# 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:** 68
**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 20, 2022, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1341 "2022-11-20T02:49:57Z")
[https://mobile.twitter.com/chadloder/status/1594139381727916033](https://mobile.twitter.com/chadloder/status/1594139381727916033) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1342 "2022-11-20T03:03:09Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > It is a total failure on Mr. Musk’s part in understanding how software is developed in this century. Yeah. I’m going to retire in 4-5 years. There is NO point in teaching javascript, VB, and HTML to the the people that will be developing new systems, or manage my legacy code. None at all. As good as it is (pats self on back) it’s gonna die. We must develop new things to replace it. I keep saying that all the time. But honestly, the new development tools are not quite there yet. Can’t do what I developed. I have genuine respect for the people that I work with, and really care about the help that my code does. If it where to drop off. Umm… :sigh: Shit. I’m going to be a consultant to my workplace forever I think. I care. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1343 "2022-11-20T03:23:24Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > I think the answer to that may lie in that 80% of Twitter traffic that isn’t coming from the US. For lots of less prosperous (but populous) places, cell phones are the primary way many people access the internet. I don’t know what the age demographics are on Twitter, but younger people tend to use phones as their primary as well. Agree about the user demographics. Not relevant to my point however. Every mobile phone that can run an app already has an extra-special general-purpose app called a web browser. Which can go to [www.twitter.com](http://www.twitter.com) and display the very same content. e.g. Google stopping the Twitter app from appearing in their app store in no way impedes any mobile phone user from using Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1344 "2022-11-20T03:25:35Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I suspect it’s no coincidence that Peter Thiel and Elon Musk have common origins in Aparteid South Africa. They are anti-democracy and comfortable with tolerating fascist and authoritarian politicians and autocratic rule. One assumes they’re kinda OK with eugenics too. As in “Only the rich should breed freely. We’ll deign to allow some select subset of proles to breed new worker bees for our salt mines. That is all.” ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1345 "2022-11-20T03:29:02Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > e.g. Google stopping the Twitter app from appearing in their app store in no way impedes any mobile phone user from using Twitter. Which doesn’t work nearly as well as the app does on mobile. Can be it done? Of course. Will it result in less user engagement? Very likely. I don’t think Roth would be addressing it in his op-ed if it didn’t matter. ---
**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 20, 2022, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1346 "2022-11-20T03:40:51Z")
As a counter-point to the “Twitter has no social utility” argument, here’s a WaPo article about how governments are starting to worry that if Twitter goes down, they will lose a valuable way to alert people to major crises, such as the direction a wildfire is moving and when to evacuate: > **[In crises, officials tweet crucial info. What if Twitter dies?](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/19/twitter-emergencies/)** > > The Post interviewed a dozen local, state and federal officials, who said that Twitter is one of their most effective ways of communicating with the public. > [@](#): > > Hutton, who left the agency in 2020, is among the legion of government personnel, public safety officers and professional disaster communicators who reach for Twitter, where tens of millions of Americans maintain accounts, during a crisis. Public agencies use the platform to issue evacuation orders, warn of active shooters, dispel misinformation and direct residents away from road closures or toward shelters. During disasters, stranded civilians use the app to call for help, evacuees use it to check on their homes and journalists use it to gather news. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1347 "2022-11-20T03:43:06Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > As a counter-point to the “Twitter has no social utility” argument, here’s a WaPo article about how governments are starting to worry that if Twitter goes down, they will lose a valuable way to alert people to major crises, such as the direction a wildfire is moving and when to evacuate: This is unfortunate, but should governments really be so dependant on some private utility? ---
**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 20, 2022, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1348 "2022-11-20T03:50:30Z")
Governments are dependent generally on private entities to get their issues out: tv, radio and print journalists, for example. They also use Facebook and other online sources. What government system is there that has broad-based ability to get news out to the people, that does not involve a private communications entity? ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1349 "2022-11-20T03:59:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Every mobile phone that can run an app already has an extra-special general-purpose app called a web browser. Which can go to [www.twitter.com](http://www.twitter.com) and display the very same content. They CAN, but that’s not to say they WILL. Sources report, for example, that American adults spend [nearly 90%](https://www.mobiloud.com/blog/mobile-apps-vs-mobile-websites) of smartphone time within mobile apps; that general-purpose web browser accounts for only about ten percent. You get users who think there _should_ be an app they’re using, and they’re less likely to seek out the website on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1350 "2022-11-20T04:05:26Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > This is unfortunate, but should governments really be so dependant on some private utility? The government is inextricably intermingled with private businesses at this point. In an ideal world perhaps this wouldn’t be the case, but that’s an entirely different thread. The problem is exacerbated in countries without established infrastructure. Twitter is a tool and governments should use it when they need it. Of course, now they should be making alternate plans as fast as they can. ---
**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 20, 2022, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1351 "2022-11-20T05:27:18Z")
CBS is quitting Twitter. > **[CBS News suspends Twitter posting ‘in light of the uncertainty’ about...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cbs-news-suspends-twitter-posting-light-uncertainty-musk-owned-social-rcna58029)** > > CBS News’ decision to step back from Twitter comes a little more than three weeks into Musk’s ownership of the company — over which time Twitter’s employee base has shrunk to about 33% its former size. ---
**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 20, 2022, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1352 "2022-11-20T05:41:37Z")
> ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1353 "2022-11-20T05:48:44Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > users, like me, who don’t watch the news on TV. Is Twitter really the only alternative to TV? I don’t own a TV, but my computer and smart phone seem like enough - I regularly consult CNN and Reuters, and I subscribe to Wapo, NYT, Harper’s, Atlantic, The New Yorker, our local newspaper, and a really great non-profit news service in Hawai’i, plus I listen to the local NPR station. If I were a better person/had more time, I’d round that out with looking at the Fox News website and subscribing to WSJ. I don’t feel like I need Twitter to be a competent, well-informed member of the public. ---
**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 20, 2022, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1354 "2022-11-20T06:09:51Z")
The shocking thing about Musk letting Trump back on Twitter isn’t that he did it – he had already hinted that he would – but the way he did it. The guy ran a goddam **poll** , which was of course dominated by Trump sycophants, and declared that the people have spoken. But when taking over Twitter, he had promised to set up an ethics oversight committee to make such decisions. Of course Musk changes his mind about everything every few minutes, but this was an egregious abdication of responsibility. OK, if the guy respects “the people” so much, maybe he should set up a poll to see what the much-vaunted “people” think of the way he’s ~~running~~ ruining Twitter, and solicity their esteemed opinion on whether he should restore the original management and everyone he fired and then fire himself and get the hell out. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1355 "2022-11-20T06:11:26Z")
According to Pew Research, only 23% of U.S. adults even use Twitter. In a case of impending danger, such as an approaching wildfire, Twitter is probably not the best communication tool to warn the large majority of people. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1356 "2022-11-20T06:19:49Z")
You want to use multiple methods. When I was young in the rural midwest the best approach would be to make announcements on local AM radio. I don’t think you would reach 23% of the population that way now. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1357 "2022-11-20T06:29:38Z")
Of course. I just think that there’s an outsized reaction to the potential demise of Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1358 "2022-11-20T06:43:44Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Of course Musk changes his mind about everything every few minutes No, no, don’t you get it!? This is just him being Agile and super-smart. Everyone else is just stuck in the old modes, man. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1359 "2022-11-20T06:46:28Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > What government system is there that has broad-based ability to get news out to the people, that does not involve a private communications entity? But they don’t even bother, really. This week I happened to be watching some cable shows that had collected on my DVR, as opposed to streaming. In something like the second hour, my cable box gave me one of those stupid “required monthly test of the emergency broadcast system” four minutes of annoyance. Except if I had been watching Netflix instead of my cable box, that emergency broadcast system wouldn’t have done jack shit to reach me. Even less likely to reach me is if I have to log on to Twitter to see something. I’ve never logged on to Twitter in my life. More realistically the government would just send emergency texts. That’s good enough, nothing else needed. Link to a government page as needed for more information, done and done. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2022, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1360 "2022-11-20T06:57:27Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > More realistically the government would just send emergency texts. [The National Wireless Emergency Alert System](https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/wireless-emergency-alerts-wea) already exists. However, you get those alerts only if your cellphone carrier chooses to participate (most do, but it still involves a private communications entity). With your cable box, the cable company has a really good idea of your geographic location. Netflix, in an era of widespread VPN usage and so forth, can only guess where you’re located, and since most emergency alerts (severe weather, wildfires, earthquakes, even Amber and Silver Alerts) are relevant primarily in a specific geographic area, it doesn’t do much good to spam Netflix users halfway around the world with something inapplicable. With cell phones, the government needs to rely on the carriers to know who is in the relevant area, since area codes don’t necessarily match location the way they did with landlines. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=67) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=69)