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Twitter Social Networks

Elon Musk Buys Twitter For $44 Billion (prnewswire.com) 630

Twitter today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Elon Musk, for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at approximately $44 billion. Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company. Press release: Under the terms of the agreement, Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing of the proposed transaction. The purchase price represents a 38% premium to Twitter's closing stock price on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter.

"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," said Mr. Musk. "I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential -- I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."
Earlier on Monday, Musk tweeted: "I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means."
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Elon Musk Buys Twitter For $44 Billion

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 25, 2022 @01:58PM (#62477836)
    I dropped Twitter when they started banning anyone who disagreed them, but maybe it's time for another look. Musk can't do any worse than the existing management.
    • by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:04PM (#62477874) Homepage Journal

      Why can't the edge lords start their own web site and the rest of us can opt out by never visiting it?

      • by Rockoon ( 1252108 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:08PM (#62477896)
        You seem to be upset that you guys lost control of twitter. I suggest you start your own competing service.
        • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:20PM (#62477962)
          Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • by i286NiNJA ( 2558547 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:54PM (#62478180) Journal

          I always hated twitter can't wait to see Musk destroy it.

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 )

        Why can't the edge lords start their own web site and the rest of us can opt out by never visiting it?

        Even Trump has only posted *once* [nymag.com] on his own site, "Truth Social" (as of March 24, 2022):

        So, here’s an exhaustive list of all the “truths” Trump has posted to the site since it officially launched:

        Donald J. Trump: "Get ready! Your favorite President will see you soon!"

        That is all.

        I'm guessing he means Lincoln, but not sure how that's going to work ... :-)

        • by MachineShedFred ( 621896 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @03:08PM (#62478274) Journal

          I'm pretty sure nobody is interested in the "truths" of Zombie Lincoln, Zombie Jefferson, Zombie FDR, or Zombie Washington. After all, they are consistently ranked as the best presidents by historians [cbsnews.com], year after year.

          And let's face it, that's a tough group to crack into if you're aspiring. One literally set the precedent for how to be President. Another doubled the size of the country after writing half the rules for how the government operates, including the set of rules that the US House of Representatives still uses today. Another risked losing half the country in order to fight for what was morally right. And to round out that little brotherhood, the last established the first part of the social safety net we all take for granted, and built some of the largest public works in the nation's history.

          It's especially hard if you're absolutely delusional, as well as ranked between Warren G. Harding and James Buchanan at #42 out of 44. I mean, when you're looking up at the guys who:
            - signed into law the Fugitive Slave Act (Millard Fillmore)
            - only served a month before dying of pneumonia (William Henry Harrison)
            - later joined the Confederacy after leaving office (John Tyler)
            - presided over the worst economic crisis in history (Herbert Hoover)
            - signed the first immigration law that made the following classes of people essentially legally equal in the eyes of the law: paupers, criminals, lunatics, and Chinese (Chester A. Arthur)
            - started two foreign wars, one of which was based on complete horseshit (George W. Bush)
            - withdrew northern troops from the South too early during Reconstruction, giving a free pass to establish Jim Crow and another 100+ years of institutional racism (Rutherford B. Hayes)
            - actual criminal conspiracy and obstruction of justice (Richard M. Nixon) ... well, you've got a long way to go. I mean, being the sorest loser in the history of American politics and attempting an "inside coup" fits pretty well into that group, so they probably have it about right.

      • They tried that a few times, and every one of them failed. See: Parler, Gab, Truth Social.

        It turns out that a successful social media network requires a critical mass of active people engaging with the platform, and without that you're a footnote in tech history at best, and more likely a subject of relentless mocking as the Microsoft Zune of microblogging.

        • by Synonymous Cowered ( 6159202 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @03:25PM (#62478356)

          That's weird. Then how did all the existing ones come to be so popular? They certainly didn't start with a critical mass. And don't say it's because they got started so early, because a) there were other competitors back then too, and b) tiktok was only created in 2016 and it is on fire.

          No, I think the problem is that you can't just create something successful purely out of rage that you weren't allowed to lie to the detriment of democracy and at the expense of human lives. You need some talent to make something good, and some perseverance (and more talent) to see it through when it isn't an overnight success.

          • It's not about critical mass. The largest platform tends to attract (almost) all the eyeballs; people join it because everybody else already has. To be successful, you need to offer something unique (Twitter, FB and YT for instance all differ enough for people to be active on more than one of these platforms. Parler and Gab are not different enough).

            Trying to be unique in the sense that you're allowing anyone to speak out is not good enough, though, and it doesn't necessarily mean you're creating it o
    • by fermion ( 181285 )
      That is what Trump media is for. So that users who disagree with Nunes Cows can be banned instead of users who disagree with reality. That is why twitter has millions of users and Trump has dozens.
      • Meanwhile Trump gets banned from Twitter yet the leader of the Taliban gets to keep his. Trump might be a clown, but last time I looked he hadn't murdered entire towns, enslaved woman and removed all their rights. But hey, optics, right?

        • by fermion ( 181285 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @03:00PM (#62478222) Homepage Journal
          I do agree that Trump and the taliban are equal threats to democracy. It is unfair to ban one and not the other
        • Both the Taliban and Trump have attempted to bring down democratically elected government of the United States. The difference is Trump actually came pretty close to succeeding in that goal. When it came down to it there was just a single capitol hill defending a corridor which lead to the stairwell down which members of congress were fleeing. That officer had a horrible decision to make, shoot Ashli Babbitt or end democracy in the United States, unfortunately for Ashli Babbitt he chose the former.

          Trump no

    • Musk can't do any worse than the existing management.

      If he had bought Facebook, I might tend to agree. I don't think you're giving him enough credit though. Twitter could still get a lot worse.

  • by jddj ( 1085169 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:00PM (#62477852) Journal

    Roll Twitter back to about 2010 and don't fuck with it anymore.

  • by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:07PM (#62477882)

    Seriously, people just tweeting about sports and Korean pop stars will just carry on. The political side of Twitter is actually a minority of users but just very loud.

    People claiming they are going to leave Twitter because of this are just as cringe as those who said they were going to leave Twitter to run to Gab or Parler or Truth. Until something changes enough to force a mass exodus theres no point, Twitter is where the audience is, that's what he's buying, it's userbase. The tech is essentially worthless.

    I can see plus and minuses to this but from his proposed changes it doesn't seem too bad. I think a show of good faith would be to put some of these axioms and rules he seems to have for the site in some sort of charter and take away peoples fears the he might make changes on a whim.

    • Seriously, people just tweeting about sports and Korean pop stars will just carry on.

      Following breaking sports news is pretty much my only reason for using Twitter.

  • by JDAustin ( 468180 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:07PM (#62477884)

    If Twitter started charging a monthly fee for a simple verified user status (not even the blue check), then that would help reduce the influence of the bot brigades.

    • by flippy ( 62353 )
      That may be, but how many actual human users are going to be willing to pay $5/month (or practically any amount) for a service they're quite used to getting for free?
      • If anything being part of an elite club with $5 to spare will be welcomed by Twitter's overwhelmingly narcissistic userbase! Maybe in the future we'll see the classic BMW/rolex/iphone photo but now the phone will have that paid twitter app with a shiny blue checkmark.

  • by SoCalChris ( 573049 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:08PM (#62477890) Journal

    I'm going to laugh if it dies off like Tumblr. Dig, Myspace etc, and he just blew 44 billion.

    • by Z80a ( 971949 )

      The first thing to be learned is to not ban porn like Tumblr did.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • ..the next best thing. Usually the POTUS has the voice of the nation, for good or for ill, but social media changed all that. Not born in the USA and from what Musk observed in the 2016 US election, he must have come to the realization that being able to control the media or the masses is the next best thing to being US President.
  • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:18PM (#62477948)
    Twitter is not a good investment from a business standpoint. Especially at the price being paid. The only reason to do this is to exercise control.

    This isn't something you, me, or anyone who isn't a centi-billionaire could do. I don't like Musk. Or any of the other centi-billionaires like Gates or Bezos or Soros. I make no secret of that.

    But I would like everyone to pause and reflect on just how much power is being wielded here. And ask yourself, will it really be wielded for your benefit? Or do you expect to stay neutral? Is it that easy to be neutral? Switzerland's about to join NATO, so it looks damn hard to me...
  • by Luthair ( 847766 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:18PM (#62477952)
    Back in reality when an expert criticizes him during the cave rescue he calls them a pedo and hires investigators to spy on him. Or is a whistleblower at one of his companies he harasses them and files police complaints.
  • by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:21PM (#62477964)
    Now they have a place to expose NASA and SpaceX! ;)
  • by _xeno_ ( 155264 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:23PM (#62477978) Homepage Journal

    Hopefully the first thing Elon Musk will do is fire all of the Twitter "moderators" that are happy to allow Antifa and BLM to do their terrorist thing on Twitter, while banning conservative parody accounts for making jokes. The second thing he needs to do is fire all the people who insist on making Twitter switch to that algorithmic crap that seems designed to funnel left-wing talking points to you. I'm sure the woke hashtags are really trending with only 1000 tweets, while other things languish with hundreds of thousands of tweets without "trending."

    Twitter can only improve under Elon Musk.

  • by Dagger2 ( 1177377 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:30PM (#62478020)

    Earlier on Monday, Musk tweeted: "I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means."

    He hopes they'll stay, but will they be able to? If they get subjected to an endless torrent of abuse in their PMs and replies, it's going to be very difficult for them to stay around... and it sure doesn't sound like Elon has much interest in banning the sources of that abuse.

  • by oldgraybeard ( 2939809 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:34PM (#62478056)
    Still don't see any reason to create an account.
  • by erp_consultant ( 2614861 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:54PM (#62478184)

    Oh the humanity! Musk has promised to open source the algorithm. Seems reasonable to me. He wants to rid Twitter of bots. Seems reasonable to me. He wants to encourage lively discussion rather than blocking or banning the accounts of people that don't necessarily agree with you. Seems reasonable to me.

    Even Jack Dorsey realizes that the current Twitter board is dysfunctional. Big changes were needed and big changes will come.

  • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @02:56PM (#62478198)
    from the Musk crowd when it's revealed Twitter is banning Union organizers for minor stuff. I give it 6 months to a year.

    Anyone wanna place bets on what those excuses will be? My money's on "it's Musk's platform, he can do whatever he wants" and "they had it coming".
  • by HermMunster ( 972336 ) on Monday April 25, 2022 @03:06PM (#62478262)

    It won't be long before the media starts to depict Twitter as a bad entity, even though they have been showering it with praise for the past few years. This is a given, period, and it demonstrates the liberal bias of the media.

    What will Musk do? He will get rid of the board and do sweeping changes (unseen by the public) to the employee base. Each person will undergo review for their past practices and be let go if they are determined to have used their own bias in making decisions -- he won't make the same mistake that Trump made when he failed to get rid of the shadow government after he was elected. Bear in mind, a company cannot survive when the employees make decisions for the company based on their own biases. Musk I do not believe has the intent of turning on the liberals. I think he'll be fair and allow users to speak. Remember, Twitter pretty much banned those that were well known and had a strong opposing narrative.

    Trump indicated he won't return. I did not expect he would, primarily due to the fact that he has his own platform. He now knows that when he runs in 2024 he won't have to deal with the biases of the media on two social media platforms and certainly on the most censorious of them all. We should though see the return of many others that were banned, such as Project Veritas (if they are still banned).

    Musk hopefully knows he will have to deal with a tidal wave of complaints from both sides. He hopefully realizes that this will take time, that the board and the employees have been tactically acting in a way that could be viewed as a dead man switch. What I mean is that sabotage is a possibility, and destruction of company product is another. I can imagine he is building a team that are going to go in and tear through the company's policies and practices and hopefully they are aware that they will have to deal with the potential sabotage.

    As far as the developers that claimed they will not tolerate by staying with Twitter, let's just remember, that anyone can be replaced and there are those that will go, those that will be let go, and those that will stay behind believing they can control things from within. Typically when a company fires programmers in such a way they will eliminate most if not all of them. This happened at a company that I worked for. They took a team of developers and fired them. The night before they changed the locks and secured the office. Then they replaced the whole team with one programmer, hah.

    The programmers will threaten to build their own platform which will start, falter, and end sooner than later.

    The reactions will be loud and mouthy and the complaints will cover that users have to read things that make them uncomfortable. To that I say stop reading, stop following those people, and find something that doesn't give you so much stress. That's the best thing you can do for yourselves.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Showering Twitter with praise?

      Did you not see all the stuff about Russian bots interfering with Western democracy? Or the coverage of Jan 6th? Or the endless articles about trolling on there?

"The pathology is to want control, not that you ever get it, because of course you never do." -- Gregory Bateson

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