Elon Musk: Officially a fraud and piece of shit. Official or unofficial war criminal?

['stache 21899]

12 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

People who idolize Trump

People who idolize Elon

People who idolize Joe Rogan

People who idolize those weird fitness/masculinity coaches like Andrew Tate, etc.

 

The overlap here is huge, especially with white males 18-40.  For some reason, there is a HUGE segment of the population desperately seeking powerful, brash, male figures to worship.  Obviously not a psychologist, but this will be another interesting phenomenon of the current era that I'm sure will be analyzed in future years.

I'm pretty sure there's a heavy dose of suppressed homosexual instincts involved.

[Goredho 17458]

20 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

People who idolize Trump

People who idolize Elon

People who idolize Joe Rogan

People who idolize those weird fitness/masculinity coaches like Andrew Tate, etc.

 

The overlap here is huge, especially with white males 18-40.  For some reason, there is a HUGE segment of the population desperately seeking powerful, brash, male figures to worship.  Obviously not a psychologist, but this will be another interesting phenomenon of the current era that I'm sure will be analyzed in future years.

You are on to something.  There is a bit of a vacuum being filled by these people as mainstream entertainment moves on to mine new demographics other than white males.  More money can be made re-releasing “Ghostbusters” with a female cast than you could if you tried to essentially re-release the exact same movie with a male cast.  It’s not some big conspiracy to rework society, it’s capitalism doing what capitalism does.  Meanwhile, many white males are left (perhaps subconsciously) wondering where they fit in, and then they tune in to a Joe Rogan.

[Francisco 2.0 32432]

Come advertise on Twitter!  Let's make a deal!  Pick up the phone today!

 

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/12/twitter-dangles-incentives-to-try-to-lure-advertisers-back/?comments=1&comments-page=1

 

Quote

Elon Musk’s Twitter is offering brands generous incentives to advertise on the social media platform, in a bid to boost business after the billionaire’s approach to content moderation prompted many major marketers to curb spending.

In one email sent to advertising agencies, a copy of which was seen by the Financial Times, Twitter said that it was launching its “largest advertiser incentive ever” in December, offering additional impressions if brands spent a certain amount.

According to the email, Twitter will match the spending of those who pay at least $500,000 with a cap of $1 million per advertiser. Those spending $350,000 will receive “50 percent value add”—meaning they receive additional impressions worth half of what they spend. A $200,000 investment grants advertisers a “25 percent value add,” or extra impressions worth a quarter of what they spend.

 

Quote

Another email sent to a separate agency, also seen by the FT, contained that same offer for US brands, as well as slightly different offers for brands in the UK and the rest of the world, for example.

The attempt to lure advertisers comes as Musk, who closed his $44 billion deal for the social media platform in October, has increasingly alienated brands and advertising agencies by loosening Twitter content moderation policies, undoing suspensions of rule-breaking accounts and laying off more than half of the workforce, including many of its ad sales team.

Brands including Mondelez, Carlsberg, United Airlines, and General Motors have ceased advertising on the platform, while agencies including Omnicom Media and Interpublic Group have recommended their clients pause spending, dealing a blow to Twitter’s $5 billion business.

 

Quote

Musk is on the hook for $1 billion in annual interest payments after loading the company with $13 billion of debt to help fund his acquisition of the business.

The Twitter incentives will last through December, according to the email, which invited brands and agencies to talk by phone to discuss scenarios “given the timeliness.”

Platformer and Morning Brew first reported details of the incentives. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.

 

Spoiler

Musk, a self-declared “free speech absolutist,” is allowing all speech on the platform as long as it is legal, although “negative/hate speech” will not be boosted in users’ feeds. The company is no longer enforcing its policy of banning coronavirus misinformation, though in a blog post on Wednesday it said none of its policies had changed and that its trust and safety team remained “strong and well-resourced.”

Tensions between Musk and advertisers have escalated as the billionaire entrepreneur has personally called chief executives who reduced spending in order to berate them. In the case of Apple, one of Twitter’s largest advertisers, Musk on Monday publicly called out the chief executive Tim Cook for shrinking spending on the platform.

After several waves of job cuts and departures, Twitter’s ads business team has shrunk so much that many agencies and brands no longer have any point of contact at the company, according to multiple people familiar with the situation. Others are complaining that Twitter’s ads systems have also become buggy during Musk’s overhaul.

While the December deals Twitter is offering are unusually generous, some brands remain unconvinced, according to industry insiders. One agency executive said it would make “no impact to advertisers’ decisions.”

“They sound like the guy playing the violin on the Titanic,” another senior media buyer said. “I don’t think any client is willing to take the risk.”

 

[Captainant 27929]

1 hour ago, Chuckie Finster said:

People who idolize Trump

People who idolize Elon

People who idolize Joe Rogan

People who idolize those weird fitness/masculinity coaches like Andrew Tate, etc.

 

The overlap here is huge, especially with white males 18-40.  For some reason, there is a HUGE segment of the population desperately seeking powerful, brash, male figures to worship.  Obviously not a psychologist, but this will be another interesting phenomenon of the current era that I'm sure will be analyzed in future years.

Heck it's not a person, but put idolizing crypto on that list too. It's very strange

[Goredho 17458]

Full text

Driving: pretty good. Generally smooth & careful (eg inching forward slowly at turns to verify status of road), good for lane changes. But: already encountered several weird/bad incidents. It tried to turn left on a right turn, almost merged into an oncoming car, and drove into an intersection that a biker was crossing at the other end. It's also weirdly bad in stop and go highway traffic (accelerating and breaking too fast), randomly breaks sometimes, and is bad at 'delicate' situations with implicit human communication. So good for highways/freeways and emptyish streets, not reliable enough in general.

Perception: surprisingly bad. It seems to rely on frame-by-frame object/lane detection with no tracking measures. It also does not seem to have 'common sense' about roads in general such as having cars in front of you or car 'permanence'. Maybe it's just the visualization, but why visualize this then? Object recognition is generally ok, but I have seen it mix up pedestrians with bikes or trucks with cars (?). Maybe because it was rainy? Also It sometimes even shows overlapping cars or cars driving down the middle of the lane. Super weird.

Ensuring driver pays attention: surprisingly bad. As you can see it let me record videos and have my hands on the wheel for quite a while. Despite having a camera facing the driver, it does not seem to check if the driver is looking forward or is not using it's smartphone. It does regularly warn the driver to pay attention and sometimes requests driver to wiggle the steering wheel a bit, but it's generally very lax.

Conclusion: The issues with the perception kind of shocked me. I thought they FSD would be better than autopilot, but it seems to not be the case. Weird/quirky behaviors definitely exist and are sometimes dangerous. Would I use it all the time? No, because constantly making sure it doesn't do the wrong thing is more stressful than driving myself. It's great for highways or road trips or empty suburbs, but driving around cities with it would not feel safe. fin.

[Chuckie Finster 22759]

34 minutes ago, Goredho said:

You are on to something.  There is a bit of a vacuum being filled by these people as mainstream entertainment moves on to mine new demographics other than white males.  More money can be made re-releasing “Ghostbusters” with a female cast than you could if you tried to essentially re-release the exact same movie with a male cast.  It’s not some big conspiracy to rework society, it’s capitalism doing what capitalism does.  Meanwhile, many white males are left (perhaps subconsciously) wondering where they fit in, and then they tune in to a Joe Rogan.

 

9 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Heck it's not a person, but put idolizing crypto on that list too. It's very strange

The "need to fit in" theory makes sense, but it's even beyond that.  It's an almost cult-like worship to these people/ideas (good add with crypto) and an inability to admit that they may be less than perfect, all from a very similar demographic of young, mostly-white men.  It's bizarre.

[Chooky 13321]

3 hours ago, 'stache said:

So inciting violence really is a bannable offense?  It only if Elmo says it is to try and win back sponsors? Inciting violence is literally why trump was kicked off, and you can’t deny that that’s what he was doing, because they committed violence on Jan 6! The vax deniers were also inciting violence against Fauci and any public heath worker! How can a man who is supposedly so “brilliant” not foresee that “free speech absolutist” would never work on a worldwide platform if billions of people? Jesus, and people still worship this fuckstain. I hope Twitter burns to the ground for him. Unlikely but would be sweet to watch.

And he's mad that corporate advertisers don't want to pay him to be on the world's largest scat site. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21112]

1 hour ago, Chuckie Finster said:

 

The "need to fit in" theory makes sense, but it's even beyond that.  It's an almost cult-like worship to these people/ideas (good add with crypto) and an inability to admit that they may be less than perfect, all from a very similar demographic of young, mostly-white men.  It's bizarre.

It's all clearly caused by a hard part in one's hair and a beard-as-personality. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Prepuce of Doom

[F250 28913]

1 hour ago, Chuckie Finster said:

People who idolize Trump

People who idolize Elon

People who idolize Joe Rogan

People who idolize those weird fitness/masculinity coaches like Andrew Tate, etc.

 

The overlap here is huge, especially with white males 18-40.  For some reason, there is a HUGE segment of the population desperately seeking powerful, brash, male figures to worship.  Obviously not a psychologist, but this will be another interesting phenomenon of the current era that I'm sure will be analyzed in future years.

I am not sure if there is a big overlap with Trump acolytes.

The Rogan/Elon/Jordan Peterson overlap is definitely an overlapping subculture (manosphere) that has been courted as a political demographic for the last 7 years.

 

[G650 14297]

39 minutes ago, F250 said:

I am not sure if there is a big overlap with Trump acolytes.

The Rogan/Elon/Jordan Peterson overlap is definitely an overlapping subculture (manosphere) that has been courted as a political demographic for the last 7 years.

 

It's still pretty damn bizarre

[Fudge Nuggets 19267]

3 hours ago, Chuckie Finster said:

there is a HUGE segment of the population desperately seeking powerful, brash, white, male figures to worship.

You left off one important qualifier. 

[hayden_horn 11365]

5 hours ago, 'stache said:

I'm pretty sure there's a heavy dose of suppressed homosexual instincts involved.

i dunno maybe, but i find that kind of statement a bit lazy. that's not directed at you, but i see that and it rings out a bit hollow to me.

don't get me wrong - i agree there's a dose, but i imagine a lot of it is toxic masculinity "ok why you hassling us?" mentality. if you got the pua community on your side, you need to seriously start questioning your direction.

i think it's something a bit more pathological than that. it's an insecurity so deep that most of these dudes can't put themselves above others, so they must find others to put below them, villify those others, and spend the rest of their life essentially trolling that position.

i think the bigger dose is mental illness.

['stache 21899]

4 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

i dunno maybe, but i find that kind of statement a bit lazy. that's not directed at you, but i see that and it rings out a bit hollow to me.

don't get me wrong - i agree there's a dose, but i imagine a lot of it is toxic masculinity "ok why you hassling us?" mentality. if you got the pua community on your side, you need to seriously start questioning your direction.

i think it's something a bit more pathological than that. it's an insecurity so deep that most of these dudes can't put themselves above others, so they must find others to put below them, villify those others, and spend the rest of their life essentially trolling that position.

i think the bigger dose is mental illness.

I was being a little sarcastic. Insecurity is obviously part of it. Sometimes people are just weak assholes, it doesn't require mental illness.

[Neonmoon 38130]

4 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

i dunno maybe, but i find that kind of statement a bit lazy. that's not directed at you, but i see that and it rings out a bit hollow to me.

don't get me wrong - i agree there's a dose, but i imagine a lot of it is toxic masculinity "ok why you hassling us?" mentality. if you got the pua community on your side, you need to seriously start questioning your direction.

i think it's something a bit more pathological than that. it's an insecurity so deep that most of these dudes can't put themselves above others, so they must find others to put below them, villify those others, and spend the rest of their life essentially trolling that position.

i think the bigger dose is mental illness.

The homosexuality reference just perpetuates the problem. 

I don’t like the term “toxic masculinity” because it’s been overused and misused, but there is long history of man overcompensating with masculinity  to hide inadequacies or cover up their own insecurities within. It’s the easiest lever to pull. 

[Brisketexan 105519]

8 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

The homosexuality reference just perpetuates the problem. 

I don’t like the term “toxic masculinity” because it’s been overused and misused, but there is long history of man overcompensating with masculinity  to hide inadequacies or cover up their own insecurities within. It’s the easiest lever to pull. 

This.  I don't see it as latent homosexuality at all.  Instead, it's a sense of unearned entitlement.  So, from a sexual engagement standpoint, it's much more likely to be guys who behave as follows:

See cute girl at the gym.  Approach her like a shark.  Hit on her clumsily and relentlessly.  Don't take "no" for an answer.  When she finally and unambiguously shoots you down ("no, I don't want to go out with you, please just leave me alone to do my workout") respond with a venomous "whatever, you're a fat fucking hag anyway" or some shit like that [Side note -- when a professional colleague who happens to be a young, attractive female shared with me that this sort of thing is a REGULAR deal for her when she works out, I was shocked, appalled, and embarrassed -- WTF, dudes?  W. T. F.?????]

The demographic here thinks that they are entitled to, well, everything.  The rightful place of men is in the position of power.  And what personifies that BETTER than "dude with more money than anyone else?"  That guy is gonna be their idol.  And if he demonstrates his power by using it frequently and conspicuously, that's even better.

These guys, are, and worship, the guy who is jacked, wears the gear in public, and tells everyone he's a Navy SEAL, and you better back the fuck off.  They think that guy is the embodiment of power.

What they don't even get is that the REAL powerful motherfucker is the ACTUAL Navy SEAL in the same bar who is inconspicuous, kinda wiry, and could put the fake Navy SEAL buff bro on the fucking floor in a second and a half.  But he doesn't show off or brag, because that's not how a person who is ACTUALLY powerful rolls.  These guys worship what their pathetic selves THINK a powerful man is/looks like, not what a powerful man actually is.

Edited December 2, 2022 by Brisketexan

[Chopper 17326]

So some laid-off twitter employees had to hire an attorney to try to get twitter to uphold its promises and obligations to employment-separated employees. So far about 20 of the employees hired a legend of a litigator, and his letter to twitter is an instant classic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Chopper

[Aqua Buddha 14647]

 

[Aqua Buddha 14647]

45 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

This.  I don't see it as latent homosexuality at all.  Instead, it's a sense of unearned entitlement.  So, from a sexual engagement standpoint, it's much more likely to be guys who behave as follows:

See cute girl at the gym.  Approach her like a shark.  Hit on her clumsily and relentlessly.  Don't take "no" for an answer.  When she finally and unambiguously shoots you down ("no, I don't want to go out with you, please just leave me alone to do my workout") respond with a venomous "whatever, you're a fat fucking hag anyway" or some shit like that [Side note -- when a professional colleague who happens to be a young, attractive female shared with me that this sort of thing is a REGULAR deal for her when she works out, I was shocked, appalled, and embarrassed -- WTF, dudes?  W. T. F.?????]

The demographic here thinks that they are entitled to, well, everything.  The rightful place of men is in the position of power.  And what personifies that BETTER than "dude with more money than anyone else?"  That guy is gonna be their idol.  And if he demonstrates his power by using it frequently and conspicuously, that's even better.

These guys, are, and worship, the guy who is jacked, wears the gear in public, and tells everyone he's a Navy SEAL, and you better back the fuck off.  They think that guy is the embodiment of power.

What they don't even get is that the REAL powerful motherfucker is the ACTUAL Navy SEAL in the same bar who is inconspicuous, kinda wiry, and could put the fake Navy SEAL buff bro on the fucking floor in a second and a half.  But he doesn't show off or brag, because that's not how a person who is ACTUALLY powerful rolls.  These guys worship what their pathetic selves THINK a powerful man is/looks like, not what a powerful man actually is.

The sexual side of this cannot be understated.  Over years on the internet and playing video games, young men do not know how to talk to women and have unrealistic expectations thanks for porn.  Hence, you're phrase "unearned entitlement."  They feel entitled to a hot woman, define that how you may.  They'll demand that a woman be fit, attractive, good body, good job, likes sports, etc., and meanwhile, they're just some guy.  They're 5's feeling entitled to 9's.  When that doesn't pan out, it's never their fault (of course) so they become angry at the world.  Add in the fact that the modern American economy is becoming more and more geared towards women and young men are being left out in the cold, at least that's how they see it.

Now here comes some "alpha male" that tells the world to fuck off and that appeals to them.

But yes, your story about the hot girl at the gym happens all the time.   

[Chuckie Finster 22759]

4 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

The sexual side of this cannot be understated.  Over years on the internet and playing video games, young men do not know how to talk to women and have unrealistic expectations thanks for porn.  Hence, you're phrase "unearned entitlement."  They feel entitled to a hot woman, define that how you may.  They'll demand that a woman be fit, attractive, good body, good job, likes sports, etc., and meanwhile, they're just some guy.  They're 5's feeling entitled to 9's.  When that doesn't pan out, it's never their fault (of course) so they become angry at the world.  Add in the fact that the modern American economy is becoming more and more geared towards women and young men are being left out in the cold, at least that's how they see it.

Now here comes some "alpha male" that tells the world to fuck off and that appeals to them.

But yes, your story about the hot girl at the gym happens all the time.   

This is actually a very interesting tie-in, as many of the prominent current voices in the right-wing online ecosystem emerged during the #gamergate campaign last decade. 

[Brisketexan 105519]

23 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

They'll demand that a woman be fit, attractive, good body, good job, likes sports, etc., and meanwhile, they're just some guy.  They're 5's feeling entitled to 9's.  When that doesn't pan out, it's never their fault (of course) so they become angry at the world.

Man, does that hit the bullseye.  I mean, we have a fucking term (incel) that covers the social phenomenon.  And there are layers to that involuntary celibacy.  First, many of them have impossibly high standards.  Any woman less than a Gal Gadot/Scarjo/whoever your hottie of choice is, well, she's BENEATH THEM.  "Ugly knees, would not bang" -- it's a joke born out of truth.  So, they've already sharply limited their pool of eligible women.  And, unless they're hot, rich, or a rock star, they have no chance with such women.  Second.....they don't have any fucking game, they don't know how to socialize/interact (read: be likeable, engaging, and interesting to the opposite sex).  They for some reason think that women should just meet them, and throw themselves at their manly feet.

That's a recipe for frustration, and frustration leads to anger, and desires for revenge and to "show THEM."  So, they idolize people who lash out, hurt, and crush people, because that's what THEY want to do, they just don't have the power to do it.

Do you want to talk about what's wrong with our men today?  It's not that they're not "SUPER ALPHA MALES!" who use violence, force, and cruelty to project power.  It's that they don't fucking know how to actually be a man.  A real man doesn't have to do any of those things.  For fuck's sake, shower, wash your hair and comb it, put on some decent clothes, and learn how to carry on a conversation.  Have a sense of humor.  Learn to actually listen with interest when another person is talking to you.

I'm not particularly good looking.  Not a star athlete.  Didn't come from a rich family.  But I had plenty of friends, and dated plenty of girls, all of whom were more attractive than I probably rated.  Because I could engage in conversation, knew how to make them laugh, and I had decent enough hygiene and social graces.  Trust me, I wasn't a superstar, I just put in some fucking effort.   If this generation of incel losers would do that, their lives would be much better.  Instead, they blame the world for their failures, and celebrate guys like Elon who are able to be the giant pieces of shit that they WISH they could get away with being.

Quote

But yes, your story about the hot girl at the gym happens all the time.  

And I gotta tell you, it fucking blows me away that this is true.

I mean, I got shot down.  More than once.  Take it like a man.  Smile, wish her a good workout.  Treat her with some respect, and show her you know how to take the L with dignity.  For fuck's sake, every woman you meet is a potential "reference" - I know for a fact that a couple of girls who I took a shot at, who politely declined and I politely accepted the result and kept treating them decently, were positive references later when one of their friends was talking about me (she was interested in me, or I'd already asked her out), and she gave the "yeah, Brisket's a good guy -- you should go out with him" referral.

What do you fucking gain by treating a woman like shit?  Beside the fact that you have a problem and are obviously a piece of shit, what do you have to gain by showing the whole gym that you're a piece of shit?  Do you think some OTHER girl is going to be impressed that you called the nice blonde on the treadmill 20 feet over a fat hag?

Edited December 2, 2022 by Brisketexan

[Aqua Buddha 14647]

3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Man, does that hit the bullseye.  I mean, we have a fucking term (incel) that covers the social phenomenon.  And there are layers to that involuntary celibacy.  First, many of them have impossibly high standards.  Any woman less than a Gal Gadot/Scarjo/whoever your hottie of choice is, well, she's BENEATH THEM.  "Ugly knees, would not bang" -- it's a joke born out of truth.  So, they've already sharply limited their pool of eligible women.  And, unless they're hot, rich, or a rock star, they have no chance with such women.  Second.....they don't have any fucking game, they don't know how to socialize/interact (read: be likeable, engaging, and interesting to the opposite sex).  They for some reason think that women should just meet them, and throw themselves at their manly feet.

That's a recipe for frustration, and frustration leads to anger, and desires for revenge and to "show THEM."  So, they idolize people who lash out, hurt, and crush people, because that's what THEY want to do, they just don't have the power to do it.

Do you want to talk about what's wrong with our men today?  It's not that they're not "SUPER ALPHA MALES!" who use violence, force, and cruelty to project power.  It's that they don't fucking know how to actually be a man.  A real man doesn't have to do any of those things.  For fuck's sake, shower, wash your hair and comb it, put on some decent clothes, and learn how to carry on a conversation.  Have a sense of humor.  Learn to actually listen with interest when another person is talking to you.

I'm not particularly good looking.  Not a star athlete.  Didn't come from a rich family.  But I had plenty of friends, and dated plenty of girls, all of whom were more attractive than I probably rated.  Because I could engage in conversation, knew how to make them laugh, and I had decent enough hygiene and social graces.  Trust me, I wasn't a superstar, I just put in some fucking effort.   If this generation of incel losers would do that, their lives would be much better.  Instead, they blame the world for their failures, and celebrate guys like Elon who are able to be the giant pieces of shit that they WISH they could get away with being.

Let me offer up:

[Brisketexan 105519]

1 minute ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Let me offer up:

Okay, okay, so I left out "be a celebrity with a 12-inch hogleg of a dick" from my list.  Mea culpa.

Fucking Pete Davidson.  I wanna hate him.  I just can't.

['stache 21899]

2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Okay, okay, so I left out "be a celebrity with a 12-inch hogleg of a dick" from my list.  Mea culpa.

Fucking Pete Davidson.  I wanna [be] him.  I just can't.

fify

[atomheartbevo 89951]

28 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Okay, okay, so I left out "be a celebrity with a 12-inch hogleg of a dick" from my list.  Mea culpa.

Fucking Pete Davidson.  I wanna hate him.  I just can't.

Shit, you could have a small dick, like 6-7 inches even, but as long as you were confident in who you are, and respectful towards women, a lot of women will overlook that.

We have a generation of Beavis and Buttheads on our hands.

[Captainant 27929]

On 10/27/2022 at 7:43 PM, Humble Beast said:

People are worried that he’ll open up Twitter to users that had been expelled, such as Trump. Given that almost all the heavy moderation/censorship was anti-Right, then the reversal of this will lead to a hellscape. 
 

Imagine, none of this would’ve happened if the woke crew that ran Twitter hadn’t banned the Babylon Bee account. Lol

 

1 hour ago, Aqua Buddha said:

 

Man I'm so happy for HumbleGRUvibes is finally getting his favorite people unbanned from twitter! Thank goodness Elmo got rid of """woke twitter"""

 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Captainant

[Bama Chick 28596]

Shit, you could have a small dick, like 6-7 inches even, but as long as you were confident in who you are, and respectful towards women, a lot of women will overlook that.
We have a generation of Beavis and Buttheads on our hands.

These conversations are always enlightening to me.

Most men do not understand the “female gaze”. At all.

What men think women find attractive -







What women actually find attractive -

[chainsaw 9914]

jon snow?

[Francisco 2.0 32432]

 

 

 

[Francisco 2.0 32432]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/02/technology/twitter-advertising-targets-missed.html

 

Quote

The World Cup has historically been a boon for Twitter, bringing in record traffic and an influx of advertising dollars.

But this time, when the global soccer tournament started on Nov. 20, Twitter’s U.S. ad revenue was running at 80 percent below internal expectations for that week, three people with knowledge of the figures said.

In tandem, Twitter was rapidly cutting its revenue projections. The company previously forecast that it would generate $1.4 billion in the last three months of the year, down from $1.6 billion a year ago because of the global economic downturn. But as Twitter kept missing its weekly advertising targets, that number slid to $1.3 billion, then to $1.1 billion, two people said.

 

 

Quote

Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner, has warned repeatedly that his social media company faces dire financial straits. Interviews with seven former employees and internal documents seen by The New York Times paint a fuller picture of Twitter’s financial woes.

Many of the company’s troubles can be traced to Mr. Musk’s takeover in late October. Since then, advertisers — which provide 90 percent of Twitter’s revenue — have paused some spending on the platform, citing concerns about how Mr. Musk might change the service. The billionaire, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” has reinstated banned accounts and dropped at least one misinformation policy. Hate speech on Twitter has soared in recent weeks, researchers found.

 

 

Quote

At the same time, Mr. Musk has alternated between wooing advertisers and blasting them. Last month, he threatened a “thermonuclear name & shame” of brands that halted their spending on Twitter. This week, he briefly picked a fight with Apple, which was on track to spend more than $180 million on Twitter ads this year, three people said.

Twitter’s advertising business has become so fraught that it has started offering brands additional incentives. Some brands are committing only to promotions for events, like the Super Bowl, with heavy discounts or clauses that allow them to back out for any reason, according to internal documents and three people familiar with the efforts. Automakers are among the most concerned advertisers, with General Motors raising questions about whether Twitter’s data would be shared with Mr. Musk’s car company, Tesla, three people said.

 

Spoiler

“There hasn’t been any level of trust from us with Twitter, especially with the whiplash we’ve experienced over the last four weeks,” said Ellie Bamford, the head of global media at R/GA, a creative agency. Last month, IPG, R/GA’s parent and one of the world’s largest advertising companies, recommended that its clients pause their advertising on Twitter.

Mr. Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

Even before he completed his deal for Twitter, advertisers began expressing their doubts. Twitter had 3,980 advertisers in May, the month after Mr. Musk agreed to buy the company, according to MediaRadar, an advertising intelligence company. By October, it had 2,315 advertisers, the fewest of any month until that point.

Advertisers’ confidence in Twitter was shaken further when its sales and advertising team turned over after Mr. Musk took charge. Leslie Berland and J.P. Maheu, who were responsible for maintaining key relationships with some top brands, left last month. Robin Wheeler, a U.S. ad executive who briefly resigned before staying on, was then fired after Mr. Musk asked her to cut employees from the sales team and she refused, two people said.

Dara Nasr, who oversaw Twitter’s European ad operations, also leftlast month. The company’s ad sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa were down more than 50 percent the week of Nov. 21 from the prior week, two people familiar with the numbers said. The Platformer newsletter previously reported Twitter’s figures for the region.

Mr. Musk also made good on his threat to call out advertisers that paused their spending. On Monday, he posted several barbed tweets about Apple and its chief executive, Tim Cook, noting that the iPhone maker had pulled back its advertising on Twitter. Apple, which does not advertise on Instagram or Facebook, had committed more than $150 million on Twitter ads in 2022 and had exceeded that with more than $180 million in advertising spending, three people said.

But Apple temporarily paused that after a shooting left five people dead at an L.G.B.T.Q. nightclub in Colorado Springs on Nov. 19, two people said. Major brands tend to dial back advertising when there are shootings or disasters so their promotions do not appear next to news or tweets about the tragedies.

Mr. Musk suggested that Apple’s reduced advertising would lead to censorship on Twitter. “Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter,” he tweeted. “Do they hate free speech in America?”

On Wednesday, Mr. Cook and Mr. Musk met at Apple’s Silicon Valley headquarters. Mr. Musk later tweeted that they had cleared up a “misunderstanding.” Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

Ms. Bamford said Mr. Musk’s behavior was beyond the pale. “There is no way to shame someone into advertising in an environment that is controversial and dangerous,” she said. “Yelling at people is not a plan.”

Other advertisers are concerned that their Twitter advertising data might be shared with Mr. Musk’s other companies. G.M., the first brand to announce that it had paused its Twitter advertising in late October, sought assurances that its data would not be shared with Tesla, two people said. It also asked for a way to keep its information separate from systems that Tesla’s engineers had access to, they said, given that Mr. Musk had brought Tesla employees into Twitter to navigate the ownership change.

“It’s important for us to ensure our advertising strategies and data can be safely managed by a platform owned by a competitor,” a G.M. spokesman said in a statement.

Twitter has recently offered some brands additional incentives to place ads on the service, according to an ad agency that received a proposal from the company. The larger the amount of money spent on the platform, the more Twitter will amplify those ads, according to the proposal, which was viewed by The Times.

Morning Brew, a business newsletter site, reported earlier on the incentives.

Twitter’s ad sales teams are now trying to confirm commitments for the Super Bowl in February. PepsiCo, whose ad agency has recommended that clients pause advertising on the platform, sought the ability to opt out of advertising at any point, one person familiar with the negotiations said. Pepsi did not respond to a request for comment.

 

 

[hookemATL 11962]

28 minutes ago, Bama Chick said:

These conversations are always enlightening to me.

Most men do not understand the “female gaze”. At all.

What men think women find attractive -







What women actually find attractive -

If I wear a sleeveless tank with a blazer will you go out with me??  I don’t know any Harry Styles songs but I can learn. 

[Goredho 17458]

44 minutes ago, hookemATL said:

If I wear a sleeveless tank with a blazer will you go out with me??  I don’t know any Harry Styles songs but I can learn. 

I dunno about BamaChick, but BamaChuck will.

[Bama Chick 28596]

jon snow?

You know nothing.

[Bama Chick 28596]

If I wear a sleeveless tank with a blazer will you go out with me??  I don’t know any Harry Styles songs but I can learn. 

I see no pics…..

[Bama Chick 28596]

I dunno about BamaChick, but BamaChuck will.

Ugh.

He belongs in the “What men think women like” group.

[hookemATL 11962]

1 minute ago, Bama Chick said:

I see no pics…..

Oh I cannot have all these thirsty mofos up in my DMs. The shaggy gay cabal and all the curious fellas would be too much to deal with. 

[Humble Beast 258]

I guess Elon gave Taibbi access to everything. 
 

 

[Captainant 27929]

15 minutes ago, Humble Beast said:

I guess Elon gave Taibbi access to everything. 
 

 

Weird how taibbi frames it and leaves out some context

 

[Wally Fairway 5600]

29 minutes ago, Bama Chick said:

Ugh.

He belongs in the “What men think men like” group.

FIFY 

 

 nttawwt

[rage-a-holic 4503]

so the Biden WH had immediate and direct access to demand deletion of pretty much any tweet ....

but FUCK THAT MUSK GUY

[Captainant 27929]

16 minutes ago, rage-a-holic said:

so the Biden WH had immediate and direct access to demand deletion of pretty much any tweet ....

but FUCK THAT MUSK GUY

Protip: Biden wasn't president in October 2020

Edited December 3, 2022 by Captainant

[mdmost 43112]

7 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Protip: Biden wasn't president in October 2020

And FUCK THAT MUSK GUY

[Hefeweizen 5354]

I’m beginning to think we shouldn’t vote for Hunter’s dong to be president.

[rage-a-holic 4503]

13 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Protip: Biden wasn't president in October 2020

lol, sorry, should have just been "Team Biden"

[NeverMarryAStripper 22000]

3 hours ago, Bama Chick said:

These conversations are always enlightening to me.

Most men do not understand the “female gaze”. At all.

What men think women find attractive -







What women actually find attractive -

I think you really meant that this is what women find attractive.  I'm old, short, and have a small dick and I've fucked hot twins.

[rage-a-holic 4503]

Also, my 22 year old girlfriend laughed at several of the "what we girls really think is hot" pics

lol that some bama female speaks for all women

[Pig Bellmont 8745]

2 minutes ago, rage-a-holic said:

Also, my 22 year old girlfriend laughed at several of the "what we girls really think is hot" pics

lol that some bama female speaks for all women

Looks like you’re violating the respectable age difference rule of 1/2 your age + 7. What’s her TikTok handle?

[Chuckie Finster 22759]

lol, sorry, should have just been "Team Biden"

So “IT IS MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT AS AN AMERICAN TO VIEW AN ILLEGALLY OBTAINED PHOTO OF THE PENIS OF THE SON OF A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE” is really the hill folks are dying on?

[Brisketexan 105519]

So “IT IS MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT AS AN AMERICAN TO VIEW AN ILLEGALLY OBTAINED PHOTO OF THE PENIS OF THE SON OF A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE” is really the hill folks are dying on?

Well, I’m seeing the MAGAs refer to this as Elon revealing the massive election interference that was happening under our noses.

Because hunter’s dong, or something. What a stupid timeline.

[rage-a-holic 4503]

Ok clowns. Give it a few days. Let's see what pops up.

[Chopper 17326]

Quote

"If we're really being honest, never having a girlfriend, never having sex with a woman, really makes you more heterosexual, because honestly, dating women is gay. And if you want to know the truth, the only really straight, heterosexual position is to be an asexual incel."

The rancid twat who said this on his own podcast is ridiculously popular on the extreme right. I guess this is what an incel tells himself in order to make him feel adequate or superior.