X apparently added 5-second delay for links to sites Musk doesn’t like

X, formerly Twitter, "confirmed the delay was removed but did not elaborate."

See full article...

 

[DeschutesCore]

And to think... there was actually a time when I admired Elon.

Disliked the guy after it broke that he was pushing the founder title for Tesla, but I did feel genuinely bad for him when Neil Armstrong shit on SpaceX and he cried.



Then the lies compounded and he became megadouche, so hating him is easy. It's just not worth the energy.

 

[hestermofet]

Wasn't that the one in which Amelio delusionally claimed that he, not Steve Jobs or Tim Cook, was the true architect of Apple's current success? It's been a while and maybe I'm recalling an article and not the book; but I seem to recall claims that Jobs and Cook had only charisma and the "cool factor" to offer, but didn't actually know what they were doing or how to run the company; and that all they ever did was merely build upon his own actions and initiatives.

I didn't read the book, but I doubt it, because the book was published the same year Tim Cook joined Apple, so I doubt he had much to say about some rando VP he never met.

Can't speak to what people believe about His Holiness Jobs, but Amelio was definitely instrumental in saving Apple. He righted the ship just enough from the mess that Spindler left that Jobs was able to rocket it to success. Copland and all the other abortive attempts at a replacement for Classic Mac OS were ditched and NeXT was bought instead because of Amelio.

 

[LosAngelesPandas]

At this point my eyes start to glaze over when someone starts talking about free speech.

Because 99 times out of 100 that means they believe some wild things.

 

[msawzall]

Why are Elon's employees so willing to do this crap and is there a line they will not cross if he asks them to?

I think there are only two types of employees that work for him now:
1. Bootlickers who think kissing Elon's ass will lead to future fortunes.
2. People who have kids to feed and bills to pay and are afraid that any alternative job/boss may be worse.
Group one is stupid. Group two is desperate. These are the categories of people egomaniacs and grifters feed off of.

 

[DeschutesCore]

Wasn't that the one in which Amelio delusionally claimed that he, not Steve Jobs or Tim Cook, was the true architect of Apple's current success? It's been a while and maybe I'm recalling an article and not the book; but I seem to recall claims that Jobs and Cook had only charisma and the "cool factor" to offer, but didn't actually know what they were doing or how to run the company; and that all they ever did was merely build upon his own actions and initiatives.

His ego is evident throughout the book, but it is well written, amusing, and a good snapshot of the environment, Silicon Valley, and the evolution of Apple through a time they were literally on the verge of collapse. It's a good read, in my opinion.

 

[the_frakker]

It was before Trump upended everything in 2016. He proved that the more effective strategy is to simply continue to generate new, more outrageous controversies over and over.

The goal is not to look good, it's to retain attention and drive engagement. As evidenced by this very article, the strategy works. The only solution I can think of would be for news media to simply ignore Musk's actions, but the media benefits from the engagement just as much as he does, so I don't see that happening any time soon.

Exactly! The idea isn’t to please people. It’s to be the center of attention. That attention is what keeps them relevant.

There is a conundrum. If we all continue to read and comment and engage with content related to Musk, he will continue to be relevant and so will his social media platform. But it’s too financially risky for the media to ignore it. So it’s on the readers to stop engaging. That won’t happen. It’s a catch 22 and Musk knows it and he takes advantage of it.

 

[s73v3r]

More free publicity for X
Sure, it's a dick-move, but no one was hurt, all the major news outlets are once again making Musk/X the topic of the week, and the throttling only affects the people who, for whatever reason, refuse to leave the X platform.

And? How does that entice people to want to use the platform? How does that entice advertisers to use the platform?

 

[jay_max]

What a fucking man-baby. Someone please get him a pacifier and a blankie. If he starts to behave, he can have a juice box.

 

[s73v3r]

Musk called the NYT a "racial genocide apologist."

I guess when the NYTimes reported Nazi speeches in the 30s, they were pro-nazi. Or were they pro-Stalin when they reported his speeches?

If you look at the NYT's reporting of Nazi Germany leading up to WWII, they were kinda pro-Nazi. At the very best, they were Nazi-ambivalent.

I get the point you were trying to make, but it's really not the best example to use.

 

[DarthSlack]

Can't wait for Musk's tell-all book "If I Did It: How I would censor NYT if I were to engage in censorship".

Would that be published before or after his magnum opus "How I gave $20 large to a rapist and human trafficker"?

 

[s73v3r]

Not to defend Musk, but I think you're misinterpreting his statement. He claims to be against censorship that goes far beyond what is required by law. IOW, Twitter legally has to restrict some content (e.g., copyright violations) but he says it shouldn't go far beyond that.

And yet, the only laws he really seems to respect are those of authoritarian governments. He's said he will ignore the EU's hate speech directives.

You're saying it means he would censor as much as is allowed by law (plus a bit), but that a nonsensical interpretation because (1) no one would consider that a reasonable definition of "free speech absolutist" and (2) Twitter can legally censor anything it wants to.

No one would consider Musk an actual "Free speech absolutist". He's a lying liar who lies.

 

[DCRoss]

"Roman Ten" is how your pronounce the social media site name, and posts on it are called "Tenners".

It is decided.

It's like Fiverr, only twice as bad.

 

[keltorsori]

Can only imagine the non-stop shouting on Fox News as evidence of the vast liberal conspiracy against freeze peach if this were any other CEO at the helm. Am getting exhausted by the idiocy of Elon and his petty grievances.

 

[Nafun]

The eventual autopsy/biography of this debacle should be titled How to abuse your userbase and destroy a platform in 10 easy steps

What a petty small little man Melon Mush is. He's revealed himself to be a cruel, vindictive, selfish, egotistical, manipulative, dishonest charlatan

Not that I've been counting but...Is it really going to take all ten steps?

 

[hestermofet]

Oh, it was absolutely him.

There's an outside chance it was the long-lost brother of the car company owner, Homer Musk.

 

[Thad Boyd]

Exactly! The idea isn’t to please people. It’s to be the center of attention. That attention is what keeps them relevant.

I think Musk genuinely wants people to think he's cool and likable.

There is a conundrum. If we all continue to read and comment and engage with content related to Musk, he will continue to be relevant and so will his social media platform.

That's...really not how it works.

Twitter's going down the tubes and me commenting about it on Ars isn't making that happen any slower.

 

[Thad Boyd]

Would that be published before or after his magnum opus "How I gave $20 large to a rapist and human trafficker"?

Well.

Said he was going to give $20 large to a rapist and human trafficker.

 

[hestermofet]

That's...really not how it works.

Twitter's going down the tubes and me commenting about it on Ars isn't making that happen any slower.

In addition to that, while Musk might still be relevant the louder the bleats, he'll have the same kind of relevance as everyone's favourite music-producer-wunderkind-turned-laughingstock, Kanye West.

 

[Ball Or Nothing]

I'm sorry, I don't buy it. Massive internet communities have withered away and people found alternatives before. They always do. I've been part of many of these exoduses. Flickr, MySpace, GeoCities, Yahoo! Answers, Tripod, Slashdot, the list goes on. I don't know if you realize the irony of your first example, because Backpage used to be synonymous with sex work until it was forcefully shutdown. And I guess everyone moved to Twitter? They'll move again when Elon Musk becomes too unbearable.

People who stay on Twitter are still there because they don't care enough that Elon Musk is running it. One day, they won't have a choice because they will wake up and 90% of the community they used to participated in has already packed their bags and moved on to somewhere better months ago. Trust me, it happened to me, and likely to the majority of the people reading this article. Nothing on the Internet is forever. Just like any employee, no social media platform or Internet community is truly irreplaceable. Does anyone even remember Happy Puppy?

Things collapse faster when there’s a better alternative. It is not apparent that such a site or sites have emerged yet.

 

[qazwart]

Not only was the delay via t.co links a real dick move, but Musk-X couldn’t even own it. When caught, they removed it without explanation — trying to pretend it never existed. “Delay? What delay?”

At least they stopped with the automatic poop emoji reply stuff.

 

[Woochifer]

One of the major benefits of having money is paying people to make you look good. This is Wealth 101.

Problem here in that Elon does kinda have issues with actually paying people.

 

[seitojack]

Yet another reason why the billionaire class should not exist.

 

[the_frakker]

I think Musk genuinely wants people to think he's cool and likable.


That's...really not how it works.

Twitter's going down the tubes and me commenting about it on Ars isn't making that happen any slower.

I think you may have misunderstood the 2nd half of my comment. It was in regards to giving Musk attention via news articles. No engagement on articles means no more articles about him.

I agree Twitter is on a downward path no matter if people engage with articles about Musk or not. The relevancy of the platform goes down further if less articles are written about it, so there is a small correlation between the two. Just not alone to kill the platform, itself,

 

[GenialBlackMan]

He has too much free time on his hands for such clownery.

 

[bobinson]

The sign in the Twitter cafeteria reads, "It's been 289 days since management has made a good decision."

 

[TheGuyWithANickname]

https://gizmodo.com/scott-galloway-locked-out-twitter-musk-1850743635

 

[Thad Boyd]

I think you may have misunderstood the 2nd half of my comment. It was in regards to giving Musk attention via news articles. No engagement on articles means no more articles about him.

Nonsense. This is a tech journalism site, and Musk's mismanagement of Twitter is one of the biggest stories in both tech and journalism.

Engagement numbers are a factor in what stories get continuing coverage, but so is newsworthiness.

 

[stormcrash]

https://gizmodo.com/scott-galloway-locked-out-twitter-musk-1850743635

Oh boy he pissed off Galloway? Can't wait to see him tear Mush a new one on his blog

 

[rainynight65]

At this point my eyes start to glaze over when someone starts talking about free speech.

Because 99 times out of 100 that means they believe some wild things.

To me it usually just means they don't want to be called out for saying shitty things. But that's absolutely part of 'free speech'. If you're free to say whatever you want, then so are others when they want to criticise what you're saying.

 

[SittingDuc]

Elon is projecting so hard I half expect his shitty X logo to get beamed onto the surface of the fucking moon.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56781556
Ayup. Although his ultimate goal is Mars, I'm sure he can light up The Moon along the way.

 

[the_frakker]

Nonsense. This is a tech journalism site, and Musk's mismanagement of Twitter is one of the biggest stories in both tech and journalism.

Engagement numbers are a factor in what stories get continuing coverage, but so is newsworthiness.

My point has gone over your head. I understand what you’re saying. Go back to the post I was quoting. Musk is making himself newsworthy on purpose; to make sure he’s in the news every day. Why would any news outlet ignore that, especially a tech site?

My point is that the way it all works allows Musk to take advantage of the cycle in his favor, no matter how negative or positive the news is about him. Trump perfected this type of news cycle and Musk is following the playbook because it works.

 

[MechR]

Won't hold my breath for an antitrust lawsuit. If we're lucky it'll be a moot point in a few years.

 

[kaisersoser]

What a child.

What an insult to children worldwide.
Most kids are not just plain assholes.

Musk is just a grade A-sshole!

 

[Goofball_Jones]

Remember when Musk said he was going to get a new CEO to run Twitter and that he was going to turn it over to them to run? Remember that?

Ah...dream on, silly dreamer.

 

[Thad Boyd]

My point has gone over your head.

Yeah. That must be it.

 

[the_frakker]

Yeah. That must be it.

You seem to think my point is that Ars and others should stop posting articles about Musk. That’s not my point. If this is your response to my explanation then we’re not gonna come to an understanding. Good day, sir.

 

[bb-15]

https://gizmodo.com/scott-galloway-locked-out-twitter-musk-1850743635

First of all the Ars article, about Musk’s hypocrisy regarding free speech and his censorship, is useful in alerting people about this.
Second, I appreciate the posting of the above link about Musk censoring/banning Scott Galloway from X/Twitter because Galloway dared to criticize Musk.
I support the spreading of the knowledge about Musk’s censorship/hypocrisy including by Ars.

 

[MrWalrus]

Do you like being in an abusive relationship? Because when you're on X, you're in one with Elon.

Just walk away.

On the contrary, I’m getting a front-row seat to watch the World’s Most Divorced Man light $44 billion on fire. Only so many chances arise to witness such self-destruction.

 

[rickya_1]

I have never, nor thought I ever would, see someone with so much money and power act like such an imbecile day in and day out in a massively public spectacle.

Interesting.

One of the major benefits of having money is paying people to make you look good. This is Wealth 101.

Unlimited money may cause a person to be totally themselves. In Elon’s case, a total fucking asshole.

 

[keltorsori]

Won't hold my breath for an antitrust lawsuit. If we're lucky it'll be a moot point in a few years.

I may have missed if your responding to a particular post here, but I'm curious where antitrust would come in to play w/ Twitter? As far as a social media market (however one wants to define it), it's somewhat diverse competitively and Twitter has a relatively small share by comparison to Meta or TikTok, etc. Meta may pose some antitrust concerns extending from how it abuses its market position to take advantage of content providers and advertisers (among a host of other abuses), but I'm truly curious if I'm just overlooking something obvious regarding antitrust and Twitter.