# Now that Elon Musk has bought Twitter - now the Pit edition (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 25, 2022, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442 "2022-04-25T22:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clu-Me-In](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Clu-Me-In](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clu-Me-In)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1 "2022-04-25T22:50:17Z")
What would prevent Jack Dorsey from building a different type of Social Media platform that rivals Twitter? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2 "2022-04-25T23:01:29Z")
There _might_ be a non-compete clause in his contract. Aside from that, network effects make it difficult for a new competitor to succeed. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3 "2022-04-25T23:26:59Z")
It’s an economic moat. He would have to persuade many millions of people to make the switch. Those who switch would initially, and probably thereafter, lack millions of people who are already their audience. It’s like persuading everyone on your half of the Earth to jump at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4 "2022-04-25T23:41:42Z")
I assume there are plenty of competitors already. “Me Too!” copycat is rarely an effective business strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/5 "2022-04-25T23:45:40Z")
Twitter has always been a money pit. There’s not a ton of financial upside to building a direct competitor. They have never successfully monetized it the way Facebook did and that’s ultimately why it’s long been a target for a takeover. Dorsey certainly wouldn’t have any non-compete. Those are illegal in California and more importantly this is a hostile takeover of a public company. Dorsey is a shareholder, that’s pretty much all he is in this context and unless he signs some special agreement (which he’s not motivated to do in a hostile bid) he is legally allowed to create whatever company he wants. If Dorsey seriously wanted to get back into the social game he’d almost certainly try to build something that targets young people in he mould of TikTok or Snapchat, but those apps are already entrenched. The only real viable path back to prominence is to make something with a new value prop. You can’t just build a Twitter clone and hope for success. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6 "2022-04-25T23:46:39Z")
Jack Dorsey hasn’t been CEO of Twitter for a while ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7 "2022-04-25T23:54:05Z")
The Atlantic sees many potential positives to Musk buying Twitter. > **[Elon Musk Buying Twitter Is Weird, Chaotic, and a Little Bit Awesome](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/04/elon-musk-buys-twitter/629675/)** > > Anybody who is extremely confident about how this is going to work out doesn’t know what they’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Clu-Me-In](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Clu-Me-In](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clu-Me-In)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8 "2022-04-26T00:02:03Z")
Jack Dorsey is just a Place holder in this case. It could be anyone ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/9 "2022-04-26T00:09:59Z")
There already exist quite a few Twitter clones. You can prop up your own with Mastodon if you’d like. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/10 "2022-04-26T00:10:42Z")
There’s also this, mentioned in the Mike Lindell thread. > **[Running Twitter Is Going to Disappoint Elon Musk](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/04/elon-musk-twitter-free-speech/629673/)** > > Social media’s newest billionaire overlord is in for a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/11 "2022-04-26T23:58:41Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Twitter has always been a money pit. Not sure what definition of money pit you’re using, but Twitter is profitable and has been for ~4 years. It’s not nearly as profitable per user as Facebook, and it has a much larger cultural impact than financial, but it’s a going concern that generates money for its owners. Agreed on the rest of your post. There’s no money in a Twitter clone, since there’s barely any money in the real Twitter that has all the advantages of network effect that a clone would lack. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/12 "2022-04-27T00:06:48Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > The Atlantic sees many potential positives to Musk buying Twitter. > > [Elon Musk Might Be Just What Twitter Needs - The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/04/elon-musk-buys-twitter/629675/%E2%81%A2) Pretty garbage article to me. Musk is not a “brilliant” anything. The only problems Twitter has are ones that require more moderation, not less. Trump coming back is not “interesting,” it’s horrible for our country that we still haven’t taken down someone who attempted a fascist self-coup. He claims Musk loves Twitter when all signs show that his purchases was motivated by being pissed off by Twitter. He mentions that abuse will become more common, but has that under the “interesting” trait he claims is positive. And section 5 undermines his premise by arguing that Musk will fail. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/13 "2022-04-27T00:48:20Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Not sure what definition of money pit you’re using, but Twitter is profitable and has been for ~4 years. Not sure where you got your numbers, but this isn’t the case. [https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/TWTR/twitter/net-income](https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/TWTR/twitter/net-income) [https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/TWTR/financials/annual/income-statement](https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/TWTR/financials/annual/income-statement) > **[Elon Musk's Twitter has struggled to turn a profit for years. Now, it's facing...](https://fortune.com/2022/04/26/twitter-debt-elon-musk-possible-credit-downgrade/amp/)** > > Experts say Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter is saddling the company with debts it may not be able to service. Even in the years/quarters where Twitter was in the black it’s not enough to bring them to anything resembling financial success. For a company with its operating budget and user base a $1B profit in a given FY is a pathetic outcome from the street’s POV. Expectations for tech behemoths are measured on a different scale. And compared to its peers Twitter is a joke. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/14 "2022-04-27T04:13:53Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Not sure where you got your numbers, but this isn’t the case. From an obviously too-quick and not correct google search. I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/15 "2022-04-27T14:55:34Z")
**Moderator Action** This thread is more speculation than factual, so let’s move it to IMHO (from FQ). Factual information (such as Twitter’s financial status) is of course still welcome. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/16 "2022-04-29T23:01:58Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Pretty garbage article to me. Musk is not a “brilliant” anything. Hey! It takes talent to cause Tesla to lose $126 Billion. /s > **[Tesla's stock lost $126 billion in market value the day after Elon Musk struck...](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/teslas-stock-plunged-126-billion-elon-musks-twitter-deal-2022-4)** > > Investors fear that Musk will sell some of his Tesla stock to finance the $21 billion he needs to secure his buyout of Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/17 "2022-04-30T00:14:17Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Hey! It takes talent to cause Tesla to lose $126 Billion. It’s not real money. It’s just the play money that the stock market collects from old Monopoly games they find at rummage sales. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/18 "2022-04-30T04:16:45Z")
If you win second prize in a beauty contest enough times, you can pay for anything. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/19 "2022-05-03T02:29:28Z")
Journalist Molly Jong-Fast criticized Musk so Musk fanboy Glenn Greenwald doxed her, and Musk retweeted it,’ > **[Elon Musk Under Fire for Retaliatory 'Doxing' of Journalist](https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-under-fire-retaliatory-doxing-journalist-1702760)** > > Journalist Molly Jong-Fast had called Musk's complaints about "woke" censorship an example of "old, rich white men" being upset with "young people" during an MSNBC interview. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/20 "2022-05-03T02:49:49Z")
A preview of things to come… Stranger [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=2)