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

[Lurdan]

I don't see any far right content unless it's quoted or mentioned by one of the small number of people I'm following. I also don't see any adverts, or the trending sidebar, or the 'suggested for you' sidebar, or the algorithmic 'for you' timeline.

That's because I read x-twitter using a browser and installed the 'Control Panel for Twitter' extension. Customised the settings as I wanted them. Bish bosh. Fortunately no 'ton of effort' involved as I'm getting a bit lazy in my old age.

Available on most browsers including browsers on mobiles. Actively updated. Doesn't work on the X-twitter app obviously. Of course now I feel a bit guilty I never mentioned it before

 

[lazythursday]

I don't see far right content in the 'Following' feed, but if I accidentally switch into 'for you' I get loads of toxic arguments and the odd bit of far right stuff. I find myself getting really wound up and stressed then I realise I'm in the wrong feed.

I'm using twitter at probably a quarter of what I used to, it's just not as useful as it was.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Yes, likewise, I use 'following' not 'for you' so don't see a lot of shit, and I tend not to read the comments on anything political, as I'm aware that a fair proportion will be from people of the opposite political view stirring shit. I've never really had any bother on there - a few spam accounts following or liking or messaging now and then, both before and after the muskification.

A very few people I know have decamped completely to blooksi or mastodon, some more are duplicating stuff across both, many (including most organisations) have stayed put on twitter.

I've noticed it before when one online place goes to shit, or just goes, that you never quite get back to where you were - different people drift off in different directions, some decide they will just do farcebook (which i won't do) and some just disappear.

meh.

 

[Dogsauce]

I set up another Twitter account for following Ukraine invasion stuff and I’ve ended up unfollowing quite a few people since stuff kicked off again in Gaza because so many had appalling takes on everything, lots of ‘pallywood’ type comments which is a marker for being a complete arsehole. Americans in particular seem to be wilfully ignorant of the history of the region, I see few reasonable comments. I do get recommended to follow all kind of awful dicks, Republican politicians etc. and they appear on the ‘for you’ feed when I log in (though I always click on ‘following’ straight away). One of the reasons I set that up was to keep similar stuff off my existing (and almost dormant) account.

 

[mwgdrwg]

I genuinely see zero far right content - woke algorithm
but i know it exists and i know who musk is and all the rest and ive even had two project accounts suspended (pre Musk) from malicious reporting
id rather ditch it but for me it remains necessary

I really am absolutely amazed, truly, since Musk took over my feed, even the ads and trends are littered with right wing shit for me, even though I only followed some music stuff. Had to bin it for good. I assume you are somehow am exception.

 

[NoXion]

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I really am absolutely amazed, truly, since Musk took over my feed, even the ads and trends are littered with right wing shit for me, even though I only followed some music stuff. Had to bin it for good. I assume you are somehow am exception.

i have an ad blocker which seems still be able to block ads on there.

i don't often pay much attention to what's trending either. every now and then, i will, if i'm bored, and there's usually some people taking the piss about whatever the right wing loons are getting angry about and wanting to boycott this week.

 

[mx wcfc]

I don't see any far right content unless it's quoted or mentioned by one of the small number of people I'm following.

No, me neither. Bugger all political stuff pops up these days.

I'd rather it happened somewhere else, and I expect I've said this before, but Xitter is where my local Non league football happens, and that's the only reason I'm still using it.

I rarely post except about Winchester City FC, and the only other stuff I'm signed up to is stuff like the World Bollard Association, and if you are not on that, why are you even on the internet?

 

[Rob Ray]

Ironically one of our most popular recent posts on TwiX: X isn't an airport, but we're announcing our departure - Freedom News

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I rarely post except about Winchester City FC, and the only other stuff I'm signed up to is stuff like the World Bollard Association, and if you are not on that, why are you even on the internet?

it's all a load of bollards, and bollards to it all...

 

[pbsmooth]

Ironically one of our most popular recent posts on TwiX: X isn't an airport, but we're announcing our departure - Freedom News

CNET. Probably the biggest tech site in the world seems to have quietly stopped posting to twitter. Plenty of others have as well and it has made pretty much zero difference to traffic or anything else.

 

[Artaxerxes]

 

[NoXion]

Now if anything could reasonably be called virtue signalling, then it would be acting like a massive weenie over shooting fictional cops in a game famous for having criminal protagonists.

On the other hand, if the game involved maiming factory workers he'd be all over it.

 

[tommers]

View attachment 403084

So he has played San Andreas and Vice City? Hmmmm, interesting.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Now if anything could reasonably be called virtue signalling, then it would be acting like a massive weenie over shooting fictional cops in a game famous for having criminal protagonists.

On the other hand, if the game involved maiming factory workers he'd be all over it.

It's comical considering his edgy "I'm so cyberpunk rebel" mouthing off.

Turns out he's rooting for the big corps not the street runners which is entirely the wrong thing to take from the genre. It's not steampunk

 

[BigMoaner]

Can just imagine him waking in the morning grabbing his phone and thinking “no, hhaaaaactualllly”

 

[ska invita]

For the first time in a month I've had an advert that isn't home shopping tat and is from a corporate advertiser! I wonder who is still advertising with Twitter? Have a guess

Many points if you guessed The Telegraph promoting eugenics

 

[Puddy_Tat]

i've started getting a few 'likes' on teh tweeter the last few days - sometimes for things i said ages ago - from spam / porn link accounts. have reported and blocked, which may or may not do anything.

 

[Yossarian]

i've started getting a few 'likes' on teh tweeter the last few days - sometimes for things i said ages ago - from spam / porn link accounts. have reported and blocked, which may or may not do anything.

I've posted and commented less than a dozen times in 15 years on Twitter, and nothing since July, but my account has gained dozens of followers in the last couple of months, all apparently from accounts similar to the one you describe

 

[ska invita]

Sorry to derail but I need to share with someone who understands

 

[8ball]

Sorry to derail but I need to share with someone who understands

View attachment 403259

Understands how much you love horses?

 

[NoXion]

Musk caught sucking his own dick in public:



As if he doesn't already have legions of fanboys doing it for him.

 

[Orang Utan]

I still haven’t seen any actual far right content in my timeline on Twitter, unless you count the Tories or the odd screenshot of fash content tweeted by non-fash

 

[NoXion]

I still haven’t seen any actual far right content in my timeline on Twitter, unless you count the Tories or the odd screenshot of fash content tweeted by non-fash

Cool, you're still supporting a far-right dickhead by using Xhitter.

 

[Orang Utan]

Cool, you're still supporting a far-right dickhead by using Xhitter.

I’m not disputing that he’s a terrible person

 

[Lurdan]

Cool, you're still supporting a far-right dickhead by using Xhitter.

I suppose in a sense I am too. But only in the same sense in which you are supporting the capitalist system, which produces cunts like Musk, through your performance of 'everyday neoliberalism'

 

[NoXion]

I suppose in a sense I am too. But only in the same sense in which you are supporting the capitalist system, which produces cunts like Musk, through your performance of 'everyday neoliberalism'

We're forced to participate in the capitalist system to varying degrees, but you definitely won't explode or starve if you stop using Twitter. In fact the chances are that dumping that shit will make your life better. Social media is deliberately designed to be addictive, stop making excuses and take back a measure of control over your life from the Silicon Valley bastards.

 

[Lurdan]

We're forced to participate in the capitalist system to varying degrees,

Do you mean "I was only obeying orders"?

but you definitely won't explode or starve if you stop using Twitter. In fact the chances are that dumping that shit will make your life better. Social media is deliberately designed to be addictive, stop making excuses and take back a measure of control over your life from the Silicon Valley bastards.

Well if you'll forgive me for pointing it out, your non-participation doesn't seem to be making you very happy. But I don't entirely disagree. Once I started using the 'Control Panel For Twitter' plugin, and I'd removed the 'what's trending' side panel, I have been a great deal happier for having removed the temptation to click on items.

I only use x-twitter to follow a few accounts. For some of them - Grenfell United is an example - x-twitter is their primary method of communication, I imagine because journalists read it. They also have instagram and facebook accounts but they don't use either of them regularly. If that changes and x-twitter ceases to be useful I will have no problem ceasing to use it.

But even if I stop using x-twitter in the future (assuming it has a future), informing myself will still mean using sources of information that are often produced by cunts, distributed through media owned or managed by cunts and in many cases intended to pander to cunts. In my opinion Musk only seems so much worse because we don't actually know as much about the others.

 

[ska invita]

We're forced to participate in the capitalist system to varying degrees, but you definitely won't explode or starve if you stop using Twitter. In fact the chances are that dumping that shit will make your life better. Social media is deliberately designed to be addictive, stop making excuses and take back a measure of control over your life from the Silicon Valley bastards.

the only social media i am addicted to is urban whereas i spend about 10 minutes on twitter each way on my commute for news and dont go on any of the other platforms at all....it remains by far my most important news source and until it gets replaced in mass-use by another platform i will keep using it.

i cant see musk making it to the end of the decade with twitter anyhow...what happens next, who knows

 

[Rob Ray]

It'll be when activist groups take the plunge and go elsewhere that TwiX falls over - they underpin a lot of of its remaining mass draw. The journos are there to follow news generators, the MPs are there to try and be seen by journos. I reckon it can actually make a difference.