# 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:** 61
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1201 "2022-11-18T03:28:24Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That’s hilarious, as are the [stories](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/17/technology/twitter-elon-musk-ftc.html?unlocked_article_code=Es5bC7Y4L08vpsBnZ_dRSv9as0W7HLmbqmC26pof5BWLSV47g_y7GUuKj3MiAZ0Q8EYwBD5E5Jat2UyyaaMJywnGgCqkveZl21DkiDLuEyFOfAqwajITEByRcFMM5qDjt1MPr4dSbGtnaX8eIvVwxEBfzEIvHrNX81yTYKXZScZTc5tmT2-Ch20BKsgabUuL5RLxzPizdUCFEcDaz1FNwh2G2e1ATWMOHVZNhmzt4JodHVB8yWIdoRtMpDocrdMkN2iE9EPGdn3Y2mYQBPWphljwcXgqQgpa-4V9DzJK4z-b3kSf3aUyfBVQR4Heq1kHiHOK70LiRM0lYthULwGsxA&smid=share-url) (gift link) that hundreds of employees took him up on his offer of three months of severance if they chose to leave, so that he’s trying to talk some people out of leaving. From the article: > [@](#): > > After Mr. Musk asked workers to decide whether to stay or go, employees were provided with an F.A.Q. document about exit packages on Wednesday. The F.A.Q., which was viewed by The Times, opened by saying [Mr. Musk’s ultimatum](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/technology/elon-musk-twitter-employee-deadline.html) was an “official company communication” and “not a phishing attempt.” > > “As you have seen, Twitter is at the beginning of an exciting journey,” the document read. > > **The F.A.Q. added that employees would have to “maximize working from an office” and “work the hours necessary to do your job at the highest level,” including early mornings, late nights and weekends.** Yeah, I want me some of that ! ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1202 "2022-11-18T03:52:35Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > I wonder if he can even afford the total burden of that buyout, or maybe it’ll just get folded into the myriad creditors he’ll owe when he takes it Chapter 11. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BbPiIwFOQtU/maxresdefault.jpg "Some men just want to watch the world burn.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbPiIwFOQtU) Stranger ---
**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:** [November 18, 2022, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1203 "2022-11-18T03:55:01Z")
You know it’s bad when even CNN is running a headline story about a “mass exodus” … > **[Twitter employees head for the exits after Elon Musk's 'extremely hardcore'...](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/17/tech/twitter-employees-ultimatum-deadline/index.html)** > > Another employee exodus appears to be underway at Twitter as many workers rejected Elon Musk's terms for staying with the company, choosing instead to depart, according to multiple current and former employees. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2022, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1204 "2022-11-18T04:03:46Z")
> > ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1205 "2022-11-18T04:04:01Z")
It was pretty obvious that Musk was going to burn Twitter to the ground. He was likely just trying to manipulate the markets via Twitter as he had done before and drive the price to $54.20 when he would then sell his stake, and then pay a fine that would be vastly less than any profit. I don’t think he expected Twitter to say “Ummm … sure.” But I am absolutely stunned that he’s managed to burn it to the ground so fast. If there wasn’t so much money at stake, then I could almost believe he was doing it on purpose for the “lulz.” ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1206 "2022-11-18T04:18:01Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > How many Scaramuccis has it been since Musk bought the company? It’s been exactly half a Truss if that helps. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2022, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1207 "2022-11-18T04:25:13Z")
I’m becoming worried about people who actually depend on Twitter for serious business or personal endeavours. It’s really vulnerable right now to any random glitch in any of its systems, and there’s no sign that it’s going to get any better any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1208 "2022-11-18T04:35:26Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > He was likely just trying to manipulate the markets via Twitter as he had done before and drive the price to $54.20 when he would then sell his stake, and then pay a fine that would be vastly less than any profit. I’ll admit that I originally thought this was his plan, but I was wrong. He had the chance to sell and walk away, but he didn’t. I think he sincerely likes the idea of harnessing his wealth to make a huge bet on a prominent service like Twitter. I bet he found the idea of personally owning Twitter irresistible. He relishes making fast, bold, aggressive decisions and cleaning up the mess later. He has bought into the moonshot mindset – the fail fast mindset. This isn’t an endorsement of his actions. The most generous interpretation of his management of Twitter is that he vastly, vastly overpaid for it. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1209 "2022-11-18T04:41:04Z")
Twitter’s entire tax department is gone? I wonder if I should tell my boss I’m thinking of joining them to lead their tax department. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2022, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1210 "2022-11-18T04:52:35Z")
Remember that no matter how attractive the opportunity may seem, you’d be working for Elno! [![](https://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20151017/rs_1024x759-151117145806-1024.elmo.ls.111212.jpg?fit=around%7C1024:759&output-quality=90&crop=1024:759;center,top) ](https://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20151017/rs_1024x759-151117145806-1024.elmo.ls.111212.jpg?fit=around%7C1024:759&output-quality=90&crop=1024:759;center,top) ---
**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:** [November 18, 2022, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1211 "2022-11-18T05:27:33Z")
> The scroll goes on to call him a “dictator’s asskisser, lawless oligarch, insecure colonizer, cruel hoarder,” and my favorite, “space Karen.” ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1212 "2022-11-18T05:50:06Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > But I am absolutely stunned that he’s managed to burn it to the ground so fast. If there wasn’t so much money at stake, then I could almost believe he was doing it on purpose for the “lulz.” This whole delicious trainwreck is like an Ayn Rand novel rewritten by Philip K. Dick. Any moment now Elon is going to drop some acid and fall through a portal into a new alternate reality into a post-apocalyptic world where billionaires are hunted for sport by eight foot tall women riding zebra-striped hippopotamuses and worship a giant orbital platform housing one node of a panpsychic consciousness known as “Billy Wayfarer”. > [@wolfpup](#): > > I’m becoming worried about people who actually depend on Twitter for serious business or personal endeavours. It’s really vulnerable right now to any random glitch in any of its systems, and there’s no sign that it’s going to get any better any time soon. If you hitched your professional wagon to Twitter then you bet on a bad pony. Twitter has been a raging dumpster fire long before Musk got it into his head that he should start fucking around with it for yucks, and as far as I can tell it is pretty much good for spreading lies, innuendo, stupid memes, and filling up the pages of [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) stories where they post the tweet and then repeat it exactly word for word to take up space so it doesn’t look like their ‘news’ site is just a dashboard of scammy ads. The sooner Twitter is roasted the better, although I dread what will follow that may be even worse. The singular thing I will miss is [the meme page to check every time Matlab crashes](https://twitter.com/memecrashes/status/1381314211024924686), and really that just illustrates why you should stop using Matlab and build a better toolkit of data analysis and visualization tools. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1213 "2022-11-18T06:03:26Z")
Elon’s biggest talent has always been lying and getting away with crimes. > ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1214 "2022-11-18T06:09:45Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > as far as I can tell it is pretty much good for spreading lies, innuendo, stupid memes, and filling up the pages of [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) stories In addition to being a decent news aggregator it is particularly useful for minute by minute breaking news, like for example during the election or more seriously during some fast-moving recent events like some of the California wildfires. One could certainly argue that its drawbacks outweighs its utility, but it certainly isn’t entirely negative. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1215 "2022-11-18T06:15:53Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > But I am absolutely stunned that he’s managed to burn it to the ground so fast. Let ‘em tweet cake. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1216 "2022-11-18T06:16:43Z")
Yeah, the #TwitterFire community was a lifeline as the Thomas Fire approached and we had to evacuate. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1217 "2022-11-18T06:52:49Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > In addition to being a decent news aggregator it is particularly useful for minute by minute breaking news, like for example during the election or more seriously during some fast-moving recent events like some of the California wildfires. “Information” is not necessarily news, particularly when it is _dis_information, or meaningless nonsense pushed to the top of the pool like whipped cream on a Mocha Frappuccino. Twitter has been shown to be more effective as a means for transmitting violent rhetoric, conspiranoia, and general shit-stirring than it has for any truthful purpose. And while it is certainly not the only social media platform to do so, the ‘short form’ format with videos or meme images makes it literally neurologically addictive, like a slot machine that you keep updated to get another hit of recreational outrage. It is impossible to moderate or effectively fact-check because of the speed of ‘retweets’, which makes it perfect for people like Elon Musk who don’t truck with anyone correcting him with truth. Stranger ---
**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:** [November 18, 2022, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1218 "2022-11-18T06:54:52Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > One could certainly argue that its drawbacks outweighs its utility, but it certainly isn’t entirely negative. Agree. It’s not the first time I’ve said this, but I would argue that, without Twitter, Derek Chauvin doesn’t get arrested for murdering George Floyd, let alone charged and convicted. When Twitter goes dark in a few days or weeks, we’ll be without any realistic channel for attracting media coverage to video-captured incidents of police misconduct, and the corporate news will breathe a sigh of relief that they won’t be forced to talk about things they’d rather ignore because they’re complicated and hard and controversial. This is not a defense of Twitter. In the balance sheet of bullshit to actual value, I think it’s tipped far to the bullshit side. But the other side is not a vacuum. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1219 "2022-11-18T06:59:54Z")
I don’t buy that it being short form is the issue. It just feels like any other comment section. No, the addictive nature comes from its “For You” feed which pops up by default (and you can’t even switch out of if you’re not on mobile). It deliberately finds what stuff you engage with most. My solution was to force it not to do that with a script. It now directs me to the Entertainment category, rather than telling me about every conservative who says something stupid. Though it does often have Elmo in the list, meaning I see some of the drama that gets mentioned in this thread. But that’s pretty easy not to engage with. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2022, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1220 "2022-11-18T08:09:15Z")
Damnit, I just use it to keep abreast of musical events in my area. Not for anything political. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=60) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=62)