Elon Musk $41B offer for Twitter
Discussion
p1stonhead said:
It’s a full cesspit now.
I used to follow racing etc on there, but just before I quit, you’d get something on F1 and then next to it some porn or someone getting violently assaulted or something. Without warning. It’s the Wild West now. Awful.
We have been over this a million times. If you select "Following" you only get the posts which relates to the people you specifically follow. If you select "For you", you get an amalgamation of what the algorithm thinks you will like (so, based on what you said, it thinks you like porn and violence for some reason). I used to follow racing etc on there, but just before I quit, you’d get something on F1 and then next to it some porn or someone getting violently assaulted or something. Without warning. It’s the Wild West now. Awful.
Having said that, I do occasionally sample the "For you" and, subjectively, I think it has improved in the last few weeks. For example, it's shown me a few interesting science based threads for example that I wouldn't normally have seen. I've also noticed more (but not all) bot accounts being deactivated.
EddieSteadyGo said:
p1stonhead said:
It’s a full cesspit now.
I used to follow racing etc on there, but just before I quit, you’d get something on F1 and then next to it some porn or someone getting violently assaulted or something. Without warning. It’s the Wild West now. Awful.
We have been over this a million times. If you select "Following" you only get the posts which relates to the people you specifically follow. If you select "For you", you get an amalgamation of what the algorithm thinks you will like (so, based on what you said, it thinks you like porn and violence for some reason). I used to follow racing etc on there, but just before I quit, you’d get something on F1 and then next to it some porn or someone getting violently assaulted or something. Without warning. It’s the Wild West now. Awful.
Having said that, I do occasionally sample the "For you" and, subjectively, I think it has improved in the last few weeks. For example, it's shown me a few interesting science based threads for example that I wouldn't normally have seen. I've also noticed more (but not all) bot accounts being deactivated.
The issue is when you look at the comments on the posts of the people you are following. An amalgam of real responses, Chinese drop-shop advertising, odd off-topic posts from obvious bot accounts and of course the pics-in-bios lot.
EddieSteadyGo said:
p1stonhead said:
It’s a full cesspit now.
I used to follow racing etc on there, but just before I quit, you’d get something on F1 and then next to it some porn or someone getting violently assaulted or something. Without warning. It’s the Wild West now. Awful.
We have been over this a million times. If you select "Following" you only get the posts which relates to the people you specifically follow. If you select "For you", you get an amalgamation of what the algorithm thinks you will like (so, based on what you said, it thinks you like porn and violence for some reason). I used to follow racing etc on there, but just before I quit, you’d get something on F1 and then next to it some porn or someone getting violently assaulted or something. Without warning. It’s the Wild West now. Awful.
Having said that, I do occasionally sample the "For you" and, subjectively, I think it has improved in the last few weeks. For example, it's shown me a few interesting science based threads for example that I wouldn't normally have seen. I've also noticed more (but not all) bot accounts being deactivated.
It was Twitter which changed what was showed to me once Musk took over. I didn’t do anything. And no I don’t look at porn or people getting stabbed on there funnily enough.
EddieSteadyGo said:
We have been over this a million times. If you select "Following" you only get the posts which relates to the people you specifically follow. If you select "For you", you get an amalgamation of what the algorithm thinks you will like (so, based on what you said, it thinks you like porn and violence for some reason).
Ah yes, the first rule of website development: if the user has a bad experience, it's their fault. 
And the second rule: make the default experience so bad that your users will need instructions on how to make it bearable.
durbster said:
Ah yes, the first rule of website development: if the user has a bad experience, it's their fault.
And the second rule: make the default experience so bad that your users will need instructions on how to make it bearable.
I must admit, the decision to make "For you" the default choice was very bad. They could have used other methods to encourage people into trying "for you" without just dumping it on people.And the second rule: make the default experience so bad that your users will need instructions on how to make it bearable.
5 In a Row said:
With all these layoffs are Tesla now transitioning (or going back to) to being a tech company rather than a car manufacturer?
I believe that Musk is, as usual, acting like a petulant spoiled child-king from the 16th century.He surrounded himself with sycophants, true believers and adoring idiots years ago - both in real life and online.
His sacking the teams working on New cars, New Battery Tech, Supercharging and Marketing implies to me that he's basically destroying anything of real proven value in the firm so everyone else has to go with his AI/humanoid robot/robotaxi/give Elon $40bn plan because there's nothing else left to do.
EddieSteadyGo said:
We have been over this a million times. If you select "Following" you only get the posts which relates to the people you specifically follow. If you select "For you", you get an amalgamation of what the algorithm thinks you will like (so, based on what you said, it thinks you like porn and violence for some reason).
Having said that, I do occasionally sample the "For you" and, subjectively, I think it has improved in the last few weeks. For example, it's shown me a few interesting science based threads for example that I wouldn't normally have seen. I've also noticed more (but not all) bot accounts being deactivated.
I do not believe this to be correct any longer.Having said that, I do occasionally sample the "For you" and, subjectively, I think it has improved in the last few weeks. For example, it's shown me a few interesting science based threads for example that I wouldn't normally have seen. I've also noticed more (but not all) bot accounts being deactivated.
I only use the "Following" tab but I get posts with purple stars in Notifications that are from people I do not follow.
If you look here - https://gotechug.com/what-does-the-purple-star-mea... - it says:
"When you find a purple star in the notifications tab of your application, it means that you are looking at a recommended tweet.
WHAT ARE RECOMMENDED TWEETS?
Recommended tweets are posts that are suggested to Twitter users depending on several factors and different applied algorithms."
durbster said:
I logged into Twitter for the first time in many months because I thought the replies to this would be entertaining. That's exactly the kind of post that provokes Twitter to do what Twitter does best i.e. lots of very funny replies mixed with some expertise, and some balance that should bring him back to earth.
But... nope. There's nothing. The replies are a seemingly endless stream of blue-tick sycophancy. There's no jokes, no funny pictures, gifs or videos, no piss taking at all. Not even a single reference to "creating a GUI in Visual Basic to track the IP address."
It's mostly people saying, "wow," and telling him how brilliant he is. It's no wonder he's delusional.
If there was any doubt Twitter has changed, I think that says it all.
MMm, if I were a conspiracy theorist I might suggest that there is a sudden uptick in activity and promoted posts supporting Musk, Tesla and everything else he is linked with. I did notice that my feed was suddenly full of blue tick sycophants attempting to justify Musk's actions and how he's a techno-god.But... nope. There's nothing. The replies are a seemingly endless stream of blue-tick sycophancy. There's no jokes, no funny pictures, gifs or videos, no piss taking at all. Not even a single reference to "creating a GUI in Visual Basic to track the IP address."
It's mostly people saying, "wow," and telling him how brilliant he is. It's no wonder he's delusional.
If there was any doubt Twitter has changed, I think that says it all.
One struck me as just as utterly asinine - a post from a Tesla fanboy was desperately attempting to positioning remote unlock and start as some sort of miracle technology! Then there were lots of supporting replies saying the same thing. Utterly ridiculous. This must be some sort of promoted post, it has to be!
On the flip side of this, initially I did see a few tweets from ex-Tesla employees and EV supporters criticising Musk's action, but these suddenly vanished and for some reason I cannot seem to find them again. Not suggesting that they were pulled, but they were getting down promoted. Then add the tweets from Musk himself, promoting himself.... you get the idea.
Of course, Musk wouldnt do this because he's a 'free speach absolutist' and keeps saying that Twitter is all about free speach. Except when it comes to him and his companies.
One of the many ex-Tesla employees who have documented what happened to them:
https://youtu.be/uqXWL2SoQVk?si=5exAt2RZnizYzw2s
This is someone who worked for Tesla for 5 years and did the camping out at the factory in 2023 to meet the production requirements. Found he was locked out at 4.30am and didnt get any information until he texted his boss. This is absolutely NOT the way to handle this type of process.
I have had to do this in the past and it’s a horrible experience. But it’s all about handling the individual and helping through the process. I find it despicable that Musk thinks it reasonable to just fire people with no warning. As a first line manager, the very least you can do is actually call the employee and have a conversation. Just locking them out of their laptop and taking their security badge is an absolutely terrible thing to do.
Of course, this is what Musk does. He did it at Twitter where people arrived at work to find they couldn’t get in and their email was blocked. No warning, no preparation and no communications. Treat these people as humans, please.
https://youtu.be/uqXWL2SoQVk?si=5exAt2RZnizYzw2s
This is someone who worked for Tesla for 5 years and did the camping out at the factory in 2023 to meet the production requirements. Found he was locked out at 4.30am and didnt get any information until he texted his boss. This is absolutely NOT the way to handle this type of process.
I have had to do this in the past and it’s a horrible experience. But it’s all about handling the individual and helping through the process. I find it despicable that Musk thinks it reasonable to just fire people with no warning. As a first line manager, the very least you can do is actually call the employee and have a conversation. Just locking them out of their laptop and taking their security badge is an absolutely terrible thing to do.
Of course, this is what Musk does. He did it at Twitter where people arrived at work to find they couldn’t get in and their email was blocked. No warning, no preparation and no communications. Treat these people as humans, please.
off_again said:
One of the many ex-Tesla employees who have documented what happened to them:
https://youtu.be/uqXWL2SoQVk?si=5exAt2RZnizYzw2s
This is someone who worked for Tesla for 5 years and did the camping out at the factory in 2023 to meet the production requirements. Found he was locked out at 4.30am and didnt get any information until he texted his boss. This is absolutely NOT the way to handle this type of process.
I have had to do this in the past and it’s a horrible experience. But it’s all about handling the individual and helping through the process. I find it despicable that Musk thinks it reasonable to just fire people with no warning. As a first line manager, the very least you can do is actually call the employee and have a conversation. Just locking them out of their laptop and taking their security badge is an absolutely terrible thing to do.
Of course, this is what Musk does. He did it at Twitter where people arrived at work to find they couldn’t get in and their email was blocked. No warning, no preparation and no communications. Treat these people as humans, please.
This guy is going to live in his car for 5 years - really. What is in the water in CA that creates these strange behaviours?https://youtu.be/uqXWL2SoQVk?si=5exAt2RZnizYzw2s
This is someone who worked for Tesla for 5 years and did the camping out at the factory in 2023 to meet the production requirements. Found he was locked out at 4.30am and didnt get any information until he texted his boss. This is absolutely NOT the way to handle this type of process.
I have had to do this in the past and it’s a horrible experience. But it’s all about handling the individual and helping through the process. I find it despicable that Musk thinks it reasonable to just fire people with no warning. As a first line manager, the very least you can do is actually call the employee and have a conversation. Just locking them out of their laptop and taking their security badge is an absolutely terrible thing to do.
Of course, this is what Musk does. He did it at Twitter where people arrived at work to find they couldn’t get in and their email was blocked. No warning, no preparation and no communications. Treat these people as humans, please.
If I just lost my job after 5 years at a notoriously demanding company, first thing I'd do is go looking for a new job. Not sleep in my Model Y. He says he's been earning well over $100k, surely he has some savings.
LivLL said:
This guy is going to live in his car for 5 years - really. What is in the water in CA that creates these strange behaviours?
If I just lost my job after 5 years at a notoriously demanding company, first thing I'd do is go looking for a new job. Not sleep in my Model Y. He says he's been earning well over $100k, surely he has some savings.
Fair point - not sure why he would do that. I am guessing that he's in a bit of a hole. Its well known that Tesla offers fantastic rates for employees to buy cars, but what is not clear (or should I say it is clear, but waiting for some official decision on this) is how this continues for the potentially 1000's of people who took advantage of this. Do they have to return the car? Are they only given one option and thats to buy it outright? If I just lost my job after 5 years at a notoriously demanding company, first thing I'd do is go looking for a new job. Not sleep in my Model Y. He says he's been earning well over $100k, surely he has some savings.
He also mentioned he's in the central valley - dont know where, but suspect I know. Prices of houses have risen fairly well so I would hope he's sat on some cash there, but likely in a lot of debt. Makes sense to sell the house even though thats pretty extreme. There arent that many job opportunities in the central valley that are outside of hourly manual jobs. He's in a bit of a hole there.
EddieSteadyGo said:
durbster said:
Ah yes, the first rule of website development: if the user has a bad experience, it's their fault.
And the second rule: make the default experience so bad that your users will need instructions on how to make it bearable.
I must admit, the decision to make "For you" the default choice was very bad. They could have used other methods to encourage people into trying "for you" without just dumping it on people.And the second rule: make the default experience so bad that your users will need instructions on how to make it bearable.
Byker28i said:
EddieSteadyGo said:
durbster said:
Ah yes, the first rule of website development: if the user has a bad experience, it's their fault.
And the second rule: make the default experience so bad that your users will need instructions on how to make it bearable.
I must admit, the decision to make "For you" the default choice was very bad. They could have used other methods to encourage people into trying "for you" without just dumping it on people.And the second rule: make the default experience so bad that your users will need instructions on how to make it bearable.
LivLL said:
This guy is going to live in his car for 5 years - really. What is in the water in CA that creates these strange behaviours?
If I just lost my job after 5 years at a notoriously demanding company, first thing I'd do is go looking for a new job. Not sleep in my Model Y. He says he's been earning well over $100k, surely he has some savings.
Interesting analysis of what he said - because to me it sounded like living in the car was a choice. And I can immediately think of a reason he would do that.If I just lost my job after 5 years at a notoriously demanding company, first thing I'd do is go looking for a new job. Not sleep in my Model Y. He says he's been earning well over $100k, surely he has some savings.
It's easy to do the victim blaming route (I'm not saying you are) but nothing excuses the way Musk, throughout all his companies, treats his employees.
Guess that apartheid emerald mine mindset can't be turned off.
I don’t get how someone would contemplate living in a car for five years as a choice.
He’s clearly intelligent, educated, well spoken and capable. To go “off grid” and live like a hobo out of a car for half a decade just seems a bizarre choice.
He can move anywhere in the US to find work and still make his fortunes and retire early. Maybe he’s just in shock
He’s clearly intelligent, educated, well spoken and capable. To go “off grid” and live like a hobo out of a car for half a decade just seems a bizarre choice.
He can move anywhere in the US to find work and still make his fortunes and retire early. Maybe he’s just in shock
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