Is Elon Musk the greatest visionary or the greatest snake oil salesman of our age?

[BigMoaner]

Got to thinking today about the Big Brother series (enjoyed the first few series) and that show kinda reminds me of what social media is (I don’t necessarily mean in the “panopticon” sense) You go “online” and there’s a sort of performance there, not to cameras but to others, “followers” become the cameras. If you have a good day you get liked and retweeted or whatever. In the big brother house you get cheered or boos as you leave. It’s a similar mix of performance/reward/punishment. It’s a manufactured realm, in which we play out a version of ourself that the medium itself manipulates. All well and good, and has some value. It’s fun. Form of play, or something. But folk should always ask what is left? Going for a days hike with a mate, doing the washing up in silence, laying in bed with no podcast on, just your thoughts. The non monitored and monitised subject lol. In what realms is the subject (largely) without interference?

 

[Santino]

Got to thinking today about the Big Brother series (enjoyed the first few series) and that show kinda reminds me of what social media is (I don’t necessarily mean in the “panopticon” sense) You go “online” and there’s a sort of performance there, not to cameras but to others, “followers” become the cameras. If you have a good day you get liked and retweeted or whatever. In the big brother house you get cheered or boos as you leave. It’s a similar mix of performance/reward/punishment. It’s a manufactured realm, in which we play out a version of ourself that the medium itself manipulates. All well and good, and has some value. It’s fun. Form of play, or something. But folk should always ask what is left? Going for a days hike with a mate, doing the washing up in silence, laying in bed with no podcast on, just your thoughts. The non monitored and monitised subject lol. In what realms is the subject (largely) without interference?

Doesn't social media in some way replace the recognition and 'fame' that nearly all humans would have had when living in smallish communities?

 

[NoXion]

Doesn't social media in some way replace the recognition and 'fame' that nearly all humans would have had when living in smallish communities?

In a roundabout way I would say that yes, on some level social media is a knowing or unknowing attempt to emulate the "ancestral village". But that's complicated by various factors such as the sheer size of the notional "village", the confounding effects of anonymity/pseudonymity, and the presence of the profit motive twisting things away from healthy interactions towards dysfunctional "engagement".

 

[hitmouse]

Apologies for source, but linking to a write-up from a shitty website feels better than just posting xtwitterx posts or similar - anyway, here's how Dwyer's beloved unregulated free market of ideas is going:

Twitter ‘removing Palestine Action US followers’

Numerous reports of removal – and Skwawkbox’s own attempt to follow was reversed Twitter has been accused of removing followers from the new US account of the Palestine Action group. Th…

skwawkbox.org

 

[phildwyer]

Apologies for source, but linking to a write-up from a shitty website feels better than just posting xtwitterx posts or similar - anyway, here's how Dwyer's beloved unregulated free market of ideas is going:

Twitter ‘removing Palestine Action US followers’

Numerous reports of removal – and Skwawkbox’s own attempt to follow was reversed Twitter has been accused of removing followers from the new US account of the Palestine Action group. Th…

skwawkbox.org

I'm not clicking on that, can you summarize please?

 

[hitmouse]

I'm not clicking on that, can you summarize please?

Oh, tres droll. Palestine Action, the direct action campaign targeting the Israeli arms industry, has set up a US branch, and it appears that your fearless unregulated marketplace of ideas is suppressing their account by preventing people from following them:

There you go. Now do you want to have a go at explaining to me how this is actually good and proves that your boy Musk is standing up to the FBI and the Deep State because the FBI really loves it when people take action against Israeli arms companies?
ETA: and in video form:

 

[two sheds]

aww

 

[Rob Ray]

X, formerly Twitter, will launch two new subscription tiers, Elon Musk says

Elon Musk says one tier will be "lower cost with all features, but no reduction in ads," while the other is "more expensive, but has no ads."

www.cnbc.com

"Hi this is the Twitter ad sales department, would you like to buy advertising aimed solely at people who demonstrably can't or won't spend larger sums easily? For a bonus, we've also locked out the lower end of the market so advertising mass-aimed super cheap stuff is out too. Hello?"

 

[magneze]

Judging by the amount of Twitter embeds still infecting this site, many on here will probably start funding Musk directly. It's terribly inconvenient not being on Twitter don't you know?

 

[Rob Ray]

It's still free if you signed up prior I think. Tbh I'd be interested to know how many actual new accounts Twitter's even getting at this stage - they'd already reached something of a saturation point before Mush got involved. Sadly the relationship between reality and twiX stats is iffy at best.

 

[two sheds]

Judging by the amount of Twitter embeds still infecting this site, many on here will probably start funding Musk directly. It's terribly inconvenient not being on Twitter don't you know?

Not really with the Nitter add-on. I've never joined Twitter and don't find that inconvenient at all.

 

[krtek a houby]

It's a weight off, not being on it anymore, tbh

 

[NoXion]

I don't even bother clicking on Twitter embeds these days. You can't read threads unless you log in. Which I will never do.

 

[phildwyer]

Oh, tres droll. Palestine Action, the direct action campaign targeting the Israeli arms industry, has set up a US branch, and it appears that your fearless unregulated marketplace of ideas is suppressing their account by preventing people from following them:

There you go. Now do you want to have a go at explaining to me how this is actually good and proves that your boy Musk is standing up to the FBI and the Deep State because the FBI really loves it when people take action against Israeli arms companies?
ETA: and in video form:

That looks bad alright. But before Musk took over, Twitter was basically run by the FBI. So I reckon he's still a big improvement.

 

[Storm Fox]

That looks bad alright. But before Musk took over, Twitter was basically run by the FBI. So I reckon he's still a big improvement.

Go on phildwyer let us blinded sheeple know which ones of the following are true.


I want 'Greta Thumberg is a Time Traveller' to be true

 

[two sheds]

That looks bad alright. But before Musk took over, Twitter was basically run by the FBI. So I reckon he's still a big improvement.

Sweeping statement #37. You're doing this all the time. All the time.

 

[8ball]

Go on phildwyer let us blinded sheeple know which ones of the following are true.
View attachment 396889

I want 'Greta Thumberg is a Time Traveller' to be true

George Soros and anti-maskers and adrenochrome are definitely real.
And soy boys are renowned for not being dangerous.

That graphic is rubbish.

 

[Storm Fox]

George Soros and anti-maskers are definitely real.

It means George Soro is somehow involved in a world government.
Anti-maskers promote not wearing masks when there is a lot of evidence that wearing masks reduces the spread of viruses.
I would have thought someone of your intellectual stature would have understood this from context.

But happy to help

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

He seems to be gunning for Wikipedia lately.

 

[8ball]

It means George Soro is somehow involved in a world government.
Anti-maskers promote not wearing masks when there is a lot of evidence that wearing masks reduces the spread of viruses.
I would have thought someone of your intellectual stature would have understood this from context.

But happy to help

Well, you're wrong on at least two of those points, but let's not get bogged down.

 

[Storm Fox]

Well, you're wrong on at least two of those points, but let's not get bogged down.

Oh let's, which two points are they? I mean, I don't want to be wrong in the future if I can help it. I admit I may be wrong about Soros, but the CT is so stupid I don't care.

 

[8ball]

Oh let's, which two points are they? I mean, I don't want to be wrong in the future if I can help it. I admit I may be wrong about Soros, but the CT is so stupid I don't care.

That's the bit where we'd get bogged down.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

He seems to be gunning for Wikipedia lately.

Wikipedia can be edited by anyone, as Musk knows. The far right has made many attempts to edit entries to their satisfaction. with some success. More recent attempts involve entries on Lebanon, Palestine, and Ukraine--pretty much as you expect. The long-term Wikipedia editors tend to wall that stuff off sooner or later, or lock down entries when they become too political.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Wikipedia can be edited by anyone, as Musk knows. The far right has made many attempts to edit entries to their satisfaction. with some success. More recent attempts involve entries on Lebanon, Palestine, and Ukraine--pretty much as you expect. The long-term Wikipedia editors tend to wall that stuff off sooner or later, or lock down entries when they become too political.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

It's almost as if there's a reason why university-level instructors don't accept Wikipedia as a viable source. I've found that it depends on the subject. Wikipedia is pretty reliable for things like chemistry and science, and less so for information about history, politics, and people.

 

[Storm Fox]

That's the bit where we'd get bogged down.

That's cool; you call me out for being wrong. But cannot back up your assertion. Nice.

 

[8ball]

That's cool; you call me out for being wrong. But cannot back up your assertion. Nice.

I was doing joke-pedantry on a conspiracy graphic.
Having an over-sensitive day?

 

[NoXion]

"It's just a joke bruh, why are you being so sensitive?"

Fuck knows, maybe because online radicalisation is a serious matter?

 

[krtek a houby]

That looks bad alright. But before Musk took over, Twitter was basically run by the FBI. So I reckon he's still a big improvement.

The proliferation and amplifying of white supremacy, conspiracy theories and antisemitism is an improvement?

Get out of here.

 

[BigMoaner]

Yeh turning a once (arguably) socially viable social media platform into a massive powerhouse for proliferating absolute horseshit for mankind is a real win for musk. What a genius.