# 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:** 200
**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:** [March 26, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3984 "2023-03-26T02:46:50Z")
Elmo says Twitter is worth less than half of what he bought it for, which either means he managed to piss away tens of billions of valuation in six months, or he grossly overpaid for the site. Agile capital destruction! > **[Elon Musk Values Twitter at $20 Billion, Less Than Half His Purchase Price](https://www.thewrap.com/elon-musk-values-twitter-20-billion-half-purchase-price/)** > > The Tesla founder paid $44 billion for the platform in October ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3985 "2023-03-26T03:07:23Z")
In all honesty, I think he’s trying to anchor the market to a higher number than it might be worth. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3986 "2023-03-26T05:06:44Z")
Yeah, I doubt it’s worth $20 billion at the moment. Sounds like a mini-pump’n’dump. He’s decided to take a sizable hit (no choice, really) but thinks he can get other people to subsidize part of his own stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3987 "2023-03-26T07:15:10Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > which either means he managed to piss away tens of billions of valuation in six months, or he grossly overpaid for the site. Why couldn’t it be both? Elmo is a multitasker with multiple skillz! > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > In all honesty, I think he’s trying to anchor the market to a higher number than it might be worth. I wouldn’t doubt it, but there’s currently no market for Twitter shares, and it’s hard to imagine any private investor stupid enough to buy out some portion of Elmo’s holdings at this point. Except maybe at a very steep discount far below book value and on the conditions that Elmo step down immediately and that the company go public and establish a competent board of directors of which Elmo would NOT be a part. The hard reality seems to be that he got himself cornered into the position where he was forced to buy it at a grossly inflated price, proceeded to shit all over it, and now he’s left with the near-worthless steaming pile that he created. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3988 "2023-03-26T08:25:41Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > (because LOL APRIL FOOLS), meaning that after that date it will be completely safe to block anyone with a checkmark. “I just blue Twitter” – Tobias Musk. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3989 "2023-03-27T00:10:54Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > I think the model to use to understand Musk’s attitude regarding Twitter is that he’s playing Sim-CEO. You know how after a while playing a sim you decide to say launch a Gozilla attack on your city or take away the ladder while one of your sims is swimming, just see what happens? That’s Musk’s view of Twitter. I have been saying this for a while now. Long before Musk was ever on the Twitter board, he saw Twitter shitposting as a game that he wanted to win. He couldn’t do it via skill, so he bought the company. Of course he’d _prefer_ for Twitter to become wildly profitable, for him to add “social media savior” to his resume. But those are just extra game achievements. On the day that Twitter goes bankrupt, he’ll lie back in his bed with a smile on his face, and think to himself “At least I finally finished that goddamned game.” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3990 "2023-03-27T15:08:43Z")
Has anyone mentioned that it will be a thou a month for companies to get a checkmark? > **[Firms say Musk's $1,000 a month for Twitter checkmarks is 'outlandish'](https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-say-elon-musk-plan-charge-twitter-checkmark-outlandish-2023-3?amp)** > > Twitter is under fire for plans to make organizations pay large sums to be verified. One company cofounder said it makes the checkmark "meaningless." ---
**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:** [March 27, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3991 "2023-03-27T15:28:52Z")
That’s only twenty bucks a foot. A bargain! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3992 "2023-03-27T15:51:28Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [Firms Say Musk's $1,000 a Month for Twitter Checkmarks Is 'Outlandish'](https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-say-elon-musk-plan-charge-twitter-checkmark-outlandish-2023-3?amp) It verifies that someone has $1,000/month, and that’s all that matters in this world, right? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3993 "2023-03-27T17:49:57Z")
Well, it verifies that someone has at least $1000 a month worth of more money than brains, and that’s always good to know, especially if you’re a Nigerian prince. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3994 "2023-03-27T17:55:08Z")
The main thing for me, and I know it’s been mentioned before, but I won’t trust any checkmarks now, if all you need to do to get one is pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3995 "2023-03-27T23:30:21Z")
Precisely, and that destroys the entire reason for Twitter’s existence. The whole point of Twitter is that you get to read, and even have conversations with, real people : Real celebrities, real sportspeople, real company spokespeople, etc. I’m still on Twitter a lot because my feed is curated to those accounts I have known for awhile and can trust. Following new accounts might be problematic. ---
**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:** [March 28, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3996 "2023-03-28T01:43:36Z")
Elmo has decided to make it even easier for us to find out who to block. > ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3997 "2023-03-28T09:20:43Z")
I have to give Elmo credit for one thing, at least. Profitability being the difference between what it costs to provide goods or services and what you charge for them, charging $1000 a month for something that costs exactly nothing to produce is quite an attractive business proposition. Although I seem to recall Elmo’s sole remaining marketing dude (probably fired by now) mentioning other benefits besides a tiny picture of a blue checkmark. I think you were entitled to receive Special Offers suggesting even more ways that you can be parted from your money. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3998 "2023-03-28T11:21:03Z")
Wait… he’s generating INFINITE profit with the blue check marks??? Well, I take it all back, he is a genius. All hail my new God, Elon Musk! (Agile conversion) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3999 "2023-03-28T16:34:02Z")
Nice of him to admit the site is now increasingly overrun by bots and that Twitter are struggling to contain them. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4000 "2023-03-28T16:38:54Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Nice of him to admit the site is now increasingly overrun by bots and that Twitter are struggling to contain them. Agile failure! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4001 "2023-03-28T17:08:14Z")
More like Agile Bots! ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4002 "2023-03-28T18:20:17Z")
Of course the problem isn’t the presence of bots, the problem is that the Bots aren’t giving him money. But with the new Blue Checkmarks people can get their spam bots fast tracked to the masses. The second problem is that polls keep giving the wrong answer. They keep saying obviously incorrect things, like that Blue Checkmarks are a stupid idea, and that he’s doing a lousy job as CEO. By restricting the polls to only those who think Blue Checkmarks are a swell idea he’ll get answer much more in tune with his approved reality. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4003 "2023-03-28T19:26:03Z")
Literal tears. 🤣 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=199) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=201)