# 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:** 14
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/261 "2022-10-28T14:42:00Z")
He just gave Kanye West is Twitter account back. [Kanye West’s Twitter Account Reactivated After Elon Musk Takes Control | HuffPost Latest News](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kanye-west-twitter-reactivated-elon-musk_n_635be258e4b0cf522df80b32?d_id=5079045&ref=bffbhuffpost&ncid_tag=fcbklnkushpmg00000063&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=us_main&fbclid=IwAR1UERfRucq7QzlErPOiWcNQ5XxM7GUbbwY--EpG_ftX5Z8OdpkQlw5J-K0) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/262 "2022-10-28T16:22:45Z")
Let the slide to 4chan begin! ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/263 "2022-10-28T16:40:18Z")
Deleted my account. I never used it much, except for during weather or fire situations here in California, then its features really work well. Quick realtime updates from various agencies etc. The site seems poorly designed, and increasingly flooded with advertising etc. I left Facebook years ago for similar reasons. I still will read things on those 2 platforms that interest me, but thats about it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/264 "2022-10-28T17:13:05Z")
Predicting the obvious: quite a lot of people will delete accounts, Musk will claim the drop of numbers is entirely due to a high-tech bot-cleanup operation. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/265 "2022-10-28T17:13:40Z")
Musk fired a few of the top execs. I wish I could get fired in this fashion. > **[Twitter’s Golden Parachutes: Fired Twitter Execs May Receive $141 Million,...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/10/28/twitters-golden-parachutes-fired-twitter-execs-may-receive-141-million-reports-say/?sh=40b50ef93e35)** > > Musk also reportedly told investors he plans to fire nearly three quarters of the company’s workforce. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/266 "2022-10-28T17:20:40Z")
Doesn’t matter now, he can’t use that as an excuse to back out of the sale. Now he can just use it as an excuse to himself and his investors as to why he is losing tons of money. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/267 "2022-10-28T17:21:24Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Now he can just use it as an excuse to himself and his investors as to why he is losing tons of money. Yep, exactly. Musk claimed that Twitter has vastly underrepresented the number of active bots, and now that he’s been forced to go through with the sale, he’s on the hook to do something about it. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/268 "2022-10-28T18:14:22Z")
Quick, real-time updates from the various services I follow is exactly why I use Twitter. Unfortunately there does not seem to be a real alternative, so I need to keep my account. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/269 "2022-10-28T18:17:32Z")
I tried to unsubscribe to my twitter emails I get every morning, but it wouldn’t allow it. I have grown to hate twitter and all it stands for. Musk just makes it worse. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/270 "2022-10-28T18:38:17Z")
Well, here’s one change Elon has implemented so far; [![](https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/109/246/879/820/129/009/original/bf2b1da733969b67.jpg) ](https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/109/246/879/820/129/009/original/bf2b1da733969b67.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/271 "2022-10-28T18:47:43Z")
I’m not sure I’ll be able to hang in there now that he’s given Kanye back his account. It’s a very bad sign of things to come. God Dammit. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2022, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/272 "2022-10-28T18:51:42Z")
Do you really need a Twitter account for this? When there’s police activity or something involving the fire department, I check their twitter accounts without having one of my own. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/273 "2022-10-28T19:36:23Z")
That’s not exactly what I mean. I follow musical artists and venues so I know right away when tours are announced and when tickets go on sale. I follow travel websites, airlines, and airports, so I know if my travel plans need to be adjusted. That’s a total of about a hundred accounts I follow. It would take way too long to check each website daily to see if there’s news, when I just get it instantly and easily on Twitter. I also follow a bunch of local news reporters whose stories never get into the newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/274 "2022-10-28T19:56:45Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > He just gave Kanye West is Twitter account back. [Kanye West’s Twitter Account Reactivated After Elon Musk Takes Control | HuffPost Latest News](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kanye-west-twitter-reactivated-elon-musk_n_635be258e4b0cf522df80b32?d_id=5079045&ref=bffbhuffpost&ncid_tag=fcbklnkushpmg00000063&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=us_main&fbclid=IwAR1UERfRucq7QzlErPOiWcNQ5XxM7GUbbwY--EpG_ftX5Z8OdpkQlw5J-K0) Just noting that the article linked there has a pseudo-retraction now: > _ **CORRECTION** :_ > > _A previous version of this story said that Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, regained control of his Twitter account Friday after it was suspended following antisemitic remarks he made on several social media accounts._ > > _However, it remains unclear if the rapper has access to post on the platform, or if the account was ever listed as “suspended” (meaning the tweets were not visible)._ > > _As of Friday afternoon, there had been no new posts on the account since Oct. 8._ ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/275 "2022-10-28T23:53:54Z")
Well, things are different. Someone tweeted Rachel Levine is a man. And got 13,000 likes. Is that free speech? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/276 "2022-10-29T00:10:52Z")
I did see Musk claim somewhere that there would be a “board of standards,” as it were, making decisions like high profile bannings, and that no major reinstatements would happen until that board convened. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/277 "2022-10-29T02:25:23Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > there would be a “board of standards,” Me thinks that Elon just learned that a lot of the demand for “standards” comes from the advertisers, not from liberal activists. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/278 "2022-10-29T04:14:06Z")
The Verge has some advice for the billionaire man-baby; > **[Welcome to hell, Elon](https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/28/23428132/elon-musk-twitter-acquisition-problems-speech-moderation)** > > Owning Twitter means owning a host of impossible political problems. Is Elon ready? > [@](#): > > I say this with utter confidence because the problems with Twitter are _not engineering problems._ They are _political problems_ . Twitter, the company, makes very little interesting technology; the tech stack is not the valuable asset. The asset is the user base: hopelessly addicted politicians, reporters, celebrities, and other people who should know better but keep posting anyway. You! You, Elon Musk, are [addicted to Twitter](https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/15/23216684/twitter-elon-musk-lawsuit-tweets). You’re the asset. You just bought yourself for $44 billion dollars… > > What I mean is that you are now the King of Twitter, and people think that you, personally, are responsible for everything that happens on Twitter now. It also turns out that absolute monarchs usually get murdered when shit goes sideways. > > Here are some examples: you can write as many polite letters to advertisers as you want, but you cannot reasonably expect to collect any meaningful advertising revenue if you do not promise those advertisers “brand safety.” That means you have to ban racism, sexism, transphobia, and all kinds of other speech that is totally legal in the United States but reveals people to be total assholes. So you can make all the promises about “free speech” you want, but the dull reality is that you still have to ban a bunch of legal speech if you want to make money. And when you start doing that, your creepy new right-wing fanboys are going to viciously turn on you, just like they turn on every other social network that realizes the same essential truth. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/279 "2022-10-29T11:18:48Z")
Having been off Twitter since the deal was first announced this makes it very unlikely I’ll ever return. I stopped checking in in part because it was getting to be too much of an obsession, and I have missed it, but I have a (very slim) hope that this will be enough of a bump in the road to get more high profile accounts active on mastodon instances (other than the bad ones). I think one of Elon’s biggest problems going forward is going to be that even on the internet the police aren’t what keeps crime down. The vast majority of potential issues are prevented by people refraining from problematic activity because they themselves realize it is problematic or that society considers it problematic. There’s a wave of increased abuse on Twitter right now, despite content policies not having changed, because assholes are often also morons, and that’s going to strain Twitter’s content moderation capabilities, but long term the bigger issue is that Elon has signaled that being terrible should be allowed, which prompts some people to stop self-policing, which makes the place worse, which prompts more people to stop self-policing and more reasonable people to leave, which makes the place worse, which … ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/280 "2022-10-29T12:11:30Z")
> [@naita](#): > > which makes the place worse, which prompts more people to stop self-policing and more reasonable people to leave, which makes the place worse, which … Which ends up with a Nazi bar. > [@leahcim](#): > > Me thinks that Elon just learned that a lot of the demand for “standards” comes from the advertisers, not from liberal activists. As much as the far-right spent on putting pro-Putin ads on the World Series, Musk may be able to tap into the revenue stream that approves of the hate and fascism that he is encouraging. Probably a lot less lucrative than Adidas and Skechers and such, but then, the platform will probably cost less to run with the significantly reduced userbase. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=15)