# 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:** 248
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4944 "2023-05-25T18:13:05Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Elmo may be able to recover but now it’s an uphill battle. He can’t even claim that the servers were sunk by massive traffic When has truth ever stopped the right from claiming anything? ---
**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:** [May 25, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4945 "2023-05-25T18:21:03Z")
Right, if it had crashed because 50 million people tried to tune in at once, that’d be good for DeSantis’s campaign and would be reasonable for twitter. When it can’t handle a fairly light load compared to other streaming services that do far more, it doesn’t look good for twitter, nor for the person who had a fairly small audience for his presidential campaign launch. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4946 "2023-05-25T18:33:46Z")
Make no mistake, streaming audio and video is a solved problem online. There are very mature stress-tested systems in place to make streaming a seamless process, all it takes are resources. Musk shut down a Twitter data center. He stopped paying the bills for AWS coverage. He laid off the teams that work to ensure problems like this don’t happen. He failed to do any prep for what was surely going to be a high-traffic event. He did everything wrong and demonstrated to the world that Twitter Spaces is not a desirable venue. Calling this a success because people tuned in is like calling Woodstock '99 a success because 220,000 people showed up. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4947 "2023-05-25T18:51:30Z")
It’s very reminiscent of Trump bragging about tens of thousands of people showing up to his rallies when it’s obvious the venues aren’t even half full and have a capacity of less than 5000, much less tens of thousands Obvious to the sane, but the boasts aren’t remotely the flexes these idiots think they are ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4948 "2023-05-25T19:00:12Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Twitter: Elon’s Playhouse [![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ll414/mdfoulger/Edgewiser_Grinning_Elon_Musk_standing_in_Peewee_Hermans_Playhou_939c028a-c60a-42bc-8c45-e9ee481b1991.png) ](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ll414/mdfoulger/Edgewiser_Grinning_Elon_Musk_standing_in_Peewee_Hermans_Playhou_939c028a-c60a-42bc-8c45-e9ee481b1991.png) It’s the best I could do off the cuff. For some reason, the white patent leather shoes refused to render. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4949 "2023-05-25T19:31:09Z")
👏 🥂 👏 ---
**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:** [May 25, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4950 "2023-05-25T19:45:55Z")
> > ---
**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:** [May 25, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4951 "2023-05-25T20:24:29Z")
Check mate libtards > I know what Sam is getting for Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4952 "2023-05-25T20:26:21Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > ‘DeSantis, struggling to be heard over the sound of his laptop’s fan whirring like a jet engine at takeoff, is talking about how “in some of these urban, woke neighborhoods, you now see kids with these baggy pants.”’ Oh no, not [baggy pants!](https://www.glam.com/1045027/the-oversized-pant-trend-thats-about-to-be-everywhere/) > [@](#): > > In what seems to be an effortless, chic approach, the puddle pant has made its entrance. It is a style that lives up to its name with an oversized feel. The long, slouchy pant’s hemline “puddles” or pools around the foot and the ankle, creating a loose fabric that drags on the floor — the “perfect antidote” to skinny jeans (via Vogue). […] > > Quarantine life led more people to wear baggy tees, baggy pants, or baggy shorts, usually paired with a comfortable shoe. The puddle pants are often worn with comfort in mind. Their oversized, loose fit prioritizes a relaxed feel. As it puddles on the bottom, it is also paired best with a sneaker or a flat kind of shoe to keep the comfort train going. I assume it’s not [Trump’s baggy pants](https://ezrapaul.com/blogs/news/the-real-reason-trump-wears-dumpy-suits) that DeSantis is complaining about here. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4953 "2023-05-25T23:50:41Z")
…Blender is a free, open source 3D Creation Suite, and its trending on Twitter today because people are debating the merits of open-source software and game design. But if you click on the trending topic, or if you type blender into the search box, you get this: [![](https://uc485b3b9eb95c3d232d8b4aead7.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/thumb/AB7PvYLKRBoi-weXF5M8bolR-ETir1CbgNigRH3jBfZFlaeOwaQXbV9pxuLXeHlkExpNww8oDKmSrjaDalM3V4oHdkEM-PpevSZPbOig3IflJhzKgQenjepjyBxGDLZlq_hlOyWunEYwhEVImwyE7tK99b_4E4YuKtlIgg6-o1E_-dmoAkLkl4JtjQrs6ROEmNyCLfu6IqzvIjHf0_xyRJKnR4a2JaAQ2RouzefSyx-tctRn0wRiyfNsD7QfNQZXC8rrJ8SzLKmNIcWN2qWkW9trdQdlrhQ2FX3GX7lTQm6M37rsexN9ZHp33lMs1p-YdOlnagwwS5MLcDIbQmcckqojZeyX2HSOvCC7md1UDOowgD57L0f0jsfTvOR37R8X-023s4wqWI_cvNy_CuPxCKtN/p.png) ](https://uc485b3b9eb95c3d232d8b4aead7.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/thumb/AB7PvYLKRBoi-weXF5M8bolR-ETir1CbgNigRH3jBfZFlaeOwaQXbV9pxuLXeHlkExpNww8oDKmSrjaDalM3V4oHdkEM-PpevSZPbOig3IflJhzKgQenjepjyBxGDLZlq_hlOyWunEYwhEVImwyE7tK99b_4E4YuKtlIgg6-o1E_-dmoAkLkl4JtjQrs6ROEmNyCLfu6IqzvIjHf0_xyRJKnR4a2JaAQ2RouzefSyx-tctRn0wRiyfNsD7QfNQZXC8rrJ8SzLKmNIcWN2qWkW9trdQdlrhQ2FX3GX7lTQm6M37rsexN9ZHp33lMs1p-YdOlnagwwS5MLcDIbQmcckqojZeyX2HSOvCC7md1UDOowgD57L0f0jsfTvOR37R8X-023s4wqWI_cvNy_CuPxCKtN/p.png) Because a few weeks ago, “cat in a blender” was trending (don’t search for this) and Twitter was hosting horrible photos of cats in a blender and it made the news. It looks like in order to fix the problem, they’ve just made it so you can’t search for the word “blender.” Because, one would assume, the health and safety team that used to be able to deal with things like this no longer work there any more. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2023, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4954 "2023-05-26T00:39:59Z")
The FDA has given Elmo permission to do to humans what he did to 1500 lab animals. > **[Elon Musk's Neuralink gets FDA approval for study of brain implants in humans](https://www.reuters.com/science/elon-musks-neuralink-gets-us-fda-approval-human-clinical-study-brain-implants-2023-05-25/?taid=646fefa9c5325a0001dde395&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:%2BTrending%2BContent&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter)** > > Elon Musk's brain-implant company Neuralink on Thursday said it had received a green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to kickstart its first-in-human clinical study, a critical milestone after earlier struggles to gain approval. > **[Musk’s Neuralink faces federal inquiry after killing 1,500 animals in testing](https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/05/neuralink-animal-testing-elon-musk-investigation)** > > Brain-implant company accused of causing needless suffering and deaths amid pressure from CEO ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4955 "2023-05-26T01:21:06Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > No, I didn’t miss the point. I get what you’re saying, and I don’t disagree with you. You missed what _I_ was saying. I just don’t want people to think my analogy meant that I thought Musk or Trump was in any way analogous to McDonald’s food except that they are all things that are lower quality than would seem to warrant their customer / fan base, and that part of the reason for that is relentless, repetitive advertising. I know well that there’s more to a successful marketing campaign than relentless, repetitive advertising. I don’t think that Musk is even trying to do that. I’m just saying that it’s a small factor, and he’s therefore not completely wrong. If you need him to be completely wrong, fine. If you disagree with me, also fine. I just felt that I hadn’t made the point. It’s not an interesting enough one to beat to death, though, so I’ll drop it. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4956 "2023-05-27T12:52:34Z")
> Agile self sabotage ---
**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:** [May 27, 2023, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4957 "2023-05-27T17:40:24Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Firing the staff appears to have been a good thing. Twitter is running fine, and after Musk did his layoffs other tech companies followed suit and laid off huge numbers of employees. It appears that a decade of almost free money caused a huge amount of bloat in Silicon Valley. This comment sure aged well. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4958 "2023-05-27T18:03:31Z")
Yeah, I think it did. I’m sure Musk cut the wrong people in some places, and there will likely be new hiring in the future, but c’mon: Twitter was on an insane hiring spree over the past few years, and had way too many employees. Jack Dorsey even apologized for hiring so many. Had Musk not fired all those people, Twitter would be close to bankruptcy. Musk has made plenty of mistakes. Firing a large percentage of Twitter employees wasn’t one of them. It had to be done. It had to be done throughout Silicon Valley and indeed all the major players have now laid off big percentages of staff. Silicon Valley was bloated by ten years of almost free money, and the party ended after Covid. Before Musk bought Twitter, it had 7500 employees. The year before, it had 5,500. They hired two thousand people in one year. In 2017, Twitter only had 3300 employees. It was running fine then, and had roughly the same features. They clearly overhired, and something had to be done. The nature of takeovers is that when you make large changes you are bound to get some stuff wrong because you don’t have as much knowledge as you’d like, but that’s the price you pay. You cut, and then rehire where you made mistakes. I just went through that. My company closed our office, then realized they still had commitments to customers they needed some of us for, and wound up hiring the same people back on contract for twice the pay. Management is hard. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4959 "2023-05-27T19:05:42Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Management is hard. Is that the most likely explanation? Or is it that _ **competent** _ management is rare (or, in the case of Elmo, non-existent)? This business of laying off employees and replacing them with consultants at twice the price is all too common in business, and so often counterproductive. A friend’s wife got laid off by a big software firm and then hired back as a high-priced consultant. I’m sure someone at the firm got a bonus for this brilliant cost-saving strategy, but last I heard she was in her fifth year doing this, at twice her previous pay. Another large institution I know of made it a practice to bring in specialized consultants whenever they needed expertise for a major project. I know because I was one of them. No doubt managers got kudos and bonuses for staffing their projects with ready-made expertise without the need for in-house training or salary commitments. The result, however, was that they lacked institutionalized knowledge and thus had little technical or cultural continuity; the subject-matter experts generally had no direct experience with earlier initiatives and the unique sociopolitical quirks of the organization. Your attempt to defend Elmo as someone who has made mistakes in a difficult situation at Twitter is pathetic. Elmo doesn’t so much “make” mistakes as much as he basically **IS** a mistake, a sort of animated caricature of management disaster. I can’t think of anything he’s done right at Twitter, beginning with his ill-advised purchase at a laughably inflated price and his comically failed attempts to try to get out of it. ---
**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:** [May 28, 2023, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4960 "2023-05-28T03:12:33Z")
Elmo’s retweeting Nazi quotes again. > ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2023, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4961 "2023-05-28T03:31:14Z")
_Philosophical Dictionary_, _Turner Diaries_, who doesn’t get them confused from time to time? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2023, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4962 "2023-05-28T10:48:26Z")
A certain segment of the, shall we say, “right”(wing)-thinking population, in an attempt to disguise their predilection for racist literature, refer to _The Turner Diaries_ as "Day of the Rope\*. Yeah, it’s not that much of a disguise, though; it’s more like one of those eyeglass frames with fake nose and mustache combinations. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2023, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4963 "2023-05-28T11:58:54Z")
If I’d’ve been at the top of my posting game earlier, I would’ve said “nose and (Hitler) mustache combinations”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=247) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=249)