hell off of "X".
American Elites Live Under A Different Set Of Laws
They’re not fooling anyone! The American people know that the billionaires can and do get away with crimes that ordinary citizens do not. Why do you think we are so divided as a country? Billionaires and their corporations lobby Congress to get what they want!
The Working Class people who work 8 hours or more hours a day, and 5, 6 or 7 days a week normally do not pay attention to what’s going on in government. They assume that the people they elected are working in a bipartisan manner to help them. With such things as Healthcare, Education, Infrastructure, Inflation, etc….
Instead what are we getting, a bunch of immature and ridiculous politicians who are in lockstep with one of the worst Americans ever! What does it say about our country that this guy was elected president? See paragraph one.
Most people I talk to believe the former president will get away with all the terrible things he has done because he is in the elite ranks! He’s been getting away with bad behavior his entire life. We all know that’s not going to change.
Here is a list of some of the things that got us here. Starting with the most egregious.
Thank you for relaying this disturbing information to us, Professor Reich. I had an inkling but no idea just how horrible Twitter has become. (I do not hold ANY social media accounts.)
I closed my Twitter account more than a month ago. I recommend everyone do the same. With nothing by haters on the service, the advertising will dry up completely. Make Musk eat his 42 Billion folly.
Trump stands over our Democracy like a "Matador " offering the bull his flowing cape. Beneath the flamboyant cloth a rust encrusted sword is held, waiting for the proper moment to impell our society with the shaft that will alter our future. The fatal thrust is preventable but only if our people begin to see Trump for what he really is, a dysfunctional, pathetic man filled with hate and resentment for a country he never understood in the first place.
First, bullying IS Hate. And fear. Fear that the bully isn't worthy of the respect of others. So the bully acts out to show that he is powerful, "And you better damn well respect me!" It's not surprising that bullies grow up to be violent, hateful people. After all they had that long apprenticeship demonstrating cause-and-effect: Give me what I want, or else!
Second of all, isn't the entire conflict one-sided when it comes to EVIDENCE? On the one side, you have a group that has trotted out documentation, surveys, and studies and whatnot to show Musk hasn't been stifling Hate Speech on Twitter. (In fact, it's like he's _encouraging_ it.) And in response, Musk is ranting, "You're telling lies! Take it back or I'll sue!". Okay, Burden of Proof time: Where's Musk's proof to support his assertion? [Sorry, Elon: "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" just doesn't cut it in adult endeavors.]
It's time to launch local-global campaigns to boycott Musk's Twitter hate machine. Make it clear to corporate advertisers that they risk losing patronage if they continue to advertise in Xtwitter. Encourage remaining Twitter users to cut them lose. Twitter is unsaveable under Musk.
Thank you for providing such a clear outline of what Trump has done to Twitter. For months now I search 3 accounts I particularly like & block any nasty tweets. I miss out on most of the people I used to connect with on Twitter. Musk has some kind of narcissistic antisocial personality disorder. He wants to be considered brilliant (where's the evidence if money isn't treated as intelligence), wants to shock & outrage people, wants to wield real world power, but also wants to be liked. Nut case.
Elon Musk should come as no surprise to anyone. It would be interesting to hear someone of his age from South Africa who considers themselves an indigenous descendant from the civilizations of that region of Africa. A little bit of googling and Wikipediaing regarding Elon and his family and it becomes a distinct possibility that if it weren’t for the Apartheid-based world, he grew up in and his parents and grandparents as well he would not be where he is today in many aspects of his life. Hello, as in many parts of the world back in the day Europeans set out purposely to find land they could pillage, plunder and worse, manipulate and rule over for the sake of themselves and their descendants. The privilege afforded Elon by his South African roots was only afforded to him by its brutality inflicted on what is now South Africa. One might guess that Elon Must is yet another product of his upbringing. He grew up as the descendant of an occupier. Perhaps his present attitude toward much is based on the false sense of a deranged version of manifest destiny or whatever one wants to call it. Elon to many, represents oppression and manipulation. It should be no surprise to anyone that he is like he is. Suppose Elon Musk considers himself a leader or wants others to see him as something other than what he presently is. In that case, he has to do a lot of soul-searching and reparation work for the millions his misguided mentality keeps perpetrating onto humanity. If only people like Elon Musk could get beyond themselves and see the real potential all that money and power could do towards making the planet a whole lot better, not worse, perhaps stories like today’s Substack read would become a thing of the past.
Elon can play his trump card (sorry but it was such an opportune descriptor) - Star Link - to add special mean-spirited behavior. The world may soon rue the fact that he has that control, given his penchant for spewing hatred.
Re the charges for Twitter API calls, people should develop systems based on direct HTTP access, such as Postman, which bypass the APIs. Such systems would produce archives of structured data, which can be parsed and analyzed. It's not as convenient as API calls, but with a little creativity would still provide valid results.
It is not hard to imagine that Musk WANTS to concentrate hateful, xenophobic, sexist, paranoid and anti-democratic voices on his platform. Perhaps he thinks the financial losses are "worth it" to get the kind of amplification sought by the oligarchic class? It puts up a quandary to regular folks - try to use the platform to participate in community building? Or get off the thing as a way to dis-incentivize advertisers and other innocent users? Vote with your "feet" and get the hell off of "X".
American Elites Live Under A Different Set Of Laws
They’re not fooling anyone! The American people know that the billionaires can and do get away with crimes that ordinary citizens do not. Why do you think we are so divided as a country? Billionaires and their corporations lobby Congress to get what they want!
The Working Class people who work 8 hours or more hours a day, and 5, 6 or 7 days a week normally do not pay attention to what’s going on in government. They assume that the people they elected are working in a bipartisan manner to help them. With such things as Healthcare, Education, Infrastructure, Inflation, etc….
Instead what are we getting, a bunch of immature and ridiculous politicians who are in lockstep with one of the worst Americans ever! What does it say about our country that this guy was elected president? See paragraph one.
Most people I talk to believe the former president will get away with all the terrible things he has done because he is in the elite ranks! He’s been getting away with bad behavior his entire life. We all know that’s not going to change.
Here is a list of some of the things that got us here. Starting with the most egregious.
1. Trickle Down Economics
2. Citizens United
3. Bush v Gore
4. Roe v Wade
5. Congress’ Civil War
Thank you for relaying this disturbing information to us, Professor Reich. I had an inkling but no idea just how horrible Twitter has become. (I do not hold ANY social media accounts.)
Bullies are the scum of the earth.
Musk is way out of control; the fact that he has launched nearly 5,000 Starlink satellites to outer space in the past few years is deeply troubling. Here’s a link to the NY Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/28/business/starlink.html?smid=url-share
My advice to all of your readers is - boycott Twitter and Tesla.
Professor, thank you for keeping us informed.
Your friend in MD, Anne 🌻🙏💙
Reminder that today, Tuesday, August 1, is the "stay off Twitter" day. I don't know if it will have any impact, but it is the least we can do.
I closed my Twitter account more than a month ago. I recommend everyone do the same. With nothing by haters on the service, the advertising will dry up completely. Make Musk eat his 42 Billion folly.
Trump stands over our Democracy like a "Matador " offering the bull his flowing cape. Beneath the flamboyant cloth a rust encrusted sword is held, waiting for the proper moment to impell our society with the shaft that will alter our future. The fatal thrust is preventable but only if our people begin to see Trump for what he really is, a dysfunctional, pathetic man filled with hate and resentment for a country he never understood in the first place.
First, bullying IS Hate. And fear. Fear that the bully isn't worthy of the respect of others. So the bully acts out to show that he is powerful, "And you better damn well respect me!" It's not surprising that bullies grow up to be violent, hateful people. After all they had that long apprenticeship demonstrating cause-and-effect: Give me what I want, or else!
Second of all, isn't the entire conflict one-sided when it comes to EVIDENCE? On the one side, you have a group that has trotted out documentation, surveys, and studies and whatnot to show Musk hasn't been stifling Hate Speech on Twitter. (In fact, it's like he's _encouraging_ it.) And in response, Musk is ranting, "You're telling lies! Take it back or I'll sue!". Okay, Burden of Proof time: Where's Musk's proof to support his assertion? [Sorry, Elon: "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" just doesn't cut it in adult endeavors.]
I left twitter/X and won’t return. I refuse to pretend what Musk is pushing is normal or acceptable.
Closed my Twitter account when Musk took over. He turns my stomach.
Musk confirms more every day about the bullying & hateful nature of his dark & dangerous pathology. https://samray.substack.com/p/the-grooming-of-elon-musk-a-psychological-139
It's time to launch local-global campaigns to boycott Musk's Twitter hate machine. Make it clear to corporate advertisers that they risk losing patronage if they continue to advertise in Xtwitter. Encourage remaining Twitter users to cut them lose. Twitter is unsaveable under Musk.
Thank you for providing such a clear outline of what Trump has done to Twitter. For months now I search 3 accounts I particularly like & block any nasty tweets. I miss out on most of the people I used to connect with on Twitter. Musk has some kind of narcissistic antisocial personality disorder. He wants to be considered brilliant (where's the evidence if money isn't treated as intelligence), wants to shock & outrage people, wants to wield real world power, but also wants to be liked. Nut case.
Elon Musk should come as no surprise to anyone. It would be interesting to hear someone of his age from South Africa who considers themselves an indigenous descendant from the civilizations of that region of Africa. A little bit of googling and Wikipediaing regarding Elon and his family and it becomes a distinct possibility that if it weren’t for the Apartheid-based world, he grew up in and his parents and grandparents as well he would not be where he is today in many aspects of his life. Hello, as in many parts of the world back in the day Europeans set out purposely to find land they could pillage, plunder and worse, manipulate and rule over for the sake of themselves and their descendants. The privilege afforded Elon by his South African roots was only afforded to him by its brutality inflicted on what is now South Africa. One might guess that Elon Must is yet another product of his upbringing. He grew up as the descendant of an occupier. Perhaps his present attitude toward much is based on the false sense of a deranged version of manifest destiny or whatever one wants to call it. Elon to many, represents oppression and manipulation. It should be no surprise to anyone that he is like he is. Suppose Elon Musk considers himself a leader or wants others to see him as something other than what he presently is. In that case, he has to do a lot of soul-searching and reparation work for the millions his misguided mentality keeps perpetrating onto humanity. If only people like Elon Musk could get beyond themselves and see the real potential all that money and power could do towards making the planet a whole lot better, not worse, perhaps stories like today’s Substack read would become a thing of the past.
Elon can play his trump card (sorry but it was such an opportune descriptor) - Star Link - to add special mean-spirited behavior. The world may soon rue the fact that he has that control, given his penchant for spewing hatred.
Great analysis. Simple and concise.
Re the charges for Twitter API calls, people should develop systems based on direct HTTP access, such as Postman, which bypass the APIs. Such systems would produce archives of structured data, which can be parsed and analyzed. It's not as convenient as API calls, but with a little creativity would still provide valid results.