Interesting stuff


Do ya think Elon regrets buying Twitter ? I’m trying to get my head around him now trying to make money out of Twitter, sacks half the staff and then what ? Trying to charge people $8 a month for a blue tick ? You would think someone with that much money would enjoy his life , or is sacking people how he gets his rocks off . https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-05/twitter-sacks-half-of-staff-as-mu...


Surely doing it for lol's
https://mobile.twitter.com/MailOnline/status/1588488744046399493
And maybe he thought they were biased and wants to un-bias the platform.


He’s doing what I would be doing if I bought a business - making money. Bizarrely, we live in a time when people evaluate business on everything other than their ability to make profit. He’s obviously reducing the overhead first to maintain some form of healthy cash flow while looking at additional revenue opportunities in parallel.


Musk’s big mouth and ego let him overpay about $20 billion for twitter.


Twitter like FB and Meta are generational…..hardly no one under 20 signs up these days. Zuckerberg has dropped $100 on Meta…Metaverse is a dog that will never succeed imo.


Dogs have puppies ;)
https://m.


Last year it cost about aus$32k to ship a container across the pacific…now it costs about aus$4k.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/10/17/holiday-shopping-ocea...


Roadkill wrote:Twitter like FB and Meta are generational…..hardly no one under 20 signs up these days. Zuckerberg has dropped $100 on Meta…Metaverse is a dog that will never succeed imo.
yep, seeing this


velocityjohnno wrote:Roadkill wrote:Twitter like FB and Meta are generational…..hardly no one under 20 signs up these days. Zuckerberg has dropped $100 on Meta…Metaverse is a dog that will never succeed imo.
yep, seeing this
All true but then the likes of Zuk and Musk will just buy out whatever the kids are using and the circle is completed. They have so much capital, and are backed by the investment industry, so they can afford their vanity projects.
Getting back to Musk and Twitter, I struggle with the concept that it is okay to sack a huge number of staff without notice as a means of turning a profit. It's no better than the corporate raiders of old who stripped assets and dumped the remains of their takeover victims.


Btw.. Zuck had dropped $100 billion the above $100 is an error


Supafreak wrote:Do ya think Elon regrets buying Twitter ? I’m trying to get my head around him now trying to make money out of Twitter, sacks half the staff and then what ? Trying to charge people $8 a month for a blue tick ? You would think someone with that much money would enjoy his life , or is sacking people how he gets his rocks off . https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-05/twitter-sacks-half-of-staff-as-mu...
No doubt he has regrets or mixed feelings buying it, hence why he tried to get out of the deal.
I think his business head was saying this is a stupid move, but his heart was saying i want to make a difference as he has been passionate about free speech and fairness for all and has been very vocal about the issue around twitter.
Even if i dont use it personally i think its cool that he is putting his money where his mouth is.
But yeah he is also a smart business man and twitter was a very poorly run business way over staffed with staff doing little, so i guess he will try his best to clean up the platform and try to make it a viable business and make money.
I suspect it will go backwards before it goes forwards though, lot of lefties will/are upset and will leave the platform same with some sponsors, that's just part of the clean out process as is reducing the staff which is purely business.
Personally i think whatever happens it's a win win, the company either goes backwards and twitter become less of a thing and slowly dies, or it stays around and it becomes a much more fair and equal platform.


flollo wrote:He’s doing what I would be doing if I bought a business - making money. Bizarrely, we live in a time when people evaluate business on everything other than their ability to make profit. He’s obviously reducing the overhead first to maintain some form of healthy cash flow while looking at additional revenue opportunities in parallel.
I thought he bought Twitter for free speech reasons or was that all bullshit ? Many companies including Pfizer stopped advertising with Twitter as soon as Elon took over . Twitter has been losing 4 million a day since he took control mainly from loss of advertising. Doesn’t sound like a good business plan for such a successful businessman. Don’t think he will get many punters to pay $8.00 USD per month. The co founder of Twitter is already looking at starting a different platform called blue sky social. Elon is going to struggle to get his money back ……….then again I could be completely wrong.


First of all, he’s got investors who most certainly want some return on their capital. Secondly, I find it hard to believe that someone would go into a $40B+ deal purely because they are passionate about free speech. I would expect that those capable of pulling such deals off are very good in separating their emotions from business decisions. Thirdly, Twitter was always losing money, it never managed to monetise its operations in a scalable way. So, Musk has free hands to try and change direction in search for profits. As long as the board supports him he can do whatever it takes. Will they cut their support one day? Maybe. And finally, he will definitely get heaps of people to pay $8. Vanity is a ‘terrible drug’ and exploiting it can be quite lucrative. And Elon is a global superstar, even if his own ‘fan club’ joins in it will bring a substantial amount of revenue.


So why do you think he tried to pull out of the deal ? Did he realise it wasn’t a good investment ? Stuck with it now, can’t see investors getting a return myself but let’s wait and see .
If this is really him , he’s got a sense of humourTrash me all day, but it’ll cost $8
— Mr. Tweet (@elonmusk) November 5, 2022
Only on Twitter can we watch a man worth $200 billion negotiate with a man worth $500 million about saving $12 a month. pic.twitter.com/pttRSHvTtc
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) November 1, 2022


flollo wrote:First of all, he’s got investors who most certainly want some return on their capital. Secondly, I find it hard to believe that someone would go into a $40B+ deal purely because they are passionate about free speech. I would expect that those capable of pulling such deals off are very good in separating their emotions from business decisions. Thirdly, Twitter was always losing money, it never managed to monetise its operations in a scalable way. So, Musk has free hands to try and change direction in search for profits. As long as the board supports him he can do whatever it takes. Will they cut their support one day? Maybe. And finally, he will definitely get heaps of people to pay $8. Vanity is a ‘terrible drug’ and exploiting it can be quite lucrative. And Elon is a global superstar, even if his own ‘fan club’ joins in it will bring a substantial amount of revenue.
There is no board. Twitter is now a private company…the board was dissolved as part of the takeover.


Who knows? Look, I think it’s a terrible deal and Musk is stretching himself way too much. It me not like he quit his roles in Tesla and Space x. This mindset of sleeping in the office and stuff is just ridiculous. I really think that Twitter is the last thing he needs and I believe that he would’ve had second thoughts many, many times.
But the whole financial aspect needs to be looked from a much longer time span. Tesla was losing money for years and they only turned some profits recently. I remember when Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 for $1B. Everyone was outraged but look at it from todays perspective - it was a steal. So honestly, I don’t know if Twitter will pay off for Musk. But what I do know is that Musk can attract billions to keep this thing running at a loss for a long time until he gets what he wants. And Dorsey was a terrible CEO who really didn’t bring any value to investors. Anyone who was interested in having an equity in twitter would feel relieved (although it’s a private company now so things might be messier).


flollo wrote:And finally, he will definitely get heaps of people to pay $8. Vanity is a ‘terrible drug’ and exploiting it can be quite lucrative. And Elon is a global superstar, even if his own ‘fan club’ joins in it will bring a substantial amount of revenue.
Yep, you can only get a blue tick if you have some kind of status and can verify it, $8 is nothing and only makes having a blue tick more prestigious, so if you aren't really anybody special and too tight to pay $8 a month, who cares you can still have a normal twitter account.
He has said they will get more for that price than blue ticks do now too, i saw an interview where he explained it wasn't just about making money but a way to decrease chance of fake accounts, although im not exactly sure how that works.


Musk has been on a slide since that whole pedo tunnel thing. It was ego that got him to buy twitter, I spend a bit of time on it and most are hanging shit on him and hanging around to see what happens. There is a substantial drop in the number of ads already and many tweeps say they are leaving for Dorseys new twitter, Blue Sky, as soon as it sets up. Good chance it goes the way of MySpace and Elon burns plenty of cash like Rupert did. He is not well liked on twitter, very, very few positive Musk comments compared to negative ones. You should get on twitter Indo, you would like it, good fun and very informative.


Reporting is less transparent for a private company…if bots are at the figures Musk quoted they won’t be reported in truth…that would make Musk’s purchase price even more stupid…and more bots = less actual people = less ad revenue. And advertisers will leave in greater numbers. I don’t think many people will pay US$80 per year to post to a small and reducing base.


I find Twitter very entertaining and good for a laugh, also some interesting people and topics , some real characters. Good that you can block trolls and anybody that annoys you too much. I have only had to block a few scammers, don’t comment that much . The adds have dropped right off , not many now .


Who knows…If you are a celebrity or an influencer (or at least you think you are) you will have to pay $8 or explain why you didn’t pay when someone asks (and they will ask). Will they say they are broke? What kind of influencer is that? Many will definitely pay but the real question is, how many? Personally, if I cared about twitter I would definitely pay, who cares about $8.


flollo wrote:Who knows…If you are a celebrity or an influencer (or at least you think you are) you will have to pay $8 or explain why you didn’t pay when someone asks (and they will ask). Will they say they are broke? What kind of influencer is that? Many will definitely pay but the real question is, how many? Personally, if I cared about twitter I would definitely pay, who cares about $8.
Did you read what stephen king wrote ? I don’t think its the $8USD that bothers people , it’s giving Elon Musk $8USD a month that bothers people. I find Elon both interesting and also a bit of a knob , all that money and what’s he doing with it ? Trying to fly to mars and be the king of social media .


Well, that’s certainly a view by some. But I can’t see for example Kim Kardashian not willing to pay $8 because of some ‘ideals’. People pick their own problems in life, to some giving money to Elon is a problem. Others don’t even think about these things. I personally fall into this others category. I’ve got other problems to worry about, I don’t care what he does with my $8, that’s his own thing.


Mark Hunt defeats Sonny Bill Williams in 'unbelievable' boxing upsethttps://www.news.com.au/sport/boxing/sonny-bill-williams-vs-mark-hunt-bo...


No real surprise there.
I was surprised Hunt lost to Gallen


Supafreak wrote:flollo wrote:Who knows…If you are a celebrity or an influencer (or at least you think you are) you will have to pay $8 or explain why you didn’t pay when someone asks (and they will ask). Will they say they are broke? What kind of influencer is that? Many will definitely pay but the real question is, how many? Personally, if I cared about twitter I would definitely pay, who cares about $8.
Did you read what stephen king wrote ? I don’t think its the $8USD that bothers people , it’s giving Elon Musk $8USD a month that bothers people. I find Elon both interesting and also a bit of a knob , all that money and what’s he doing with it ? Trying to fly to mars and be the king of social media .
Im sure there would be people like that but you would expect most wouldn't be so petty, most that whinge now will just suck it up and pay.
Im sure they would prefer to keep their blue tick especially if it comes with perks like boast in post, others will lose it and just have a standard account, some might leave but majority will stay and keep and pay for their blue tick, because its a status symbol and they want their voices heard hence why they are on twitter.
And the alternatives for getting a voice heard aren't great elsewhere like Facebook (need to pay to boast post if want a good reach) or Instagram (more a visual medium with same need to boast post) Youtube maybe best alternative but really its a bit different, its not as quickly digestible..
BTW. Who else with money in the world really does anything special?
Most just spend it on living the high life, it's only really Bill Gates or Richard Branson that seem to do anything half interesting.
But Elon is next level he has all these crazy projects going
-Tesla: Totally pushing the envelope on EV's including driverless cars clearly way ahead of any competitor.
-Tesla Energy- That does solar systems and batteries (power wall)
- Space X: That covers stuff from satellite internet system to all kinds of crazy space exploration projects ad rockets etc.
-Buying a social media platform because he doesn't believe its currently a level playing field.
Then on top of that he has started a whole heap of other companies and projects, some still going some sold or merged all kinds of crazy stuff (some a bit scary), he is also into a number of sports/hobbies.
The guy is a freak, no idea how he manages it all
Personally i love his mix, because he is so hard to pigeonhole, he is really vocal about being anti woke and free speech (hence left often dont like him)
But on the flip-side is is a big driver(no pun intended) in pushing EV's and solar system battery tech. (so lots of conservatives see him as a leftie and even dont trust him with buying Twitter)
Personally i love his mix and kind of love his smart arse twist, but I also get that he would rub others up the wrong way, plus lots of people just dont like others who are successful (tall poppy syndrome)


adam12 wrote:Musk has been on a slide since that whole pedo tunnel thing. It was ego that got him to buy twitter, I spend a bit of time on it and most are hanging shit on him and hanging around to see what happens. There is a substantial drop in the number of ads already and many tweeps say they are leaving for Dorseys new twitter, Blue Sky, as soon as it sets up. Good chance it goes the way of MySpace and Elon burns plenty of cash like Rupert did. He is not well liked on twitter, very, very few positive Musk comments compared to negative ones. You should get on twitter Indo, you would like it, good fun and very informative.
Id expect with most social media things, its all about the circles you are in to the view you get on a person or topic, all these new social media platforms are pretty irrelevant though its like trying to start a new search engine and compete against google but even harder in a way as they only become interesting when people are on them in large numbers and people you know or dig or if they can provide something a bit different like Tick tock or snap chat, not that I've ever used those.
Anyway Twitter seems to political for me plus i have enough social media in my life.


indo-dreaming wrote:Supafreak wrote:flollo wrote:Who knows…If you are a celebrity or an influencer (or at least you think you are) you will have to pay $8 or explain why you didn’t pay when someone asks (and they will ask). Will they say they are broke? What kind of influencer is that? Many will definitely pay but the real question is, how many? Personally, if I cared about twitter I would definitely pay, who cares about $8.
Did you read what stephen king wrote ? I don’t think its the $8USD that bothers people , it’s giving Elon Musk $8USD a month that bothers people. I find Elon both interesting and also a bit of a knob , all that money and what’s he doing with it ? Trying to fly to mars and be the king of social media .
Im sure there would be people like that but you would expect most wouldn't be so petty, most that whinge now will just suck it up and pay.
Im sure they would prefer to keep their blue tick especially if it comes with perks like boast in post, others will lose it and just have a standard account, some might leave but majority will stay and keep and pay for their blue tick, because its a status symbol and they want their voices heard hence why they are on twitter.
And the alternatives for getting a voice heard aren't great elsewhere like Facebook (need to pay to boast post if want a good reach) or Instagram (more a visual medium with same need to boast post) Youtube maybe best alternative but really its a bit different, its not as quickly digestible..
BTW. Who else with money in the world really does anything special?
Most just spend it on living the high life, it's only really Bill Gates or Richard Branson that seem to do anything half interesting.
But Elon is next level he has all these crazy projects going
-Tesla: Totally pushing the envelope on EV's including driverless cars clearly way ahead of any competitor.
-Tesla Energy- That does solar systems and batteries (power wall)
- Space X: That covers stuff from satellite internet system to all kinds of crazy space exploration projects ad rockets etc.
-Buying a social media platform because he doesn't believe its currently a level playing field.
Then on top of that he has started a whole heap of other companies and projects, some still going some sold or merged all kinds of crazy stuff (some a bit scary), he is also into a number of sports/hobbies.
The guy is a freak, no idea how he manages it all
Personally i love his mix, because he is so hard to pigeonhole, he is really vocal about being anti woke and free speech (hence left often dont like him)
But on the flip-side is is a big driver(no pun intended) in pushing EV's and solar system battery tech. (so lots of conservatives see him as a leftie and even dont trust him with buying Twitter)
Personally i love his mix and kind of love his smart arse twist, but I also get that he would rub others up the wrong way, plus lots of people just dont like others who are successful (tall poppy syndrome)
Maybe was once a status symbol…now it’s something anyone can buy. It’s reduced to a meaningless income source.


Yeah i did see he is proposing anyone can validate an account.
Seems a but murky on what that would mean
Ive seen talk of a change of system, blue ticks as is with perks and grey ticks for other accounts that are properly verified not sure if they pay.
Expect they would as I expect this is how he aims to get rid of bot accounts.
If you dont pay your post and comments get far less exposure.
As it is one person can create thousands of bot accounts, but if those accounts comments aren't seen by people its irrelevant and if they were to pay to be active it wouldn't be viable to have many bot accounts.
Anyway will be interesting to watch what happens.


https://www.crikey.com.au/2022/11/07/elon-musk-twitter-changes-telsa-int... Elon Musk’s Twitter changes can be explained by this one simple number……….that’s a lot of blue ticks


"Coffee and a cookie!"




Yeah thanks Stu, I'm getting him in my recommendations regularly now thanks to one viewing.
Enthralling stuff.
He has some balls too.


Author Antonio Garcia Martinez explains how targeted ads work:


Living in a rapidly gentrifying town there's been an increase in Teslas on the road, and I wonder if those drivers are concerned their back left wheel might suddenly fall off or their brakes will fail.
If he was known for nothing else but this Twitter fuck up would you buy a car from Elon Musk?
Way it's going I wouldn't buy a whipper snipper from the centre aisle at Aldi if it had his name attached to it.


stunet wrote:Way it's going I wouldn't buy a whipper snipper from the centre aisle at Aldi if it had his name attached to it.
Turns out the 25.4cc Petrol Line Trimmer is in aisle 3.
https://www.aldi.com.au/en/special-buys/special-buys-sat-15-october/satu...


hahahaha......I have a bunch of Aldi whipper snippers in the shed here Stu, if you fancy a lightly used second handy.


Jeff Fenech wins super featherweight world title 31 years after controversial draw with Azumah Nelsonhttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-09/jeff-fenech-wins-world-title-31-y.... I remember watching this title fight and thinking after the decision that boxing was truly a corrupted sport.


https://finance.yahoo.com/video/musk-communicates-twitter-employees-bank... Musk communicates to Twitter employees that ‘bankruptcy is not out of the question’


Supafreak wrote:https://finance.yahoo.com/video/musk-communicates-twitter-employees-bank... Musk communicates to Twitter employees that ‘bankruptcy is not out of the question’
Employer of the year.
"I take full responsibility. You take your personal belongings as you are escorted from the premises/have your laptop wiped remotely."


Don’t think the blue tick is working out as good as Elon was hoping, still if it raises money to pay the bills , does he really care ? I can see some Russian and Chinese hacks having some cheap $8 a month fun with the blue tick .
This feature has been in place for less than one day pic.twitter.com/VvYFhSiX5I
— Matt Bevan (@MatthewBevan) November 10, 2022


The damage he's doing to Twitter and his own reputation.. I don't know if it's reversable.
What a shambles and shit show.


Craig wrote:The damage he's doing to Twitter and his own reputation.. I don't know if it's reversable.
What a shambles and shit show.
I dunno...
for every 'triggered liberal' hating on him, there's at least an anti triggered liberal loving his work
('anti triggered liberal' does not necessarily equate to rwnj ... not for some of us anyway...)
no doubt he's doing damage to the 'elitist' nature and reputation of twitter, but I dare say he's engaging a whole new audience...
I signed up just for the shit show, I have not been disappointed


sypkan wrote:Craig wrote:The damage he's doing to Twitter and his own reputation.. I don't know if it's reversable.
What a shambles and shit show.
I dunno...
for every 'triggered liberal' hating on him, there's at least an anti triggered liberal loving his work
('anti triggered liberal' does not necessarily equate to rwnj ... not for some of us anyway...)
no doubt he's doing damage to the 'elitist' nature and reputation of twitter, but I dare say he's engaging a whole new audience...
I signed up just for the shit show, I have not been disappointed
There’s some classic trump quotes surfacing
This part seems interesting. pic.twitter.com/9jOwiuMtyj
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) November 11, 2022


"...still if it raises money to pay the bills , does he really care ?"
I honestly don't think he gives a shit
his issue is more about the damage twitter was doing to the public discourse from what I can gather
he knows he paid way too much for it, I dare say he went through with the sale because he saw the pending court case as too much of an inconvenience as much as anything
having said that, apparently he has big plans about how the whole thing operates, planning to make it more similar to the chinese 'wechat'
...whatever that means...
but i did hear he plans to make it more of an all encompassing platform, where you can buy shit and have a credit account and stuff
I honestly think he sees his buy as a community service more than anything, but if he has to totally reform the product to turn a profit when he loses all the 'triggered liberals', then he'll do that too...
fwiw, I think he's a bit of a wanker, and shows it when he gets loose at the hip. and I think his vote republican comment was dumb and the biggest mistake he has made, ...but generally I've enjoyed some of his comments and interactions with the usual suspects... and it seems he's enjoying himself too...
44bil... pffffffff... chicken feed...
(or so it seems)


Supafreak wrote:Don’t think the blue tick is working out as good as Elon was hoping, still if it raises money to pay the bills , does he really care ? I can see some Russian and Chinese hacks having some cheap $8 a month fun with the blue tick . https://twitter.com/matthewbevan/status/1590651058174693376?s=46&t=5_b6W...
this kinda post would have been high fived all-round post 2003 invasion. why is this not funny now. what's the problem?




I love when people complain about Twitter … on Twitter 🤣🤣
— Mr. Tweet (@elonmusk) November 10, 2022


Usage of Twitter continues to rise. One thing is for sure: it isn’t boring!
— Mr. Tweet (@elonmusk) November 10, 2022


Hit all-time high of active users today
— Mr. Tweet (@elonmusk) November 11, 2022
Have it cunts