Mastodawn

AlexT Dec 19, 2022

I actually think people should vote No and keep Elon in charge of Twitter. Elon is a useful idiot here. His mismanagement of Twitter is actually driving adoption of Mastodon and opening the door to other social network platforms and showing the importance of a decentralized web. His careless sweeping decisions also lay bare the "corporate tech savior" mythos so many have bought into. Twitter was always a centralized hell hole. Let it burn, so that something better can rise from the ashes.

Dirk Hohndel Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern
I totally agree.
He is a useful idiot in the context that he made it drastically clear how bad it is to rely on a commercial entity that can be bought and torn to shreds as the center of our social conversation

Ted Han ★ 韓聖安 Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern Like all of these polls, none of them matter. Elon is going to do whatever he wants to do. Him appointing some other head of Twitter *doesn't matter* because he's still the ultimate owner.

No matter what he does short of selling it, people are going to continue asking him about it, and since he wants to still be on twitter, none of this can or will stop.

Alex Coventry Dec 19, 2022

@ted @postmodern

https://twitter.com/AlexCoventry4/status/1604638025497157632?cxt=HHwWgIC97Yny6MQsAAAA

"The only way this makes sense is if you sell it to someone with the taste, restraint and democratic values you've proven yourself to lack by your recent policy changes. As long as you own it, twitter is untrustworthy as a platform for public discourse."

Alex Coventry @[email protected] on Twitter

“@elonmusk The only way this makes sense is if you sell it to someone with the taste, restraint and democratic values you've proven yourself to lack by your recent policy changes. As long as you own it, twitter is untrustworthy as a platform for public discourse.”

Twitter

Omer Preminger 

@postmodern Agreed - and it’s also done wonders to bust the myth of “if rich then smart”

blobfoxcofecute

Jesse Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern @chancerydaily

I voted no but only because I knew there's no chance that poll would result in a "no."

But I agree - strengthening other platforms is good. And also it's pretty fun to watch Elon flail so publicly

Dan Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern @chancerydaily Agreed. Plus, anyone who thinks that any CEO Elon picks won't be a puppet for his every whim is deluding themselves.

Elon will likely be even worse and more capricious because now he gets to throw someone under the bus every time it goes wrong (and it will. Every single time).

But let's be honest here. like the other times, this has already been decided. He is stepping down because the Tesla shareholders are making him.

Dan Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern @chancerydaily I originally said when this all started that this was likely a ploy to get Jack back as CEO. That something fallout between the two of them left Musk holding the bag.

But I bet Jack still hungers for the seat. So he will be back on the throne. And he will absolutely hate it with Musk's hand up his arse.

Tony “Abolish ICE” Arcieri🌹🦀Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern I would like to thank Elon for curing me of my Twitter addiction

Goofrider Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern @chancerydaily

He's never gonna resign voluntarily y'all. He'll either rig the poll or make up some stupid excuse to back out ("lib bots").

Twitter is his favorite toy and he loves being able to make all the rules. You'll never get rid of him unless by court order.

Even if he's forced to resign one day, he'll just install a proxy and still run everything behind the scene.

snipe ⭑⭒⭒⭒⭒

@postmodern disagree tbh. Mastodon is a step in the right direction, but it is not currently in a position to really be a replacement. Discoverability and UX/UI are still sorely lacking over here. Not to mention that federation is great, but unless everyone is running and maintaining their own masto instances, folks are still relying on other people

postmodern Dec 19, 2022

@snipe ah but I never said Mastodon was perfect or a complete replacement for Twitter. Now that Elon is wrecking Twitter it's causing people to checkout other social networks and think outside of the centralized corporate walled garden model. Obviously there will be growing pains, improvements will need to be made to Mastodon and ActivePub. Governance models for instances and moderation policies will need to developed and discussed. People will need to shift their thinking from passive user to active participant. Maybe eventually Mastodon's issues will spawn yet additional social networks or protocols which address them. Staying on Twitter or trying to rehabilitate Twitter would likely slow or delay such developments.

snipe ⭑⭒⭒⭒⭒

@postmodern And running/maintaining servers is 1) hard for a lot of people 2) expensive. Not to mention the absolute trash fire that content moderation will turn into in the hands of the inexperienced. And not to mention that content moderation is often emotionally exhausting and often horrible for the people who do it, which would be volunteers at this point.

SimonTay78 Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern Actually even if he steps down, it's already too late, his engineers & people are fully integrated into the whole company. Most who "advice" Space Karens is going to be the same even if the new CEO comes along. It's like Russians hiding in Ukraine wearing plain clothes, not until all of them are converted to "normal" person by de-programming their cult like loyalty to Elon...it's way too late. Similar to how some support Trump even he is no longer the president.

amartya00 Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern absolutely agree 100%. This Twitter fiasco has broken his image of a genius businessman/ extraordinary engineer/techno Jesus and exposed him for what he is: a mouth breathing buffoon whose who does not understand how deals work and a degenerate engineer .

Snooze Button Connoisseur Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern I was thinking the exact same thing, but couldn’t vote because i nuked my acct earlier this week… I guess that I could try to deactivate it 🤔

@postmodern might not be possible. It has already over 8 million votes in his poll. There is a margin leading significantly over no.
I've also seen some speculation that his trip to Qatar was a meeting with investors at that game to discuss him stepping down from being CEO. The poll might also be slanted towards yes for that reason.

GoonerBrian Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern good point

John Bonomi Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern You can be sure I voted no for these reasons

Louis Ingenthron Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern Strongly disagree.

The vote's result probably won't actually matter to how Twitter is managed.

It will, however, matter greatly to the ego of the man in charge.

That's reason enough to vote YES.

@postmodern He already has a CEO lined up, he’ll remain in charge until he sells.

I voted Yes to show him how unpopular he is (like how they boo’d him at Chappelle, which I’m sure lives in his mind rent free).

Paul Davidson Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern I have to disagree. Him running Twitter still hurts a lot of people. And his antics barely make a dent in the millions of news journalists, sports writers, government agencies, and celebrities who will maintain a critical mass on Twitter no matter how we on Mastodon may wish otherwise.

Caryn Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern a lot of people relied on it in ways you might not understand, including for marginalized communities and life-saving connection.

postmodern Dec 19, 2022

@caryn sure, but how quickly we forget about Twitter's own problems with abuse and harassment of marginalized communities. Now that Musk has fired the entire Safety team and re-instated all sorts of previously suspended far-right shockjocks in the name of "free speech", we're back to square one again. It's easy to focus on the positive aspects of Twitter and ignore all of the harm it has caused over the years.

Jonathan Coetzee 🇿🇦Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern I kinda agree actually. Also there's been a fair amount of schadenfreude from my side watching him flounder so.

Morgana Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern I think hoping for a Phoenix to arise is asking a bit much..???

SuperSpreader Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern as long as journalists join other platforms then we should be fine. I'd hate for all the content creators to stick solely w Twitter.

Chaoddity Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern i like this take a lot.
THOUGH he is likely to just pick someone even worse to be the CEO next so... its hard to imagine a future where this poll matters at all.
"Everyone welcome your new CEO: Ron Desantis"

piresenjoyer Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern Exactly why I voted "No". Don't interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake.

Ginny Caputo Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern The bird is going to burn no matter no matter which way the votes go. I voted Yes.

Cali Nights Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern I was thinking the exact same thing.

xsk Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern who will pay for what he has done ? The active law suits, missed payments to providers and so many ongoing investigations. will he undo all his actions admitting he had no idea that social media this global have global values ? NO is the only answer one should give. Let him manage the hell he created for himself, he deserves that fate.

On another note, why ask only for Twitter? Now that we established that, for him, being a CEO of a company is a matter of vote, why not ask for all the other companies he is known for creating the worst work conditions?

Roman Ripa Dec 19, 2022

@postmodern Exactly.

Enkiusz🇺🇦Jan 9, 2023

@postmodern Too late to boost as the vote is done but I endorse this approach. Relevant Sun Tzu quote: "If your opponent makes a mistake don't interrupt them" 😜