# 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:** 408
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8146 "2023-12-13T01:24:30Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > …putting a zipper in pants and calling them Jack Off Pants? Or better yet just doing what [Bob](https://youtu.be/N2GVjygUKNw?t=1257) does. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8147 "2023-12-13T01:24:54Z")
I’m not sure that Xitter users are the best target market for the Jack Off Pants. A low-cost alternative for Elmo’s faithful basement-dwelling acolytes is to not wear any pants at all. So I predict a grim future for Elmo’s distinguished new advertiser, though Yaccarino is to be applauded for at least bringing the Jack Off Pants interests on board and convincing them to give advertising a shot. In other news, here in Canada several of our largest advertisers including the national’s largest media conglomerate have announced that they’re withdrawing all advertising from Xitter. > **[Bell Media, Angus Reid and other Canadian brands halt ads on X amid extremism...](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canadian-brands-advertising-x-extremism-1.7055823)** > > Canadian advertisers are joining U.S. brands that are reconsidering their relationship with X, formerly Twitter, as hateful content has proliferated on the social media platform since it was bought by Elon Musk in October 2022. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8148 "2023-12-13T01:43:27Z")
Well, we all know what they can do. I’m sure there is another high end company like the one that makes the aforementioned pants to take their places. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8149 "2023-12-13T03:24:21Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > That said, Musk can afford a billion or two per year indefinitely if he’s serious. You can’t shut down Twitter by starving it. And the user base is remarkably stable - only down something like 5% since 2019, and it’s been growing again recently. Musk gets an awful lot of free publicity, and so does Twitter by association. Just thought I’d drop this here. > **[Could X go bankrupt under Elon Musk?](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67599937)** > > Musk's profane attack on advertisers baffled experts - without adverts, how would X survive? > For a company he bought for $44bn (£35bn) last year, bankruptcy might sound unthinkable. But it is possible. > > To understand why, you have to look at how reliant X is on advertising revenue - and why advertisers are not coming back. > > Although we don’t have the latest figures, last year around 90% of X’s revenue was from advertising. It is the heart of the business. > > On Wednesday Musk more than hinted at this. > > “If the company fails… it will fail because of an advertiser boycott. And that will be what bankrupts the company.” he said. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8150 "2023-12-13T04:40:56Z")
And it just goes to show how little he still understands about the business. Twitter/X has always been an advertising platform, at least in terms of how it made money. When your business relies on advertising of course you will go bankrupt if advertisers don’t advertise. This shouldn’t be some kind of revelation. That said, yeah, why use your own money to prop up a failing business? He’ll let it fail and go on to the “real” X or however he spins it. I can’t see an “everything” app succeeding in the US but whatever. It’s not my billions at stake. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8151 "2023-12-13T04:55:23Z")
Yeah. 4.1 billion in revenue last year, of which 3.5 was advertising. Estimates on different sites vary slightly, but all are pretty close. Musk says they have lost 50% of their advertising revenue. They had recently achieved cash breakeven, but probably not including debt is my guess. Anyway, revenue is then down $1.75 billion. So unless he can find new revenue sources, he faces a cash shortfall of $1.75 billion per year. He could pay that indefinitely, but it would be painful and probably require him to sell shares in his company at various points. He’s definitely got his work cut out for him, but Twitter is not even in the ballpark of failing. The real sogn of failure will be a seriously shrinking daily user count, but that hasn’t happened. Some analysts are predicting a 4-6% decline in users next year, but forecasting what users will do in the future is about as useful as fortune telling. All will depend on the events of the next year. . ---
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8152 "2023-12-13T05:25:42Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Musk says they have lost 50% of their advertising revenue. They had recently achieved cash breakeven, but probably not including debt is my guess. Yes, they said that did not include debt service, but Linda said that she believes they’ll have positive cash flow overall by the back half of 2024. Which is very hard to imagine right now. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8153 "2023-12-13T06:16:57Z")
Not exactly, Linda said they were cash-flow positive if you didn’t count the $1.3 billion a year they were spending servicing the bank loan Elmo took out to buy Twitter. You know, we’re making money except for the fact that we’re spending far, far more servicing the debt we owe than we’re actually netting. But if you exclude that paltry $1.3 billion a year, we’re making money, really. You just have to squint your eyes the right way. Oh, and that was before Elmo’s advertising income went into the toilet because for some odd reason advertisers don’t want to be associated with a man spouting antisemitism left and right and promoting the Great Replacement Theory. Oh yeah, that and placing their ads next to full blown neo-Nazis and Deep State conspiracy spouting lunatics like Alex Jones. Yes, damn those bastard advertisers for stifling Elmo’s free speech absolutism. Let’s see what the Earth thinks when Elmo has to have Twitter declare bankruptcy. He certainly won’t care; I mean he’ll be on his Mars colony by then. I hear according to his publicly laid out plans, he’s already sent men to Mars years ago. Wait, let me check my notes on that. Oops, sorry, it seems he still hasn’t sent an unmanned mission to mars, much less a manned one. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8154 "2023-12-13T06:25:00Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Musk says they have lost 50% of their advertising revenue. And what a stable, reliable, and transparently honest fellow he is, too. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8155 "2023-12-13T07:17:36Z")
Tesla legally argues against the State of California, asserting that it has the Constitutional right to engage in false and misleading advertising. > **[Tesla claims California false-advertising law violates First Amendment](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/tesla-fights-autopilot-false-advertising-claim-with-free-speech-argument/)** > > Tesla fights DMV complaint that Autopilot is falsely advertised as autonomous. Musk’s obsession with throwing off any restraints on his speech continues. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8156 "2023-12-13T13:51:19Z")
Tesla recall. The regulatory buzzards are circling Elon! [https://www.axios.com/2023/12/13/tesla-recall-2023-autopilot-software-check](https://www.axios.com/2023/12/13/tesla-recall-2023-autopilot-software-check) > **Details:** The recall was disclosed [in a letter](https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2023/RCAK-23V838-3395.pdf) to the company from NHSTA. > > - The letter said Tesla will soon issue a free software update to limit the drivers’ ability to use the company’s Autosteer feature if they repeatedly fail to demonstrate they are in control of the car while using the feature. > - “In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, and the driver does not maintain responsibility for vehicle operation and is unprepared to intervene as necessary or fails to recognize when Autosteer is canceled or not engaged, there may be an increased risk of a crash,” the NHSTA said. > - The software recall affects all models Y, S, 3 and X produced between October 2012 and December 2023. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8157 "2023-12-13T16:01:36Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The real sogn of failure will be a seriously shrinking daily user count, but that hasn’t happened. If, at some time in the future xttter consists of lots of users (and bots) posting racist antisemitic crap and small time advertisers selling jack-off pants and fake gold nuggets… Where will the revenue come from? There will be no income. It would not matter if there were 10 billion “users”, if these users are not paying the freight. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8158 "2023-12-13T17:09:37Z")
Cannot think of a more agile recall than recalling all vehicles manufactured for the past 11 years: > > **[Tesla recalls nearly all vehicles sold in US to fix system that monitors...](https://apnews.com/article/tesla-autopilot-recall-driver-monitoring-system-8060508627a34e6af889feca46eb3002)** > > The recall comes after a two-year investigation into a series of crashes that happened while the Autopilot partially automated driving system was in use. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8159 "2023-12-13T17:23:47Z")
Apparently an over the air software update. That’s pretty agile, to be fair ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8160 "2023-12-13T17:40:05Z")
Will they be doing an over-the-air update to their marketing, or will they keep promising a degree of automation they’re going to be even less able to deliver? ---
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8161 "2023-12-13T17:41:40Z")
Well, as above, they’re suing to be allowed to essentially keep lying about their capabilities, so … 🤷‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8162 "2023-12-13T17:42:21Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > [https://www.axios.com/2023/12/13/tesla-recall-2023-autopilot-software-check](https://www.axios.com/2023/12/13/tesla-recall-2023-autopilot-software-check) > > > - The letter said Tesla will soon issue a free software update to limit the drivers’ ability to use the company’s Autosteer feature if they repeatedly fail to demonstrate they are in control of the car while using the feature. I can never tell if I should laugh or cry whenever I see software companies use that line - “free software update” to describe the patch that they’re releasing to fix their buggy-ass program. Yes, Tesla is generously releasing a free software update to help ensure that their software doesn’t get the driver killed rather than trying to charge you extra for it. What a generous company. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8163 "2023-12-13T17:47:46Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > Yes, Tesla is generously releasing a free software update to help ensure that their software doesn’t get the driver killed rather than trying to charge you extra for it. What a generous company. To be fair, my non-Tesla cars can’t do over-the-air updates. Any change in the software requires making an appointment with a dealership, then bringing the car in and waiting two-hours while they fiddle with it. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8164 "2023-12-13T18:13:08Z")
ISTM there’s no bug here. Currently, Autosteer expects some driver attention. At least resting your hand on the wheel. If no indication of driver attention is detected for X seconds, there’s a warning tone and the car kicks you out of Autosteer and into normal cruise control. The driver can then put the car back into Autosteer, if desired. I didn’t read the article, but it sounds like the recall will disable Autosteer for drivers who repeatedly exhibit a lack of attention. I’m ok with that. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/8165 "2023-12-13T18:23:54Z")
I don’t know why, but this all reminds me of an old Dilbert cartoon, where someone tells the pointy-haired boss something like “While he was talking smack about you behind your back, I was applying a layer of invisible protectant to your car”… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=407) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=409)