In other words, the story of Elon Musk BUYING Twitter is more important than the platform itself, because almost no one uses it.
Really, it's all about TikTok. We were told the internet would surface untold number of overlooked musical acts. The concept was right, the genre was wrong. In other words, creativity is on a rampage. And it's coming from the grass roots. But it's not about music.
You see TikTok has unleashed the creativity of America.
This is not Instagram, where you post polished pics to demonstrate how groovy and privileged you are. Nor is it YouTube, with influencers hawking their brand ad infinitum, sans soul.
First and foremost, TikTok is different because you don't have to be a winner to play. You can be no one and your post can be boosted to everyone. I'd say it's like a lottery, but it is not. Because it all comes down to your creativity. And you can't buy it, not like beats online. And you can't fake it. It's all you, from inside your brain, and the less polished it is, the more authentic it is, and authenticity is everything. This boost in the creative side of the brain, in these millions of short clip endeavors, has been overlooked by the mainstream for two reasons... One, they do not fit in a traditional, established, anointed vertical and two, the mainstream decries TikTok, they don't even investigate it, they just pooh-pooh it as a backwater of young amateurs that deserves no attention, like toddlers playing in a sandbox. But that's not what it is.
So the story of Trump on Twitter is purely access. To a large group. Trump played when the staid establishment did not. In an era where all news junkies, most importantly the reporters and commentators, were addicted to Twitter, so that his impact on the short message service was overblown. Believe me, if Trump comes back to Twitter the impact will be minimal, although never underestimate the media's ability to make a small story big, by amplifying it. The media was complicit in the election of Trump in 2016, by giving him all that oxygen. A similar thing is happening with the midterm reporting. The establishment media has decided Republicans are going to win and that's the story, even though the underpinnings of that opinion are slim, just some polls that have been notoriously inaccurate since Trump's election. The media is so fearful of missing a big story outside the liberal domain of its members, that it is overemphasizing stories about the unknown on the right.
So, for the past few months the story hasn't been about Twitter, but Musk. Musk was feeling his oats on Twitter, with his follower count of bros, so he decided to buy it. It'd be like you going to a carnival, riding the Ferris wheel and raving about it and all your friends being enthralled with your experience. MOST PEOPLE DIDN'T EVEN GO TO THE CARNIVAL! MOST PEOPLE WERE NEVER EXPOSED TO IT!
This is the dirty little secret of Twitter, most people never see your tweet. Follower counts are nearly irrelevant. Someone has to either be on Twitter when you tweet, or be so interested in what you say as to go back in time on your feed. Furthermore, most Twitter addicts follow so many people most of the posts are lost in the shuffle.
Which is why I rarely tweet. Let's see, right now I have 66.3k followers on Twitter. Sounds like a lot. But if I tweet it's like pissing in the wind. I can say the same thing to my mailing list and my inbox can go wild. Because it's a direct connection. Twitter is not a direct connection, it's not used that way by most people.
As for the number counts... It was a fad. People signed up and signed off. This is a bigger issue than the bots. The bots are a sideshow for most of the people on the platform, and in truth most people are not on the platform!
And, even if you are using Twitter on a regular basis, it's confusing.
Twitter tried to make it easier by employing an algorithm, like Facebook, which selected posts that most appealed to you. In theory. In practice, the algorithm is so poor, it overemphasizes some people and de-emphasizes others, who you are interested in. And if you miss a post on Facebook about someone's afternoon activity, who cares. But if you're on Twitter for news and you miss a big story, that's a huge loss.
You see people on Twitter base their lives on being informed. And since Twitter is instant, that's where stories break. And, all other reporters are on the service. How many people in America are reporters, or comprehensive news junkies? VERY FEW! If Twitter was a sport it would be Monster trucks. No, that can get TV exposure... Well, Twitter is bigger than backcountry skiing, but it generates less enthusiasm than Pickleball, which is on the way up, whereas Twitter is on the way down. You only get a chance to be brand new once. And the hardest thing is to bring someone back who gave you up, it's nearly impossible, if for no other reason than there are so many other entertainment/information options.
So, what you've got on Twitter is writers with no direct connection with their audience. They've got no mailing list, they don't know who their readers are, so they post to make themselves feel good, by gaining followers and getting a reaction. And then they're stunned when there is evil blowback. Hello, this has been an issue online FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS! It's just a matter of whether you have direct connection with your audience. To complain about this hate today is laughable. You're a muckety-muck, people don't like your status, they don't like your attitude, and they want to bring you down. Period.
The funny thing is these establishment wankers are too stupid to look at the follower count of most of these haters. It's anemic, they reach almost no one. And anybody with any experience knows you never respond, that's exactly what the haters want. And they never back down, if you think you can set them straight you're wrong.
So, what you've got on Twitter is not the hoi polloi, but an elite group, which cries that they're now subjected to all the vagaries of the internet. And the haters keep piling on, because they can reach these people.
And it's a tempest in a teapot, most people don't see it and don't care.
So Musk is forced to buy Twitter. To honor his deal.
He's lost all credibility in the process. He made a deal with no strings attached and then wanted to add strings after the fact, and this don't play when you've got a legal contract, homey won't allow that.
And now Tesla is in trouble in China and everybody knows the automobiles are poorly built and...
In one fell swoop not only has Elon messed with his image, but with Tesla's too. As for rehabilitation... I expect a mea culpa when Kanye gives one, which is NEVER!
Elon thinks he's untouchable, that the rules don't apply to him. And since this story was all over the news for months, the public is aware of it. They're not ON Twitter, but they know the business story. It's better than almost all TV and definitely better than all records. Only streaming television can compete.
So, because he's not on Twitter 24/7, because he has other obligations, Musk doesn't really have a feel for the service. And his lack of knowledge means he's living in a vacuum and is unaware of the issues. You can't let everybody say whatever they want whenever they want, BECAUSE OF THE ADVERTISERS! Advertisers are conservative. They don't want to be where one single customer can be pissed off. And believe me, these companies often make decisions based on very little feedback, it's not like they get a million e-mails, maybe ten or fifteen. But they're scared.
So, Elon has to make money, he's going to charge for verification. WHO CARES! Who is that dedicated to Twitter that they need their identity authenticated? Almost no one. And no one is stealing the identities of the big players anyway, BECAUSE THEY PLAY SO MUCH! And the supposed advantages of a blue check mark are de minimis.
And then there's the right, the Trumpers. They started supporting Musk under the rubric of "free speech," but once Musk gained control of the company he found out there had to be content moderation. So now those free-speechers on the right are mad at him. Musk has succeeded in pissing EVERYBODY off!
And then there are the wankers who talk about competition, a new Twitter. Give me a break, take a look at Truth Social lately?
First and foremost, Twitter is not good business. But the history of the internet tells us new platforms are based on new ideas! I.e. TikTok vs. Instagram. And the thing that is most interesting is Instagram has tried to imitate TikTok, with the same features, AND IT'S NOT WORKING! People have TikTok, why do they need to post videos on Instagram? What is the problem, other than Instagram's waning business, which users couldn't care less about.
And building an audience is almost impossible these days. Everything scales much more slowly, because there's so much in the channel. So you're going to start a new business from scratch when we've already got Twitter?
As for people leaving... Didn't take down Amazon. It never works. There are just not enough people who care enough to go without.
Do you know how many people would have to leave Twitter before it impacted my usage of it? I can't imagine it ever happening.
And then there are those who use the service as a personal megaphone. I don't want your damn opinion, give me INFORMATION! That's what the complaining posters don't realize, we don't want to hear what you have to say, just give us the news, right away. So the service is inundated with endless detritus. My feed has too much b.s. in it. And the more b.s., the less I look at it.
And Lists are just for pros, which is almost nobody.
And as far as what is trending and general news and entertainment...the stuff you click on that is not based on following anybody specific? Idiots create these trends, no one with a brain cares. And there are much better places to get news and entertainment that is not of the moment.
So what happens now?
WHO KNOWS?
Can Musk make the trains run on time, make Twitter a burgeoning business?
Possibly. BUT THAT'S NOT GOING TO AFFECT THE SERVICE!
Once again, users don't care about the profitability of your business. They just want to know about the utility to them. And nothing Elon has said or done in the past year has directly affected the utility of the service, the business story is separate from the utilization of the service!
So no, there won't be a Twitter competitor, not one with any traction.
And no, most people tweeting will not sign off, or if they do, they'll come back on.
And nothing Musk can do with Twitter will turn it into a powerhouse, attracting new users. Sure, he could turn the app into something else, like WeChat... But in truth, that's about building a whole new service, there's not that much there at Twitter to base a new effort upon.
So, Elon tries to clean up the business, bloviates how great it is, then takes the company public once again and GETS OUT!
So far, Musk has not done anything to improve Twitter, not a single thing. So one guy owns a social media outlet that most people never think about? He bought it on impulse, he didn't think it through, which is why he wanted to get out of the deal. This is who Elon is. He demonstrates this over and over again, he shoots from the hip and ignores the law and social mores. It's just that this time there was tens of billions of dollars involved.
Let him pay the price. Not only the cash spent in the acquisition, but the burden of owning this moribund social media service which stumbles along but no one has been able to blow up into boffo business. It's his problem. GOOD LUCK!
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