Anybody considering leaving Twitter?

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Truth is, I had been a GMGer long before I met her --- and ever since I met (and one year later married) her she has been heroically putting up with my GMG dependence. As a Romanian saying goes, "A better wife I cannot find, a worse one I do not need." 

How long has the GMG forum been around for?

PD

[Florestan]

How long has the GMG forum been around for?

PD

I have no idea. I joined in 2006 (I think), got married officially in 2008 and religiously in 2009.

[Todd]

Elon Musk says Twitter has had 'massive' revenue drop as advertisers pause spending

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/04/elon-musk-says-twitter-has-had-massive-revenue-drop.html

Musk blamed the reluctance of advertisers, such as General Mills, to use the platform on "activists" and characterized it as an "attack on the first amendment."

Mr Musk needs a civics lesson, I think, since the first amendment prevents the government from restricting free speech. It doesn't compel individuals or private companies to publish or support your free speech by patronizing your business.

I suspect Mr Musk is well aware of how advertising works and the protections afforded under the Constitution.  He also knows that he has to placate advertisers, which he publicly attempted to do last week.  (Have people's memories become so short and headline dependent that his lengthy tweet has already been forgotten?)  Musk has also been known to make eyebrow raising tweets, from time to time.

I shan't shed a tear for Musk.  Despite the possibility that he takes a massive personal loss on Twitter, he's still worth north of a couple hundred billion dollars, and some people have made bold predictions that he could become the first trillionaire.  He'll be OK, whether Twitter survives or not. 

[Brian]

The only social media I've ever used is GMG --- which is bad enough. 

GMG is the nicest, friendliest "social media" place I've ever known. Maybe when people complain that there is too much arguing on GMG, I don't understand it because I am so used to the standard on Twitter. 

[Gurn Blanston]

How long has the GMG forum been around for?

PD

I joined in 2002: it wasn't brand new, but it was very recent. Primarily occupied by a splintered off faction of another website. The color scheme at the time: orange and purple with some lovely non-accenting trim, was wonderfully hideous. There were people there at the time (who shall remain nameless unless they prefer not to) who you would immediately recognize. Most you wouldn't.

[Wanderer]

The color scheme at the time: orange and purple with some lovely non-accenting trim, was wonderfully hideous.

It still haunts my dreams. 😬😁

[Karl Henning]

Mastodon seems to have a tiny user base. How did you pick your server?

A chap I follow on Twitter is on the .art server. Apart from my first day of exploring, I've had trouble logging in. I haven't tried since, really. May give it another shot Sunday.

I'd be interested in this, too. Took a brief look at Mastodon, and not quite grasping how it works.
-Bruce

As you may see, I hadn't near twigged it, myself. If further attempts prove successful, I shall report, gents!

[geralmar]

Somehow Musk abruptly firing 3,700 employees-- half Twitter's workforce-- upsets no one but those fired.

[Spotted Horses]

Somehow Musk abruptly firing 3,700 employees-- half Twitter's workforce-- upsets no one but those fired.

I wouldn't say it upsets no one, it is on the front page of The NY Times.

Seems like Musk is intent on a crash and burn trajectory for Twitter. Maybe the 3,700 remaining employees will also be employed elsewhere in the foreseeable future.

[Spotted Horses]

I shan't shed a tear for Musk.  Despite the possibility that he takes a massive personal loss on Twitter, he's still worth north of a couple hundred billion dollars, and some people have made bold predictions that he could become the first trillionaire.  He'll be OK, whether Twitter survives or not.

Well yes, but it is not like he logs into his BoA app and sees a balance of a couple hundred billion dollars in his checking account. He has large equity stakes in various companies which, if he sold them, could tank the companies. He had to take on 13 billion in debt to close the 44 billion acquisition of Twitter. Not that he's poor, mind you, but it's complicated.

Tesla market capitalization is based largely on Musk's cult of personality. But I was reading that electric car manufacturers have emerged in China that sell cars as good or better than a Tesla for half the price. Musk's future as a trillionaire is not entirely assured.

[Szykneij]

Social media is great (like GMG, for instance), but I also strongly believe in stepping away from the computer and taking a walk, or cooking something delicious, or going to a concert, or having dinner with friends. (Last Sunday, a three-hour Moroccan lunch was divine, with no one pulling out their phones.)

-Bruce

GMG is the only social media I engage in!

I strongly agree with your strong agreement. Taking a walk (without bluetooth earbuds), cooking something delicious (or better, yet, eating it), and interacting with other humans live and in-person is my preference.

The Moroccan lunch sounds awesome, but if it was eaten in an authentic manner, I can understand why people would be reluctant to pull out their phones with Tagine on their fingers. 

[Todd]

Not that he's poor, mind you, but it's complicated.

Much more complicated than you know, or I know, or anyone on this forum knows.  The business acumen displayed on this forum is rather markedly less sophisticated than that displayed on other sites.  What occurs here is gossip, where some people believe they have thought of things that Musk or his advisors or his lawyers have not.  That is unlikely, to say the least.

If Musk is not the first trillionaire, someone else will be.  It's all good.

And if Twitter disappears due to Musk's mismanagement, and if Facebook shrinks and ends up catering to old people exclusively as it sheds younger users, and if TikTok is shut out of the US market because of federal action, other social media entities will replace them.  Or not.

[71 dB]

GMG is the nicest, friendliest "social media" place I've ever known.

The official Tangerine Dream forum is by far the nicest place I have experienced. Ironically that place is nowadays very dead with almost no activity (no posts after August 12).

[Todd]

Twitter's Human Rights Lawyer Says Elon Musk Axed the Entire Human Rights Team

From The Wrap.  Infotainment at its most ideological.

[Karl Henning]

The official Tangerine Dream forum is by far the nicest place I have experienced. Ironically that place is nowadays very dead with almost no activity (no posts after August 12).

I should listen me to some Tangerine Dream....

[Gurn Blanston]

And if  Twitter disappears due to Musk's mismanagement, and if Facebook shrinks and ends up catering to old people exclusively as it sheds younger users, and if TikTok is shut out of the US market because of federal action, other social media entities will replace them.  Or not.

Agreed.  Social Media has long surpassed its status as a phenomenon and for better or worse it is now a fact of life.  Since most of us are First-Worlders here,  many may not realize the depth to which it has penetrated in Third World countries.  Like many of you,  I actually have an entirely different life away from here,  and every day I communicate with people in remote areas of South America (mostly) and they taught me how to use WhatsApp as a social media platform.  Their version of Instagram.

Anyway, those who think they are going to wait out the fad and then return to vita sicut erat ante, are destined for disappointment. 

🤠

[71 dB]

I should listen me to some Tangerine Dream....

You know yourself best what you should do. 

[Brian]

Apparently California law requires a 60 day notice for a mass layoff, so the 3,700 employees are entitled to 60 days' pay and health benefit coverage.

[Todd]

From the Verge: Elon Musk's Twitter layoffs leave whole teams gutted

According to emails sent to laid off employees and an internal FAQ obtained by The Verge, those impacted will continue to be paid and receive benefits until dates that appear to match the length of the mass layoff notice required by US federal and state law. If they sign a "Release of All Claims" document and separation agreement, all US employees will then receive one month of base pay as severance that is taxed at the higher supplemental income rate.

I strongly suspect that Musk hired outside counsel specializing in employment law to make sure the layoffs comply with all applicable laws.  It turns out that CEOs are not stupid people.  Some employees may take legal action, but that is a fool's errand.  Employment law is quite exact and there will be pretty much no large paydays, unless someone in a federally protected class can show discrimination.  I have watched this process up close and in complete detail, and while Oregon employment law differs from California law, the laws protect employers at least as much as employees.

[Karl Henning]

Apparently California law requires a 60 day notice for a mass layoff, so the 3,700 employees are entitled to 60 days' pay and health benefit coverage.

Oh, to be so rich, you don't care how much cash you hemorrhage thanks to one's unbridled id.