Post by neverfstop on Apr 14, 2022 15:42:12 GMT -5
What a mess....
For those of you not following- he's a general summary.
He secretly started amassing large amounts of twitter stock. He should have filed an SEC (FTC?) legal/financial disclosure when he hit a certain threshold. Last week he announced he bought like $11B in stock and was now the single largest shareholder at 9% Stock price shot up and he finally filed required paperwork and it became public. He also said he would NOT be an active investor & everybody suspected he wouldn't be passive. Twitter board said he was invited to join the board. He backed out of his board position over the weekend, probably b/c he'd have to act in the best interest of the company & it's stockholders. This morning, he issued a hostile takeover of the company by offering to buy the whole company for $43B and take it private. It's at a pretty nice premium on the price over current stock price, but still much lower than earlier this year. He said his concern & motivation is "free speech" and that people (like Trump) shouldn't be banned.
Post by cattledogkisses on Apr 14, 2022 17:44:43 GMT -5
Man, imagine being able to casually shell out $43B for the latest thing you want.
I will confess that I don't have Twitter. I made an account years ago, never used it and forgot about it, until I got a security notice one day of an unauthorized login. Someone had hijacked my account to just repost hundreds of Beyonce memes. It was amusing, but I shut it down and have never made another.
He is a troll. Like the actual definition of an internet troll.
Mark Cuban pointed out something about how 420 is in his bid or something and how he's done that before.
I think he's looking to make a profit on his shares and also that he loves seeing that he has such a huge effect on the market and society. He thinks he's a puppet master.
Post by omgzombies on Apr 14, 2022 19:45:40 GMT -5
I never AGAIN want to hear the argument that net worth and actual spending power are TOTALLY different things, and just because someone has an enormous net worth, they shouldn't be taxed on it as such because they don't have that in liquid capital. This proves that argument is complete and under b.s.
Post by spinnaker5 on Apr 14, 2022 22:46:40 GMT -5
He should not be the CEO of a publicly traded company. Full stop.
By which I mean, he’s trying to have it both ways: getting access to capital on the public market (NASDAQ) and then just doing and saying a bunch of stupid trolly shit that violates SEC rules - eg the tweets a few years ago about taking Tesla private at $420/share (ETA ooo you are such a cool stoner, duuuude🙄) with “funding secured” which was not true, and thus violated SEC disclosure rules. Like, dude, go private and then you can do and say whatever you want, including making up shit about your business like the Chump has done for decades. Gaaah. I hope Twitter tells him to shove it.
My husband says he is just going to do another pump and dump on Twitter to prove a point. His super fans will buy Twitter stock, his 9% will go up in value. Then he will nope out of the whole thing and sell at a profit and just leave a PR mess in his wake for Twitter. He’s done it before.
Yea...Elon is a mess. I agree it may be a pump & dump, his offer price included a 4/20 reference.
I'm fascinated b/c it is so many issues coming together. If Twitter is a "public square" and see as so important to public discourse and dialogue that there "MUST BE" Free speech, why is Elon wanting/willing to take this public good into a private corporation? At that point, he's basically just an oligarch.
Elon doesn't actually have that much cash. So would he sell his Tesla stock? or get a loan against it? Isn't he supposed to be running Tesla and SpaceX, but now also has time to run Twitter? If I was a shareholder in those other companies, I'd be a little nervous.
I do think he's going to get the SEC coming after him again for breaking rules, not disclosing, conflicts of interest, etc.
The other tech companies are also pretty nervous that he could buy twitter or anybody else would come in with a hostile takeover threat in this manner.
Then you have another rich man (bezos) owning Washington Post & controlling another very important media institution. Although Bezos seems normal compared to Elon & seems to be committed to keeping WaPo within normal journalistic boundaries.
This type of judgment call/personality volatility/risk taking is I guess what has made him so successful… but it is also part of the reason why our EVs are not Teslas.
Twitter is my preferred social media platform and I use it way too much.
Fuck Elon.
Same. And I am really, really upset about this. I really want to want to leave it if musk gets his way. But, I do question if I can actually do it. It’s where I do my patient advocacy work. And the community there for cancer support is beautiful. Fuck this decision. I’m still on FB as much as I hate it… why? Why am I such a lemming?!
Twitter is my preferred social media platform and I use it way too much.
Fuck Elon.
Same. And I am really, really upset about this. I really want to want to leave it if musk gets his way. But, I do question if I can actually do it. It’s where I do my patient advocacy work. And the community there for cancer support is beautiful. Fuck this decision. I’m still on FB as much as I hate it… why? Why am I such a lemming?!
I don’t think of it as being a lemming as much as society and life has changed to where you really can’t be off certain social media. I don’t post on my personal FB profile anymore but I still need to use it for work, it’s the only way my neighborhood association and other groups I belong to communicate, it’s where all the info for certain events and businesses are. I don’t think a lot of us really have a choice but to participate any more. I’ve been pushing my groups to at least have websites with info off of Facebook and am seeing that a bit more but it’s slow going.
Agreed. We need a wealth tax stat. These people are NOT paying their fair share.
The daily did an episode on billionaires yesterday...basically once your wealth hits a certain point, it will grow exponentially. They cited 13% annual growth.
Same. And I am really, really upset about this. I really want to want to leave it if musk gets his way. But, I do question if I can actually do it. It’s where I do my patient advocacy work. And the community there for cancer support is beautiful. Fuck this decision. I’m still on FB as much as I hate it… why? Why am I such a lemming?!
I don’t think of it as being a lemming as much as society and life has changed to where you really can’t be off certain social media. I don’t post on my personal FB profile anymore but I still need to use it for work, it’s the only way my neighborhood association and other groups I belong to communicate, it’s where all the info for certain events and businesses are. I don’t think a lot of us really have a choice but to participate any more. I’ve been pushing my groups to at least have websites with info off of Facebook and am seeing that a bit more but it’s slow going.
This is so true. Like the main reason I don’t quit FB is that it’s my go-to source for live music info. A couple bands pretty much only post their dates on FB. And I think the past few years made it more so, because it was one of the only ways to maintain contact with friends. It’s both good and very bad. *sigh*
whenever I think I’m going to try to give up [insert online social thing], I think back to this picture of me taken in 1991, in the basement of a friend’s parent’s house (also, my now husband, but it was when I was friends with his older brother, not him). It was literally taken the moment I discovered IRC, and started talking to people all over the world. There is this look of awe on my face. And dang… that was *gulp* 30 years ago. There have been very few periods of my life where I haven’t been doing some sort of online chatting since then.
I don’t think of it as being a lemming as much as society and life has changed to where you really can’t be off certain social media. I don’t post on my personal FB profile anymore but I still need to use it for work, it’s the only way my neighborhood association and other groups I belong to communicate, it’s where all the info for certain events and businesses are. I don’t think a lot of us really have a choice but to participate any more. I’ve been pushing my groups to at least have websites with info off of Facebook and am seeing that a bit more but it’s slow going.
This is so true. Like the main reason I don’t quit FB is that it’s my go-to source for live music info. A couple bands pretty much only post their dates on FB. And I think the past few years made it more so, because it was one of the only ways to maintain contact with friends. It’s both good and very bad. *sigh*
whenever I think I’m going to try to give up [insert online social thing], I think back to this picture of me taken in 1991, in the basement of a friend’s parent’s house (also, my now husband, but it was when I was friends with his older brother, not him). It was literally taken the moment I discovered IRC, and started talking to people all over the world. There is this look of awe on my face. And dang… that was *gulp* 30 years ago. There have been very few periods of my life where I haven’t been doing some sort of online chatting since then.
I’m hoping there will be a return to places primarily hosting their own websites and info. I am starting to see some push back. Beyond the social media ownership issues and everything else, it really isn’t user/customer friendly to have to check Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to piece together basic info.
I do wish there were more places to connect with other people though! Maybe one day someone not problematic will have a big idea lol
This is so true. Like the main reason I don’t quit FB is that it’s my go-to source for live music info. A couple bands pretty much only post their dates on FB. And I think the past few years made it more so, because it was one of the only ways to maintain contact with friends. It’s both good and very bad. *sigh*
whenever I think I’m going to try to give up [insert online social thing], I think back to this picture of me taken in 1991, in the basement of a friend’s parent’s house (also, my now husband, but it was when I was friends with his older brother, not him). It was literally taken the moment I discovered IRC, and started talking to people all over the world. There is this look of awe on my face. And dang… that was *gulp* 30 years ago. There have been very few periods of my life where I haven’t been doing some sort of online chatting since then.
I’m hoping there will be a return to places primarily hosting their own websites and info. I am starting to see some push back. Beyond the social media ownership issues and everything else, it really isn’t user/customer friendly to have to check Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to piece together basic info.
I do wish there were more places to connect with other people though! Maybe one day someone not problematic will have a big idea lol
@@@@
This is where I'm at. My running group and other org I am on the board of use FB as our primary means of communication. The org there are backups (i.e. we have a website, the listserv emails), but facebook is nice because we can just grant admin rights to whoever the current officers are and then they can all post what they need to and make events and so forth without needing any website savvy and members can ask questions there too.
The running group...I can't even think of a good alternative. The way that's set up anybody can create an event, and it's just a social chatty thing where we all post pictures from our group runs and races, can post sale things, can make plan to carpool to races, etc. Facebook works perfectly for that, but...facebooks sucks.
This is so true. Like the main reason I don’t quit FB is that it’s my go-to source for live music info. A couple bands pretty much only post their dates on FB. And I think the past few years made it more so, because it was one of the only ways to maintain contact with friends. It’s both good and very bad. *sigh*
whenever I think I’m going to try to give up [insert online social thing], I think back to this picture of me taken in 1991, in the basement of a friend’s parent’s house (also, my now husband, but it was when I was friends with his older brother, not him). It was literally taken the moment I discovered IRC, and started talking to people all over the world. There is this look of awe on my face. And dang… that was *gulp* 30 years ago. There have been very few periods of my life where I haven’t been doing some sort of online chatting since then.
I’m hoping there will be a return to places primarily hosting their own websites and info. I am starting to see some push back. Beyond the social media ownership issues and everything else, it really isn’t user/customer friendly to have to check Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to piece together basic info.
I do wish there were more places to connect with other people though! Maybe one day someone not problematic will have a big idea lol
See, this is where I think it’s the opposite. Is it really MORE user-friendly to have to go to multiple independent websites everyday to check for updates?
The only real alternative is something like an email listserv or WhatsApp (which is a Meta product anyway) but nothing beats social media as a place where you can get all your (unrelated!) updates — from neighborhood associations, to alumni groups, to @@@school stuff@@@, to events — all in one place. For example, I follow all of my favorite comedians on Instagram so I can buy tickets to their shows on the day they go on sale. If I didn’t, I’d have no other way of knowing, unless I could sign up for email alerts (and I already get enough spam.)
I’m hoping there will be a return to places primarily hosting their own websites and info. I am starting to see some push back. Beyond the social media ownership issues and everything else, it really isn’t user/customer friendly to have to check Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to piece together basic info.
I do wish there were more places to connect with other people though! Maybe one day someone not problematic will have a big idea lol
See, this is where I think it’s the opposite. Is it really MORE user-friendly to have to go to multiple independent websites everyday to check for updates?
The only real alternative is something like an email listserv or WhatsApp (which is a Meta product anyway) but nothing beats social media as a place where you can get all your (unrelated!) updates — from neighborhood associations, to alumni groups, to @@@school stuff@@@, to events — all in one place. For example, I follow all of my favorite comedians on Instagram so I can buy tickets to their shows on the day they go on sale. If I didn’t, I’d have no other way of knowing, unless I could sign up for email alerts (and I already get enough spam.)
The issue I keep finding is that since you have to follow so many things on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter everything is getting lost in the shuffle. If I don’t constantly interact with an account, I don’t see it.
Most bands/comedians have social media *and* a dedicated website and newsletter because they really want your money and have a team to handle it all. You can look up and see all the info in one place. Venues selling tickets have their own sites and newsletters.
Smaller businesses/social groups/events are all over the place. I still have to search Facebook for anything I’m remotely interested in or want to know because there is so much there and I don’t have hours to scroll.
Back in the olden days you’d have a website that was the primary, updated hub. Now places don’t have a website at all and don’t share all info in all spaces.
IRL examples just from April.
Ex 1—I saw on Instagram stories there was going to be a pop up event in my neighborhood. I wanted to know where it was, what time and what vendors. I went to their grid. No info. I went to Twitter—they shared the times and address. I went to their website, it hasn’t been updated in years. I go to Facebook and they didn’t list the exact time or date (just “this weekend”) or location but listed the vendors.
Ex 2— one of my favorite restaurants doesn’t have a website. Their URL redirects you to their Facebook page. I check Facebook for this week’s menu and hours. I decide to stop there on my way home and order take out. It’s closed. I check Facebook from the parking lot. The hours say it should be open. There was a post the day before with pictures of the food. I check Instagram, their stories say it’s closed for the day.
Ex 3–The library tweeted my branch was closing early. They did not share that on the main site, Instagram or Facebook. I just happened to see the tweet.
Ex 4: My community org is having a meeting. They post about it in the FB group. They don’t send out an email. It’s not on a website. It’s a private meeting so it’s not on the main FB public page. The post gets buried under a bunch of posts about lost cats and plumbing.
Ex 5 I’m on a local gardening list serv. They say they are having an event in at a park in one of the public meeting rooms and to check the park website for details. The park website says all buildings and bathrooms are closed. There is an events calendar but it doesn’t show anything until May. I check Instagram, they posted about the event. No mention of the event on Twitter.
I spent way more time chasing down scraps of info on social media and piecing it together than I did 5-10 years ago when most places had a website they actually updated. Posting on social media is really time consuming and IMO these smaller places/groups often aren’t up to the task themselves and don’t hire anyone else to do it. Plus with more people ditching Facebook, many people literally can’t access Facebook info anymore. It really shouldn’t be the primary means of communication. And that’s not even getting into all the the control over content, reliability and data you give up by relying on them.
I’ve spent be contemplating this all day… I’m really torn. Does the good *I* find on Twitter outweigh the a shitty human being profiting off of me. I think one of the things compelling me to stay is that if all the good leaves, then it just becomes a rotting cesspool. As opposed to the flowers growing around the cesspool. *sigh*