/2 Day 179 some #Twitter users are attempting to sabotage the #ElonMusk’s #BlueCheck program. A lot of users not happy, trying to bend #Musk to their will rather than leave and migrate to #Mastodon
What does it take?
#Twexit #MastodonMigration #TwitterMigration
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/04/22/block-the-blue-twitter-verified/
/4 - Day 182. Now here’s a surprise, those who have purchased a #Twitter #BlueCheck with have their posts prioritized
So much for the democracy of the internet or whether the quality of your content should be prioritized by opaque algorithms
I prefer my #AlgorithmFree #Mastodon experience
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/elon-musk-verified-twitter-accounts-prioritized.amp
/5 - Day 183 - The elimination of the #BlueCheck has degraded #Twitter’s utility as a #news source. The new implementation has nothing to do with authentication and verification, if anything it is a propagandist’s delight. In #Musk’s conception of #SocialMedia, truth, veracity and honesty are of little value
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/26/technology/twitter-verification-problems.html
/6 Day 184 - What are the consequences of #Twitter laying off 75% of its workforce?
Two factor authentication used to be available for all accounts, it is now limited to Twitter blue payers. This recent removal, coupled with the lack of staff to assist with hacks, degrades the network. Classify this one under foolish #ElonMusk monetization attempts
https://slate.com/technology/2023/04/twitter-hack-elon-musk-crypto-scams.html
/7 Day 185 - #JackDorsey now regrets #ElonMusk’s take over of #Twitter. I guess there were no signs of toxic narcissism and egomania when he advocated for #Musk as the owner a year ago
I wonder if Dorsey is feeling more anti-Musk now that #BlueSky is making the news?
/8 It used to be that #Twitter was a preferred distribution channel for governmental agencies, that status appears to be crumbling. The MTA, #NYC’s transit agency used the network to provide service updates - now no more.
Twitter is now apparently offering gold and gray check marks for organizations. Maybe a poop brown tick mark will work for #ElonMusk?
/9 Ah yes that looks like a winning strategy to bring back #NPR to #Twitter
#ElonMusk oozes hostility towards legitimate #NewsMedia companies. At what point do #Journalists cut the cord and say ENOUGH!
I get it's difficult to walk away from a large following, but do you really want to continue putting money in this #oligarch's pocket?
Newly minted Twitter CEO Elon Musk threatened to reassign National Public Radio's official account — which uses the @NPR handle — to "another company" on Tuesday, weeks after the non-profit media…
/10 Looks like #ElonMusk has just realized that public service announcements are additive to #Twitter. Could be, requiring public agencies pay for access to the #TwitterAPI might cool said organization’s enthusiasm for the #SocialMediaPlatform
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/new-reversal-twitter-after-move-sparked-mta-withdrawl.amp
11) The #TwitterBlue value proposition appears to be lacking. Churn rates on the service are extraordinarily high. Without a bona fide set of support services to truly validate users, #BlueCheckMarks have become meaningless. Chalk this one up as an #EpicFail
https://mashable.com/article/half-of-twitter-blue-earliest-subscribers-no-longer-subscribed
13) Increasingly #Twitter looks like a seedy, battered, casino property. There are plenty of adds for erectile dysfunction and bongs likely encouraging mainstream advertsiers to stay away. Or might it be the bigotry encourage by #ElonMusk under the guise of #FreeSpeech?
The #NYT is out with a story based on an internal presentation from Twitter showing a 59% decline in YOY ad revenues for April.
All is clearly not well
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/technology/twitter-ad-sales-musk.html
14) Another clownish misstep from #Twitter is drawing to a close. Clearly an attempt to force people to register on the site, I imagine the hope was to increase the MAUs
https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/05/twitter-silently-removes-login-requirement-for-viewing-tweets/
15) Meanwhile the Facebook/Meta complex has lumbered onto to the stage to take a crack at #Twitter’s microblogging empire
Nice for those who feel they can trust #Zuckerberg. I’m sure he’ll be kind to your personal data even if he’s not as erratic as #Elon
16) Yup that’s a real good look for #Twitter. So much for the virtue of #BlueCheckMarks. Now that designation has become a symbol for #disinformation
17) I think this cartoon from Bruce MacKinnon captures the current state of #Twitter and #ElonMusk’s judicious approach to managing a prime #SocialMedia property
18) How much do people dislike #Twitter? Enough for 70 million users to sign up for #Threads two days into it’s launch!! That’s the equivalent of 15% - 20% of Twitter’s active users.
How many of those 70 million know that threads is part of the #Meta, sell your data to anyone complex, is a question that is likely not on the radar.
We might be at an odd moment when #Zuckerberg is considered a benign #SocialMedia actor compared to #ElonMusk
19) Speaking of #Meta and #Zuckerberg, Fast Company is out with a review of #Threads and it’s certainly not complementary.
Pretty surprising that the app was launched without support for #HashTags!
#TwitterMigration #TwitterExodus #Twitter
https://www.fastcompany.com/90919575/zuckerberg-one-job-threads-ux
20) #Twitter is not worried about the reported 100 million #Threads signups, it’s just blocking URL’s which reference the new #Meta service.
Disappointing to see so many people jumping from one #SocialMedia oligarch to another. Do they really think that #Zuckerberg can be relied on to be less willful than #ElonMusk?
21) How far along the #Twitter wrecking curve are we?
@lopezlinette has the detailed litany and when gathered together, rather than from the daily assault of #Elonmusk’s narcissistic foolishness, it’s even more damning
That said, there is no alternative that has an obvious lead in supplanting the #BirdSite, plenty of contenders, but they’re just nibbling so far.
22) Looks like @catvalente took unfiltered dictation from my brain as we watched the #Musk vs #Zuckerberg which personal data sucking #oligarch do you want to support, play out
Does anyone get it?
Seriously I wish I could write with as much comedic profanity and stay on point at the same time
#TwitterMigration #TwitterExodus
https://catvalente.substack.com/p/mark-fking-zuckerberg-is-not-your
23) David French of the #NYTimes with some thoughts on how attempts to enable toxic #RightWing demagogues and their bankrupt ideas on #Twitter yielded an enormous opportunity for #Threads
Sadly he fails to note/appreciate that throwing your lot in with #Zuckerberg’s new social media project, might be quietly toxic for democracy. Do you remember #CamebridgeAnalytica?
#TwitterMigration #TwitterExodus #ElonMusk #SocialMedia
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/opinion/twitter-new-right.html
24) How do signups look for #Threads?
Is the volume accelerating or not?
Here’s a chart
First 24 hours yields 50 million
Second 50 million takes a little more than 3 days.
Unsurprisingly the growth is not linear despite the extraordinary volume.
Will the next 10 days yield another 100 million?
I’m guessing not.
Opinions?
25) Things are not going well at a #SocialMedia service, when it‘s on the receiving end of a scathing take from the sober pages of @foreignpolicy
I’d also suggest that the financial situation for #Twitter is increasingly precarious. The debt burden of $12 billion and Twitter’s ability to service the payments is questionable and may threaten ongoing operations. #ElonMusk May need to ante up again.
With thanks to @miah_he for the great piece
26) It’s no surprise that advertisers have fled #Twitter. #ElonMusk has admitted a 50% drop in revenues. Those advertisers are not going to return soon knowing that their ad placements could pop up next to a racist post from the likes of Nick Fuentes.
Coupled with $13 billion of debt, the company is in more than a shaky position. Are #oligarch types going to be willing to throw more money at this sinking ship to curry favor with his Muskness?
27) Day 269 since the #ElonMusk Twitter acquisition and the latest change appears to be a pure exercise in narrcisism and self sabotage.
#Twitter is not in need of renaming and rebranding, it is in need of investment to prop its creaky technical infrastructure, and a serious content managment effort which might lure advertisers back; they're not fond of #HardRight wackadoos and agents of #disinformation
Don't hold your breath folks
#SocialMedia #TwitterMigration
https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-logo-x-bird-d58758cdd3f8441e7d2c8d3ac827ba90
Elon Musk plans to change the logo of Twitter to an “X” from the famous blue bird, marking what would be the latest big change since he bought the social media platform for $44 billion last year. In a series of posts on his Twitter account starting just after 12 a.m. ET on Sunday, Twitter’s owner said that he’s looking to make the change worldwide as soon as Monday. Earlier this month, Musk put new curfews on his digital town square, a move that sparked criticism that it could drive away advertisers and undermine its cultural influence as a trendsetter.
28) A scathing obituary for #Twitter from @oliverdarcy at @CNN
Not much to argue with here as the #ElonMusk wrecking ball continues to level the edifice of a once extraordinary #SocialMedia company
Twitter mortuus est. Vivat Mastodon
29) #ElonMusk wants to turn the #SocialMedia company formerly known as #Twitter into an #EverythingApp
Pretty interesting that there is an expectation of turning over personal financial information to an entity that can barely handle text postings at the moment.
Yeah I want to tell #Elon all about my money 🙄
Long before Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter Inc. last year, he would talk about building an all-encompassing service called “X.” In typical Musk fashion, the concept was expansive and amorphous. Then over a weekend in July, he kickstarted that venture by abruptly changing the name and logo of the influential social media platform. Now dubbed X, it’s the start of the billionaire’s vision to transform Twitter into what he’s calling “the everything app.”
30) In a true sign of #ElonMusk's sucess in monitizing #Twitter's blue checkmark, some poor coding creature was charged with making said checkmark hideable
The old #BlueCheckmark has come a long way in 10 months. What was once and indicator of authenticity and influence has now degraded into what exactly?
Please fill in the blank:
The X Blue Checkmark signifies ________
https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/2/23816924/twitter-x-blue-subscribers-hide-blue-check-option
31) Just in case you were wondering whether #X would retain the term #Tweet, apparently that is being tossed onto the garbage pile along with #Twitter
#ElonMusk is expunging every element of the #BlueBird brand, it will be no more
#NYT has the goods tweet will be replaced by post, I guess xost wasn’t a runner
All this is the most extensive case of brand vandalism I’ve observed
Rock On #Elon LOL
🔑 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/03/technology/twitter-x-tweets-elon-musk.html
32) On #X, digital eviction is part of the new operating philosophy
Fond of your X handle, well a hammer can come down anytime and change things arbitrarily. Too bad if you thought you owned a handle, that’s certainly not the case on #ElonMusk’s X.
Just another case being made for decentralized #SocialMedia and #Mastodon
https://www.pcmag.com/news/elon-musk-swipes-control-of-another-twitter-account-this-time-at-music
33) Another day, another petulant use of power by #ElonMusk
#X formerly known as #Twitter is adding to its pile of reasons to leave the degrading #SocialMedia site
The site is still heavily favored by many #NewsMedia professionals. Is it time to reconsider their support for the blighted site?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/15/twitter-x-links-delayed/
34) Contempt for #Journalism and #journalists is core to #ElonMusk’s world view. His latest move, detailed in #TheGuardian, is just one more swipe at #FreedomOfThePress.
Increasingly the #Twitter/ #X platform is becoming increasingly hostile to members of the #NewsMedia and yet members of the profession cling to the corrupted platform.
What or where is the tipping point?
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/aug/22/elon-musk-x-twitter-changes-news-links
35) Day 305
#Twitter / #X’s formerly valued #BlueTick has now degenerated into a tool for scammers and frauds. #TheGuardian has the story below.
It’s extraordinary to see how quickly #ElonMusk has destroyed one of #SocialMedia’s premium brands
36) Another day another threat of legal action directed by #ElonMusk. His target, the ADL?
Apparently #ADL analysis reveals #HateSpeech is on the rise at #Twitter / #X since the #Musk acquisition
Coming from a supposed #FreedomOfSpeech advocate, this critique of a data driven fact based study, is more than dissonant. I guess the only speech that is acceptable in Musk land is that which aligns with his bigoted world view
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/sep/05/elon-musk-sue-adl-x-twitter
37) Excellent graphic visualization from #TheMarkup on how #Twitter is attempting to strangle traffic to sites that #ElonMusk doesn’t like
Am I surprised? No
Is Twitter continuing to undermine its credibility? Yes
Will more users leave the site as a result? Maybe
With thanks to @dangillmor for sharing this piece. Dan is on my daily reading list and has been at the forefront of encouraging journalists to leave the #DeadBird site
38) Not only does he want to sell your data to the highest bidder, now #Elon Musk wants to charge you for the pleasure on a monthly basis
Is this just a trial balloon or will all users now have to pay for #twitter
Interesting how #Musk is justifying a fee as an anti bot strategy, nothing to do with the fact that all his changes have driven the network deeper into the financial ditch
@mnutty I no longer post anything on Twitter, but I do pop back occasionally as there's a lot of people on it who don't post here.
Honestly, I haven't noticed any change at all in my feed since the rebrand when I left. I think that's mainly because I already had my feed pretty well dialled in and I'd already blocked Musk, JP, everyone in GB News and all the other sources of crap, and marked every post about the royal family as "not interested".
If you curate your X feed, it is perfectly fine.
I noticed last time I was on that I was getting some pretty right wing stuff shoved into my feed specifically in the alerts section.
In my case I used lists to narrow down what I was really interested in. Likely because I follow the political world, the algorithm was serving up some nasty stuff.
Frankly life is short, there are far better things to do
@mnutty I found some stuff got through because of transitive follows - if an account you follow follows someone, those posts can get promoted in your For You feed, you can (or could) see this when you click the post - I unfollowed those accounts and that seems to fix it. But mainly it's a reflexive, it only takes a few clicks to block someone if a bad post pops up.
Most of this stuff is via a small number of high profile accounts that amplify and retweet.
Block first ask questions later IMO
Martin Nutty
Robert Tuck