The Bane That Is Social Media

[AnBr]

Nov 6, 2022 1:59:48 GMT indy said:

The thing I've noticed most about the people who I've known that have reached a measure of financial success is that they almost always think it is because they are special and that their skills are transferable to anything they touch. It's pretty rare when that is true.

Nick Hanauer has said that the only difference between himself and others is an abnormally high tolerance to risk.

[LFC]

Musk goes full metal Republican (paywalled) by blaming advertisers' pullback on ... wait for it ... "activist groups pressuring advertisers!" Because, of course, it can't be his own fault. Bold of a small life line from Moscow Mitch mine. BTW companies have been pulling back pretty much since he signed the deal.

If you have been watching the on-going bonfire of Twitter, you may have noticed a couple new things at the end of this week. The exodus of advertisers continues. This morning Twitter began firing what most reports suggest will be roughly half the company’s workforce. The also faced a new round of lawsuits over the company’s allegedly beginning layoffs with no notice. Most notable today though was the shift in Musk’s own tone as expressed in his tweets and an impromptu appearance at a business conference. He’s shifted from swagger to panicked complaining that Twitter is imploding as a business because of a campaign by “activists” to make advertisers abandon the site.

Yesterday morning he tweeted: “Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists. Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America.” In response to one big name account owner who pointed out that Musk had only days ago posted a gay-bashing conspiracy theory mocking the assault on Paul Pelosi, Musk replied: “And therefore Twitter should die?”

Meanwhile a top advisor to Mitch McConnell went on Twitter to threaten companies who refuse to advertise on Twitter.

But of all the news coverage of the incremental developments today the most interesting was a little seen piece in the ad trade press. A MediaRadar analysis reported by MarketingDive found that Twitter’s advertising business has been in fairly steep decline since Musk came into the picture in the Spring. There was a brief increase in new ad clients after Musk’s initial offers. But after it got serious it started going down pretty much all year. There was a small uptick in the window of time when it looked like the deal wasn’t going to happen. But other than that it’s been all down hill.

As the article notes, this decline cannot be entirely disentangled from the worsening global financial outlook over the last eight or nine months. That’s hit advertising generally and it’s hit social networks particularly. But it’s clear that the main driver is Musk himself, at a minimum the advertisers and brands perception that the transition to Musk’s ownership would be tumultuous. Needless to say, the chaotic and uproarious first week of Musk’s tenure has just confirmed all their worst fears and led to the current exodus.

[LFC]

Josh Marshall sums it up. Musk has continued to melt down ... badly. Bold mine.

No advertiser wants to be near this drama or controversy let alone the next N-word explosion. In recent days, Musk has gone on the platform and gotten in fights over whether or not the company is still committed to “content moderation” and “brand safety”. Somehow he’s shocked or angry that people got the idea that he is doing what he spent the last eight months promising to do. Needless to say, any advertiser is spooked by a platform that is firing half its staff on two days notice. (The real ‘product’ of any social media network is its moderation.) But set all that aside. Musk is unable to grasp that the fighting and impulsive outbursts themselves make Twitter radioactive for most advertisers. Yesterday he began threatening that if major American brands didn’t cut it out he’d do a “thermonuclear name & shame” against them. Needless to say, no advertiser wants to get anywhere near a platform or publication where the CEO might publicly go apeshit on your brand out of the blue because of some adjustment you made in your ad spend. This is completely terrifying to any advertiser. Indeed, even ‘terrifying’ doesn’t quite capture it. They don’t need to be terrified. There are plenty of places to advertise. Would you rather go to the supermarket where it’s calm and friendly or the one where the manager might come out and bawl you out for no apparent reason in front of your family?

None of this is activists fault. If you want to run a five star restaurant you can’t put an open air outhouse in the middle of the dining area. That’s just not how it works. Maybe that’s your thing. But it’s not how fine dining works. You don’t get to blame people who say it’s smelly or the much greater number who won’t go in the front door. That’s basically what Musk is doing. He wants to be the world’s biggest troll, play to his new far-right/Trumpy fan base and have all the high dollar national brand advertisers flock to the platform he just wildly overpaid for. That was always an absurd proposition.

[AnBr]

[goldenvalley]

An opinion writer in my local paper has this to say about Twitter:

Watching Twitter die on Twitter is like watching a slow-motion Hindenburg burst into flames, land in a flood, hit an iceberg and blow up.

[LFC]

I keep hoping that all this silliness are parody mockups.

[LFC]

Mastodon is starting to get a little buzz as a Twitter alternative. Who knows if it would take off but one thing is for sure; people are at least looking at alternatives.

If you’ve heard the word “mastodon” a lot since Elon Musk took over Twitter in late October, here’s why: The extinct mammal is also the name of a relatively small, formerly little-known social network that has skyrocketed in popularity, as many Twitter users try it out as an alternative for connecting with others online.

Mastodon lets users join a slew of different servers run by various groups and individuals, rather than one central platform controlled by a single company like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. While all of these social networks are free to use, Mastodon is also free of ads. It’s developed by a nonprofit run by Eugen Rochko, who created Mastodon in 2016, and is supported via crowdfunding, as well as by individuals and groups who operate servers.

Users have been fleeing Twitter for it in recent days or at least seeking out a second place to post their thoughts online as the much more well-known social network faces layoffs, controversial product changes, an expected shift in its approach to content moderation and a jump in hateful rhetoric.

In a Mastodon post late Sunday, Rochko said the social network gained 489,000 users in the less than two weeks, and now boasts over one million active monthly users. (For perspective, Twitter reported in July that it had nearly 238 million daily active monetizable users.)

“That’s pretty cool,” Rochko said of the milestone.

I am one of these Mastodon newcomers, trying it out of curiosity and because Twitter has felt increasingly toxic over time. In my little corner of the decentralized social network there’s been a frenetic, almost party-like vibe for days as more people arrive and longtime users offer tips and answer questions. It’s fun and energizing, and, frankly, feels a lot like the early days of Twitter.

Summary:

[LFC]

Everything Musk does now sticks to him personally.

[pnwguy]

Nov 3, 2022 18:52:35 GMT pnwguy said:

Nov 3, 2022 18:30:00 GMT LFC said:

Well this didn't take long to come out.

"How to turn 44 Billion into 4 Billion", by Elon Musk.  

Foreword by Donald J. Trump

Working hard on his goal...

www.pcmag.com/news/elon-musk-tells-twitter-staff-they-cant-work-remotely-anymore

I don't know why Elon doesn't pay Dumpster to hold a rally at Twitter headquarters, to boost morale and attendance

[LFC]

It's hard to keep track anymore of whether where he is in his genius management cycle. Is he calming advertisers? Is he mocking them? Blaming "activists" for them backing off? It seems now that Musk has kind of shifted to begging them to stay. This is beyond sad.

Twitter owner Elon Musk pleaded with advertisers to keep using his platform on Wednesday as he sketched out his plans for user verification, content moderation and even his intention to add banking features to Twitter in front of a live audience of over 100,000 users.

During an hour-long Twitter Spaces session attended by representatives from Adidas, Chevron, Kate Spade, Nissan and Walgreens, Musk said he wanted Twitter to “be a force that moves civilization in a positive direction.”

An indicator of success, he said, would be whether his decisions lead to growth in users and advertising, while failure would mean the opposite.

The collection of major advertisers and brands listening to Musk’s remarks underscored the intense interest — and perceptions of risk — generated by Musk’s erratic management of the company over the past week, from launching (and then un-launching) product changes to his sweeping layoffs that hit half the company.

To his critics, and to companies that have paused advertising on Twitter, Musk asked to be given a chance.

“I understand if people want to give it a minute and see how things are evolving,” he said. “But really, the best way to see how things are evolving is just use Twitter. And see how your experience has changed. Is it better? Is it worse?”

Musk repeatedly urged skeptics to use the platform while addressing questions about his proposal to offer blue check marks to users who agree to pay $8 a month — a plan whose rollout has been marred by uncertainty and abrupt changes.

Users who pay for Twitter Blue, the platform’s subscription service, will not be required to provide identifying information other than a credit card and a phone number, Musk confirmed. Twitter will eventually default to displaying tweets from Twitter Blue subscribers, while tweets from users who do not pay for a blue check mark, he said, would be relegated to a separate page on the site and effectively buried unless viewers sought out that material.

Read the rest to see how else Musk is floundering. There was a gray checkmark! Oh, he dumped that. Now he's talking about Twitter users being able to pay each other money because, you know, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, and Cash App don't really do that already. [insert facepalm] And maybe Twitter becomes a bank. Who knows, maybe he'll propose that they sell lottery tickets FFS.

[LFC]

And then there's the $8 blue checkmark. Cheezes, they're tearing Twitter apart with the fake accounts just for a laugh.

[LFC]

Who knows how long this will last but I snapped it just in case.

[LFC]

There's even a joke Twitter corporate account. This is brutal.

[LFC]

And another blue check mark of "verification." I'm sure advertisers, and especially advertising agencies, are seeing this and chalking it up as another indicator of Musk not knowing WTF he's doing.

[LFC]

This is endless, and funny as hell.

[LFC]

In another incident that's sure to give advertisers a warm and fuzzy feeling, the FTC has publicly warned Twitter about adhering to its two consent decrees. If Twitter Musk fails (since it's all his baby now) to do so they could be looking at billions in fines. On top of all that three of the main people in charge of making sure they don't screw up have resigned. None of them wants to personally be caught in Musk's shitshow.

Yesterday I tweeted out a question about whether or not there was anyone left at Twitter who remembered that the company was under a pretty strict FTC consent decree:

Apparently the answer was yes, but they didn’t include Elon Musk. Late last night, a few hours after that tweet, the Chief Information Security Officer, the Chief Privacy Officer, and the Chief Compliance Officer all quit, apparently citing potential FTC violations as the reason. Lea Kissner, the former CISO tweeted about it early this morning:

According to the Verge, Elon and his entourage have made it clear that he doesn’t give a fuck about the FTC. It details a note on an internal Twitter Slack from a company lawyer:

In a note posted to Twitter’s Slack and viewable to all staff that was obtained by The Verge, an attorney on the company’s privacy team wrote, “Elon has shown that his only priority with Twitter users is how to monetize them. I do not believe he cares about the human rights activists. the dissidents, our users in un-monetizable regions, and all the other users who have made Twitter the global town square you have all spent so long building, and we all love.”

[….]

The note goes on to say that its author, who The Verge knows the identity of but is choosing not to disclose, has “heard Alex Spiro (current head of Legal) say that Elon is willing to take on a huge amount of risk in relation to this company and its users, because ‘Elon puts rockets into space, he’s not afraid of the FTC.’”

So, here’s the thing. While Elon may think he’s not afraid of the FTC, he should be. The FTC is not the SEC and the FTC does not fuck around. Violating the FTC can lead to criminal penalties. I mean, it was just a month ago that Uber’s former Chief Security Officer was convicted on federal charges for obstruction against the FTC.

And you wonder why Twitter’s Chief Security Officer resigned?

The Verge article also notes the following:

Musk’s new legal department is now asking engineers to “self-certify” compliance with FTC rules and other privacy laws, according to the lawyer’s note and another employee familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity to speak without the company’s permission.

Anyone working in Twitter needs to know that “self-certifying” something that violates the FTC’s consent decree may be tied to a prison sentence and huge fines. This is not how any of this should be working.

Update: It appears the FTC is aware of what’s going on:

“We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern. No CEO or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decrees. Our revised consent order gives us new tools to ensure compliance, and we are prepared to use them.”

[LFC]

This feels endless and it hasn't even been a full two weeks. The sheer amount of f***-uppery he's managed to jam into such a short period is amazing.

Before layoffs began at Twitter, employees had already filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that Twitter violated federal and California laws by not giving staff proper notice before termination. This lawsuit was widely reported, but it’s still unlikely that every employee affected by layoffs is aware they’re eligible to join the lawsuit. That’s a problem, according to Shannon Liss-Riordan, the lawyer representing Twitter staff suing, who says that any employee who doesn’t join the lawsuit might end up agreeing to a worse separation deal than Twitter originally promised them.

“We have amended our class-action complaint against Twitter,” Liss-Riordan told Ars. “Since we originally filed the complaint last Thursday, it has now become clear that Twitter has broken promises to employees.”

According to Liss-Riordan, Twitter told laid-off employees they “would receive the same severance pay and benefits they would have received under Twitter’s previous ownership,” but it now appears that’s not true. Twitter’s prior policy was to provide “at least two months' severance (or more, based on years of service), as well as bonuses, equity, and other benefits,” Liss-Riordan said, but Musk’s Twitter told employees given the official termination date of January 4, 2023, that they would only get one month’s severance pay.

“This is a breach of contract; it's unlawful and wrong,” Liss-Riordan said.

Liss-Riordan told Ars that Twitter should be required to provide notice to employees of the class-action lawsuit before asking them to sign severance agreements.

“Twitter needs to stop asking employees to sign away their rights without informing them that they have legal claims and a lawsuit has been filed on their behalf,” Liss-Riordan told Ars.

Twitter did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.

Twitter has been scrutinized for seemingly attempting to shortchange laid-off staff. Last month, The New York Times reported that the timing of Twitter layoffs—before employees were set to receive stock grants as part of their compensation—could have been a way for Musk to avoid paying grants through layoffs. But Musk has seemed to maintain that Twitter is providing more than adequate compensation. Last week, Musk tweeted that “[e]veryone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50 percent more than legally required.”

In addition to supporting claims for laid-off employees seeking promised severance, Liss-Riordan told Ars that employees who were promised remote work, but later were denied that opportunity by Musk, are also eligible to join the class-action lawsuit.

[goldenvalley]

The above 2 posts are fine examples of Musk's business genius.  When will Americans stop thinking that rich=smart?  

[AnBr]

Nov 10, 2022 21:18:55 GMT goldenvalley said:

The above 2 posts are fine examples of Musk's business genius.  When will Americans stop thinking that rich=smart?  

[AnBr]

[indy]

Musk is already floating bankruptcy. Somehow, I don't think we're really that lucky.

www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-floats-bankruptcy-in-first-twitter-staff-meeting-2022-11

[indy]

My fav:

[LFC]

Nov 11, 2022 2:39:48 GMT indy said:

Musk is already floating bankruptcy. Somehow, I don't think we're really that lucky.

www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-floats-bankruptcy-in-first-twitter-staff-meeting-2022-11

He's also telling employees they need to be "hardcore" which is code for having to work more hours for no more money. I'm sure pulling his dumb ass out of the dumpster fire he created in just two weeks time is motivation enough ... to send out their resumes.

[LFC]

The spoof accounts keep coming.

And then there's this cartoon. Perfection.

[LFC]

The insanity is getting layered. What a shitshow.

I just knew somebody would bring up the credits from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.