MarxistMapping
Nitasha Tikuis mastadon a safe space to say i called it in 2016 ??? the fact that interviewers never fact-check elon musk. and other assorted observations about tech billionaires and tech press' increasing inability to keep their pronouncements in check https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nitashatiku/ground-control-to-silicon-valley
Brian Kramer@nitashatiku I think "is mastadon a safe space" is the question of the hour. This is my first response/post on here, I'm super curious to see and learn
Andrew Miller 🦓🦓@bkramer @nitashatiku not always safe, but I had to go a little bit out of my way to find trouble
soul.storm.fire@bkramer @nitashatiku "IT" is not a safe space, but it has some very solid safe spaces.
Brian GrinterWith a name like Brian you must be ok... 😉
I'm enjoying a lot more than the other site - seen no real agro to date
StephenRomary@bkramer @nitashatiku "super curious to see and learn" is a mindset very welcome in my feed
Jaap Zeldenrust (he/him)@bkramer There are parts of Mastodon that are definitely not safe, but you're unlikely to go there by mistake: unsafe instances are quickly defederated. If you have a case of morbid curiosity, check out the list of defederated instances that your instance uses. It will likely include places like Gab and poa.st; actual hives of scum and villainy.
The lion's share of Mastodon is reasonably safe, though there's some variance in what is considered "reasonably safe".
Matt
mtsw@nitashatiku among other things clicking on that article is a good reminder of how much more normal Elon's face looked 6 years ago than it does today
ryan cooper@mtsw @nitashatiku wtf is going on with his neck. is that like some kind of common side effect
@ryanlcooper @nitashatiku plastic surgery done while you are not fat looks pretty weird if you then subsequently get fat. Also I suspect there's a variety of substance abuse issues happening
Amy Hoy@ryanlcooper @nitashatiku @mtsw randomly saw a comment on a fitness forum that he seems to be using growth hormone and it can make you have a barrel chest among other side fx
Will Oremus@nitashatiku i miss this particular type of tiku essay so much. it holds up six years later
Drew Harwell@willoremus @nitashatiku Oh my god yes
@drewharwell @willoremus thx friends. i was in my dispatches era 😅
Zuri@nitashatiku Yes, yes it is.
7sleepersmusic@nitashatiku Yup! TBH I should have left Twitter earlier. I knew Jack + co were creepy, but they usually didn't throw it in our faces daily like the current CEO. So I kinda ignored it. Probably shouldn't have, eh?
louisgray@nitashatiku reading a post in which it discusses Uber getting funded seems so quaint. The before times.
toxtethogrady@nitashatiku You called it, but Musk was a pisher back then. Not anymore...
@nitashatiku Incidentally, CNBC has a valuation for Musk's shareholdings on their webpage for Tesla. The information appears to be old, and based on a $285 share price. It's sitting now at $139. Given the change, Musk has lost $65 billion in the value of his Tesla holdings, and most of that appears to have been the result of his Twitter purchase. So it's cost him $110 billion, up from the $44 billion purchase price...
Albert Lee@nitashatiku After writing a bunch and seeing others write a lot more about Russian military industry prior to February, there definitely is an issue with tech-centric press being overly credulous. But I do wonder how much of it has to do with the fear of losing access if you push back.
LizzieShore@nitashatiku I’d suggest they rarely fact check billionaires in general.
Leigh Honeywell@nitashatiku low key we’re gonna look back on the early 2000s and of the folks who saw how shit was going you’re gonna be right up there, imo
Melody Schreiber@nitashatiku fun to see the context of the Stay Woke tshirt, which Musk flipped out about recently
sarah gilbert@m_scribe @nitashatiku I noticed that too. it ended up being entirely a false promise
bdonnelly@nitashatiku “…the whole thing felt like a front-row seat to watch billionaires fight a proxy war over what the future will look like for the other 99 percent — whether that was space, AI, poverty, or the First Amendment”
Well that’s a goddamn bar right there.
Jonathan Baranthis aged well
>The entrepreneur’s wording is a little different than Acton’s, but the meaning is the same. “I don’t know a lot of people who like the idea of living under a despot,” Musk quipped.
>“And the despot would be the computer?” Swisher asked.
>“Or the people controlling the computer,” Musk replied.
Seth L. Sanders@nitashatiku Yes. "But perhaps the chumminess on display at Code poses a more constant and diffuse threat to aggressive journalism than a vengeful billionaire, or even a biased billionaire publisher.
The closer you get, the argument goes, the more you know and the less you say in order to keep that access."
Kasia 
@nitashatiku the unchallenged adoration of rich people and equalling them with above average intelligence, not checking any of their “credentials” by media is part of the reason we are in a big mess
Carlos Rodríguez@nitashatiku it is, but you’re preaching to the choir 😂
Sean Boots@nitashatiku This is a brilliant article (and this paragraph in particular is: whew). Thanks for sharing! 🙌 You definitely called it.
MinnesotaJoe@nitashatiku After reading the article and how forward-thinking you were, you should be allowed to commandeer the PA system at your local Target and say you were right. The reference to the Twitter ‘Stay Woke’ shirts also takes in more weight in hindsight, knowing Musk’s recent reaction to finding a stockpile of the shirts.
Steve Saleeba@nitashatiku fantastic reporting. Tragic in hindsight.
ColetteCT@nitashatiku you did call it and beautifully, too!
RedwoodGirl in Chico@nitashatiku Yes, I would say so.
Terry Lorch@nitashatiku absolutely fascinating to go back and read this in light of all that has happened. Seems like a hundred years ago; time has become so compressed.
Bren
Josh McKinnon@nitashatiku oh ground zero of the #staywoke t-shirts!
@nitashatiku this is quite the portrait of silicon valley at the precipice of the ravine we now find ourselves at the bottom of. thank you for showing us how we got here.
enmodo ⚛️ 🧬 🇺🇦 🍉@nitashatiku it doesn't need to be a safe space for you to say anything. Just say it. No one has a right not to be offended but we'll deal with those that disagree with you and choose to harass you out of malice.
Mazal 
Kayo@nitashatiku Beautiful article and spot on predictions.
You just earned a follow. Thank you.
You just earned a follow. Thank you.
Matthias@nitashatiku Great article. Possibly with the new big players (platforms) currently adapting ActvityPub there will be parts which will not be save.
I guess in about a year there we will have a clearer picture on the saveness of Mastodon and the fediverse.
I guess in about a year there we will have a clearer picture on the saveness of Mastodon and the fediverse.
Filthius@nitashatiku I'm an organized labor activist so I wasn't sure if he was a complete ass or if his anti-labor stance colored my view. Years later, there's concensus. He's an ass.
zefur@nitashatiku the thing that is annoying is that many people only reference his thai escapade as their eye opening moment. But hes been trash for a while. For me it was the kotaku/gizmodo article about his underground railroad that confirmed he was a prick.
muckraking madness @nitashatiku Hey thanks for the article very interesting. Reminds me if JP Morgan, the Vanderbilt’s, and Andrew Carnegie all got together for an afternoon tea social.
yuletide@nitashatiku wow these quotes are nuts
SINKLER@nitashatiku I think that is great!
Barry Schwartz 🫖@nitashatiku How come not one of the press of any sort has even noticed that Captain Mars was SILENT about the Artemis 1 mission?
It’s almost as if Mars has nothing to do with it. It’s almost as if Musk simply discovered that space colony types tend to worship charismatic overlords.
Heck, I’ve read tons of that fiction. IT’S WHAT HAPPENS IN THOSE STORIES! They are living their fantasy. And narcissistic Musk uses them as worshipers.
Clio@Cliot thanks, Clio!!
AntephantNo, it is not safe to say that interviewers never fact checked Elon Musk ( his name is capitalised, BTW ) before 2016.
That statement is NOT TRUE.
I hope you will now retract it.
Phx611@nitashatiku you were spot on. Pearl Jam was right about Ticketron. Luckily it didn't take as long to prove you were correct, or maybe that's not so good either.
M3ta 
@nitashatiku Mastodon will only be a good place when people stop calling it "MastAdon". 🤷♂️
Jeff Barrus@nitashatiku You definitely called it.
ራስ ባሪያው Rass Bariaw