# 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:** 216
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4304 "2023-04-14T12:53:22Z")
Opinion piece in the NY Times by Farhad Manjoo: “[Twitter is Broken. Thanks, Elon](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/opinion/elon-musk-twitter.html?unlocked_article_code=NPil7_yvkVkOI-SG2i21Bw83VnCzVUjoXObwns3Obmmo1NHm4aJfPS_T3CPOAl_kSVzNGUmz4F_JPtQOfQxf2KeGfTJbJLe59QIAnzYpjggQibjgzsgi_DU2y5nrTHy4x3dlJS8m2a2ttIM1naKn0F0kRb9LncelEBlwTr921EAbIJGRjttTghKKQfdsEabzgDWqLBFlnBzg5ZLYIE47wgl9HYO81j9C0EBQalzN-FfR1ErjwGEqeICAEtcNhPTzgnBcd-w9i37DkmKyqGsgJw_WP0IN1crxu4Ez85E7sFJmeyg6uJqbEprkAlhjdfPEfQRXX-e9WeNJ7EM&giftCopy=1_CurrentCopy&smid=url-share).” (Gift link) A well-written summary of how Musk has ruined Twitter, including this excellent opener: > About six months ago, Elon Musk bought your favorite neighborhood bar. Then he [fired](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/technology/elon-musk-twitter-takeover.html) veteran bouncers and bartenders, tried to [stiff the landlord](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-01-24/twitter-lawsuits-unpaid-rents-us-uk) and at least one [vendor](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/musk-delayed-paying-twitters-amazon-cloud-bill-sparking-ad-threat?rc=vtez6y), and demanded [that regulars pay a cover charge](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/03/technology/twitter-blue-check-elon-musk.html). He’s [frequently](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/08/elon-musk-broke-twitter/) [struggled](https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/2/16/23603155/elon-musk-twitter-worse-degrading-quality-glitches-superbowl-boost-feed) to [serve his customers](https://futurism.com/the-byte/twitter-accidentally-made-users-secret-nudes-public), yet he’s [penalized](https://on.substack.com/p/directrelationships) them for mentioning the competition. He’s tamped down the revelry in general, really — a lot of conversation at his watering hole has been drowned out by Musk’s own never-ending stage act, which consists mainly of him yelling dad jokes at customers [through a bullhorn](https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/14/23600358/elon-musk-tweets-algorithm-changes-twitter). He argues that Twitter has lost/is losing its cultural relevance/centrality (to which I can only say: hooray!). > More than that, Twitter under Musk appears to have lost the thing that made it impossible to quit: Its centrality. The site was once the most consequential place online, not just a disseminator of breaking news and commentary, but something like an arbiter. At its cultural peak, from about 2015 to perhaps 2020, what people talked about on Twitter seemed to set the agenda for discussions elsewhere. Even last year, it still mattered: After years of mismanagement and glacial innovation, Twitter, on the eve of Musk’s reign, was still the one place to visit when anything big happened anywhere. > > Whatever Twitter is now, it is no longer that venue. Cultural relevance is difficult to quantify, but you know it when you feel it. And now, when something’s going down, Twitter rarely feels like the place where everyone is gathering to watch. > > I noticed this when Donald Trump was arraigned. Trump, the most powerful tweeter the world has ever known, a man whose every typo could send Twitter into [paroxysms of easy dunks](https://www.mediaite.com/news/why-is-lier-trending-because-trump-aced-his-cognitive-test-but-misspelled-liar/), appeared in court and Twitter was, as Vox’s Shirin Ghaffary put it, “[a snoozefest](https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/4/5/23671478/donald-trump-arrest-twitter-arraignment-social-media).” C’mon death spiral, I’m rooting for you! ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4305 "2023-04-14T13:17:42Z")
Honestly, I would almost consider him a hero if he had done this intentionally. Now that would be a 20,000 feet in the air, 54D chess kind of move. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4306 "2023-04-14T13:46:58Z")
And at the cost of tens of billions of dollars of his personal fortune, as well as his good name and reputation. Such an amazing sacrifice. Or, maybe he has just fully unleashed his troll-nature and his denialism will make him ride it all the way down. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4307 "2023-04-14T14:24:11Z")
Agile sacrifice! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4308 "2023-04-14T14:42:07Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Or, maybe he has just fully unleashed his troll-nature and his denialism will make him ride it all the way down. Well done Tweetle Dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4309 "2023-04-14T16:22:55Z")
> [@digs](#): > > So, anything new on Elon? > > Or The Social Media Platform Previously Known As Twitter? He disappeared Fubuki’s verification mark. Now he’s definitely going to hell. > **[Fubuki Started Crying When She Found Out Her Twitter Verified Mark...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_9XY6C_7Xk%2F)** > > 【Source】@ShirakamiFubuki 【グロ注意】DEAD SPACE REMAKE　＃６【ホロライブ/白上フブキ】https://youtu.be/pCoPSciG-7c【ED】https://youtu.be/bx0hSfF2v2Uhttps://youtu.be/oKuhRPtwm9MI am ... ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4310 "2023-04-14T18:21:26Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > More evidence that Elmo is delusional. Check out the chart below to see how much PBS and NPR are “government funded” compared to public broadcasting in the rest of the world. Nitpick: To be fair, just on the basis of demographics one would expect most countries with smaller populations (like Norway with \<6 million people and Switzerland with \<9 million) to spend more per capita on public broadcasting than the US with \>330 million people. One broadcast can reach a hundred million people as well as a hundred thousand, and both Norway and the US have only 24 hours in a day to broadcast in, so the same amount and quality of broadcasting is inevitably going to be cheaper per capita for Americans than Norwegians. That said, it must be admitted that the correlation between population size and per capita spending in your graph varies wildly, so clearly there are important factors other than basic demographics in play here. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4311 "2023-04-14T18:32:47Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > One broadcast can reach a hundred million people as well as a hundred thousand NPR has individual stations that are more or less independent. There are some requirements for flying the NPR banner, but most programming decisions are made and paid for at the local level. A single broadcast is generally only going to reach a couple million at most. From what they have said in their fund drives, most of that federal money actually goes to stations that are in areas that are too sparse to support an NPR station. So cutting funding wouldn’t affect most of NPR’s operations, but it would reduce their reach into rural communities. Which of course is likely the whole point. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4312 "2023-04-14T18:37:32Z")
I caught some highlights of Elon’s interview on the BBC, and boy, what a missed opportunity for the BBC. A mix of softball questions followed by embarrassingly fumbling anything approaching a tough question. For example, look at how badly the issue of hate speech was raised: [Elon Musk's Car Crash Interview With British Journalist! - YouTube](https://youtu.be/nDq5glmU_c4?t=30) So yes, I’m including the BBC in this pitting. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2023, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4313 "2023-04-14T19:38:14Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Nitpick: To be fair, just on the basis of demographics one would expect most countries with smaller populations (like Norway with \<6 million people and Switzerland with \<9 million) to spend more per capita on public broadcasting than the US with \>330 million people. It’s a valid point, but does it account for why Norway and Switzerland spend $180 and $164 per capita and the US spends $3? Does it account for why, in the US alone AFAIK, public broadcasting has to go begging to viewers and corporations, figuratively standing on the corner like a hobo with hat in hand trying to collect spare change? Even in Canada, with an embarrassingly low $33 per capita, CBC Television and CBC Radio (and the website) are self-sufficient. CBC Television admittedly went to a commercial model to stay viable because of high production costs, but CBC Radio remains high quality and commercial-free, and never has to beg for donations. The relevant point, at any rate, is that Elmo is delusional because PBS and NPR get proportionately very little money from the government. And contrary to the claims of conservative lunatics both in the US and in Canada, the government has exactly zero influence over any purported ideology of public broadcasters. The reality is that conservative lunatics like Elmo and Trump hate them because they tell the unvarnished truth. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4314 "2023-04-14T19:51:54Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I caught some highlights of Elon’s interview on the BBC, and boy, what a missed opportunity for the BBC. A mix of softball questions followed by embarrassingly fumbling anything approaching a tough question These days “hard-hitting” is not something to expect from anyone at the Beeb when dealing with anyone likely to hit back. The chill has been on for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4315 "2023-04-14T20:49:18Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > I’m really glad journalistic resources are being spent on answering the important questions like: Why the hell is Elon Musk so goddamn unfunny? (I mean the above sentence entirely non-ironically btw) I agree! I don’t doubt Elon’s narcissism makes it impossible to ignore anything written about him, so any time spent writing about what an unfunny shitwad he is would be time well spent. If we work together we can make him feel so bad he explodes in a giant fireball like one of his shitty cars. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2023, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4316 "2023-04-14T21:00:20Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Does it account for why, in the US alone AFAIK, public broadcasting has to go begging to viewers and corporations, figuratively standing on the corner like a hobo with hat in hand trying to collect spare change? It’s because we want those totes. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4317 "2023-04-14T21:25:49Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > It’s because we want those totes. In my case it’s a couple of t-shirts and a coffee mug. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4318 "2023-04-14T21:55:11Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@Atamasama](#): > > > > I don’t think my local NPR station is leaving unfortunately. This is their statement > > They have. I was going to complain yesterday that Oregon Public Broadcasting, the NPR affiliate down here, was still tweeting up a storm. Evidently Musk doesn’t realize they are “government funded”, so their accounts don’t have a label. But a few hours later, [OPB announced they are indefinitely pausing their presence as well.](https://www.opb.org/pressroom/opb-statement-our-activity-on-twitter/) > Many journalists and news organizations joined Twitter over the years to participate in a free-flowing environment of shared information and discourse, resulting in illuminating conversations that were not happening on other platforms. A series of seemingly arbitrary decisions by Twitter, along with its apparent disregard for the norms of journalism in America, now threatens to undermine our credibility and mission if we continue to use the platform as we have in the past. Here’s hoping it becomes a groundswell. ---
**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:** [April 15, 2023, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4319 "2023-04-15T03:07:22Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > These days “hard-hitting” is not something to expect from anyone at the Beeb when dealing with anyone likely to hit back. The chill has been on for a while. It depends on the interviewer. I find Razia Iqbal generally does a pretty good job of holding peoples feet to the fire. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4320 "2023-04-15T10:56:39Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > It’s because we want those totes. You’re almost right. Public Broadcasting is actually a giant government-run socialized tote bag program. ---
**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:** [April 15, 2023, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4321 "2023-04-15T12:18:07Z")
Reporters also have to balance access. Their interviewees aren’t subpoenaed, they are there entirely voluntarily. If a reporter does “hard-hitting” reporting, then the people they want to “hit hard” simply refuse to appear. It’s a self selection bias. Anyone that is going to hold a politicians feet to the fire simply isn’t going to get the opportunity. The reason you only see reporters who lob softballs is because those are the only ones that they will agree to be on. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4322 "2023-04-15T13:23:59Z")
But lobbing softballs is basically shilling, isn’t it? You’re giving the subject air time in exchange for what? ---
**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:** [April 15, 2023, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4323 "2023-04-15T13:38:44Z")
Having any access at all. I’m not saying that good journalists should or do lob softballs. I’m saying that politicians that don’t want to answer hard questions don’t accept interviews from good journalists. They can always find _someone_ willing to, as you say, “shill” for them. Back when there were 3 TV stations, if a politician wanted to get any access to the public, they had to accept the terms of the journalist. Refusing to answer or lying would get them cut off. There were plenty of politicians to choose from, and not that much air time to go around. Now the politician is the one with the choice of venue, and the politician is able to set the terms of the interview. If the journalist doesn’t like it, there are plenty of other news outlets that would be happy to treat them with kid gloves in order to fill their 24 hour news cycle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=215) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=217)