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

[Doc Sam Beckett 5,781]

1 hour ago, Zebraspiff said:

Roll many spiffs lately, narc? 

[SydneyCarton 47,809]

8 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bet a lot of shareholders would looooove to “Make” his words. 

[TheStoicPaisano 9,904]

He’s just dumb.

 

[cactusflinthead 27,593]

2 hours ago, Zebraspiff said:

Y'all point those negs over here. snus is gone.

[atomheartbevo 89,362]

I like that he’s just trying out logos on the live site.  It’s like somebody setting up their first blog and they can’t decided on the logo or colors so it changes daily.  

[Grade of D as in David 13,253]

1 hour ago, RDCanecutter said:

That X jolts me like I've walked into a Klan rally.

Fitting, given what it has become.

[dcbc 14,388]

4 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

E.g., 90% of the doctors I've known (including multiple family members).  Some of whom are beyond brilliant - hell, I have an uncle who is a damned neurosurgeon.  But the whole family makes fun of him (and fortunately, he's a decent sport about it) because he gets the investment rule of "buy low, sell high" completely backwards.  Or my favorite, my BIL, a family practitioner (has practiced in Texas and Oklahoma) lecturing me on how discovery in lawsuits in Texas works.  He was entirely wrong, to the point that I didn't have any idea what mechanisms he was even talking about.  I responded, pretty gently, that actually, discovery as to the kind of things he was talking about would work this way (then gave details).  He flat-out says "no, you're wrong.  The way I said is the way it works."  I respond with, "well, BIL...I literally deal with that exact mechanism every single week at least once, it's my actual job," and he stood fast.  He was right, I was wrong.  About the thing that I'd done for a living for 20 years, and he'd never handled even once.

Bringing me home to the best compliment my grandfather ever said about me: "Old Brisket's gonna do okay.  He's smart enough to know how dumb he is."  I fucking hire experts all the damned time, in my professional and personal life.  Because I'm smart enough to know that, even though I'm pretty damned smart and experienced about some things....I'm far from a knowledgeable expert in EVERYTHING.  It's not weakness to admit that you don't know how to re-wire an electrical panel and run 4 new outlets to a room....it's strength and being comfortable in your own masculinity and status to say "yeah, I don't know enough about that, I'm gonna hire an electrician to handle it."  Fragile ego narcissists do it themselves...and then watch their house burn down....and then do nothing but blame the electrician they didn't even hire.

Or to use another recent example, just because your rich doesn't mean you should design submarines.

 

I play guitar better than some, and I'm still alive to do it because I don't stick my hand in tube amps.

 

The ocean and electricity are not things with which we should trifle.

[SydneyCarton 47,809]

3 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Or to use another recent example, just because your rich doesn't mean you should design submarines.

 

I play guitar better than some, and I'm still alive to do it because I don't stick my hand in tube amps.

 

The ocean and electricity are not things with which we should trifle.

James Cameron is rich, designs subs, and agrees with you. 

[dcbc 14,388]

9 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

James Cameron is rich, designs subs, and agrees with you. 

He should give me money then.

 

And all that's not to say that my inner cheapskate hasn't gotten me watching youtube videos to see if I can fix my car, boat, etc.  But I'm smart enough to see when I'd be in way over my head and when to step away and let the expert make some money off me.

Edited July 26, 2023 by dcbc

[Sawbonz 27,374]

1 hour ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I mean it couldn’t be 20 billion

[Goredho 17,301]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

I like that he’s just trying out logos on the live site.  It’s like somebody setting up their first blog and they can’t decided on the logo or colors so it changes daily.  

Should be Xwitter’s logo:

[WBT 20,397]

36 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

I mean it couldn’t be 20 billion

I mean, it couldn't be 4 either.  He'd already run it down way before this X thing.

[Slacks 6,791]

Elon is going to have the biggest flex in the world... 

"Fuck a yacht. I bought Twitter for 44 and sank that bitch. And I'm still rich. Y'all some bitches."

 

 

OK.. He probably won't do it that way, because he is too lame. 

Look, I'm cool with autism... He should call me. I'll help him cool out on that bullshit. 

Bro... Give that shit back to the world and get back to space. We can find other things to mess with when you're bored.

[mchookem 16,094]

10 hours ago, Longhornsnus said:

He's trying to make a financially fledgling social media company into Tencent/WeChat. Will it fail? Probably, because Elon is screwing it up. But it's a transformational gamble which isn't that much of a gamble relatively speaking for the world's richest man who, last I read, lost like $13bn in one day the other day, and is still $20bn+ richer than the Louis Vuitton guy in 2nd place. So who cares? 

From my perspective, ultimately Twitter wasn't a growth business and struggled to be profitable and there wasn't a path for wild success/riches as an organization. Elon is trying to turn it into the aforementioned Tencent/Wechat catchall and it will either 10x for him or zero out. The only people that seem to care that Elon is risking (and likely going to lose all of) his $44bn are the people that hate him. Why is that?

Also, I guess people feel entitled to their toy (old Twitter) and are mad that someone bought it and tanked it and are really trying/hoping that Threads makes it.

 

[C-Man 26,991]

5 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

That X jolts me like I've walked into a Klan rally.

X, you say?

[The Dog 43,771]

 

[Pato del Muerto 52,321]

6 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

He changed the new logo today.  Then changed it back, today.   

https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/25/23807418/twitter-x-logo-design-change-elon-musk

 

 

 

 

 

I’m no graphic designer, but the first thing I think of with this design is that the slash should be the size of the box- for eye balance.  This has two examples of opposite sizing.  Use the parallelogram on the left and the slash on the right. 

[Francisco 2.0 32,290]

 

 

[Neonmoon 38,127]

If companies won’t willingly advertise, try extortion 

[Celery Man 20,874]

Source?

what a brat

[Neonmoon 38,127]

20 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

Source?

what a brat

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/07/25/twitter-warns-companies-could-lose-verification-if-they-dont-buy-ads-report/?sh=6e73be946ed6

X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has warned companies on the site that failure to buy more than $1,000 in ads could result in losing their “verification” badges, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. The check mark badge system has become a point of controversy since Elon Musk purchased the website back in October 2022 and allowed anyone to buy a check mark for just $8 per month.

[South Austin 52,037]

56 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

If companies won’t willingly advertise, try extortion 

[NoName 16,271]

twitter cuts prices again on ads...50% off this time lol

Quote

 

X this week began offering some advertisers reduced pricing on video ads that run alongside a list of trending topics in X’s “Explore” tab, according to emails viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Such ads give brands 24-hour placement atop the site’s list of trending topics.

It is offering 50% off any new bookings of those ads until July 31, among other discounts. “The goal of these discounts is to help our advertisers gain reach during crucial moments on Twitter such as the Women’s World Cup,” one of the emails read.

 

 

https://archive.is/sGYgS

Elon Musk’s Rebranded Twitter Cuts Ad Prices

 

 

Quote

 

X Corp. is cutting ad prices as it tries to woo brands back to the Elon Musk -owned platform.

The social network formerly known as Twitter is offering new incentives on certain ad formats in the U.S. and U.K. and warning brands that they will lose their verified status unless they reach certain spending thresholds, emails sent this week to advertisers and viewed by The Wall Street Journal show.

The company, which makes most of its money from advertising, has struggled to draw new ad commitments under Musk’s ownership in part because brands are concerned about Musk’s approach to content moderation. The advertising industry is also in a slump, and several media companies have begun offering brands discounts.

X this week began offering some advertisers reduced pricing on video ads that run alongside a list of trending topics in X’s “Explore” tab, according to emails viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Such ads give brands 24-hour placement atop the site’s list of trending topics.

It is offering 50% off any new bookings of those ads until July 31, among other discounts. “The goal of these discounts is to help our advertisers gain reach during crucial moments on Twitter such as the Women’s World Cup,” one of the emails read.

X also warned advertisers that beginning Aug. 7, brands’ accounts will lose their verification—a gold check mark that indicates their account truly represents their brand—if they haven’t spent at least $1,000 on ads in the previous 30 days or $6,000 on ads in the previous 180 days, according to the email.

 

 

[NoName 16,271]

once again, "what's the most asshole move i can make? just take the handle and say we own it even though this guy has had a single letter account since 2007." offering the guy merch and a meet & greet is maybe even worse than just taking it

what a brilliant business mind not to buy it the second he took over the company. very seriously, what is $20k to the worlds richest man? or he should have taken it when they took over the company and let it get lost in the news. instead, they announce the rebrand, then wait so long that people have time to reach out to the dude to ask him about it, then take it over. what a dumb rollout.

Quote

Mr Hwang said he had been offered some X merchandise and a meeting with the company’s management, but was not offered any financial incentive.

He said in an email: “They did send an email saying it is the property of ‘x’ essentially.”

Twitter users have no legal rights over their usernames but the company’s terms of service says it will only remove people’s accounts in cases of trademark infringement. 

It is unclear what trademarks Mr Musk’s X owns, although he does own the x.com domain name, which now directs to twitter.com.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/07/26/x-twitter-handle-account-owner-not-paid-elon-musk-rebrand/

‘They just took it’: Elon Musk takes over @x Twitter account without paying owner.

 

Quote

Elon Musk has taken over the @x Twitter account without paying its owner as part of the social network’s ongoing rebrand.

Gene X Hwang, a photographer in San Francisco, was behind the social network’s “@x” handle until Tuesday night when it was changed to the official account for X, Mr Musk’s new name for Twitter.

Mr Hwang had said he had been willing to entertain a sale of the @x account, which was registered in 2007, but that he simply received an email on Tuesday saying that it was being taken over by the company.

He told The Telegraph: “They just took it essentially – kinda what I thought might happen.”

Mr Hwang said he had been offered some X merchandise and a meeting with the company’s management, but was not offered any financial incentive.

He said in an email: “They did send an email saying it is the property of ‘x’ essentially.”

Twitter users have no legal rights over their usernames but the company’s terms of service says it will only remove people’s accounts in cases of trademark infringement. 

It is unclear what trademarks Mr Musk’s X owns, although he does own the x.com domain name, which now directs to twitter.com.

The company has moved Mr Hwang’s account to a new handle.

Mr Hwang, tweeting from his new handle “@x12345678998765” on Wednesday morning, wrote: “All’s well that ends well.”

Before it was transferred, Mr Hwang said he would be willing to sell it at the right price.

He said: “I would sell if approached I think. Guess it depends on the offer.”

Single letter Twitter accounts – mostly created in the site’s early months before most people had heard of the social network – are seen as the service’s most valuable.

In the past, single letter accounts are believed to have changed hands for tens of thousands of dollars. One user, @n, has said they were offered $50,000 (£39,000) for their account.

“Bro gonna be a millionaire,” one Twitter user had posted about @x earlier this week, after Mr Musk changed Twitter’s logo and branding to X.

While it was run by Mr Hwang, the @x account had close to 30,000 followers and was set to private, meaning users could not see its tweets or follow the account without permission.

Many single letter accounts are suspended, possibly due to multiple attempts to hijack them

Despite Twitter’s corporate rebrand, the company’s official account still has the handle @Twitter.

Mr Musk is seeking to make X into a “super app” that features not only Twitter’s existing social networking and messaging features, but also payments and banking as well as video.

His commitment to changing the company’s logo has included seeking to remove the Twitter sign from the company’s San Francisco headquarters, although his efforts were thwarted by police on Monday.

 

 

[atomheartbevo 89,362]

He maybe really hurting for ad inventory. I constantly see the same ads repeated multiple times in on e thread of comments.   Bras for small chested women, blue-blocking reading glasses, Cheexh and Chong  gummies, etc.  

[Francisco 2.0 32,290]

24 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

He maybe really hurting for ad inventory. I constantly see the same ads repeated multiple times in on e thread of comments.   Bras for small chested women, blue-blocking reading glasses, Cheexh and Chong  gummies, etc.  

 

I'm seeing endless ads for other kinds of shit, like AI, crypto, AI + crypto, prepper food stuff, etc.  Also noticing some new trend of a large black "follow" button at the bottom of many ads.

 

 

 

 

[Post Oak 20,182]

My app is broken. Won't scroll to the top of my feed for about the last 12 hours.

[Captain Ron 12,789]

You still run the app? I uninstalled it. Fuck that guy.

[kevwun 15,595]

X has now entered the Metta World Peace phase of it's demise.

['stache 21,743]

14 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's like if Coca Cola dropped the name and just started putting a letter B on the can. All that building of a brand for nothing. Does he seriously not understand brand valuation?

[atomheartbevo 89,362]

1 hour ago, NoName said:

once again, "what's the most asshole move i can make? just take the handle and say we own it even though this guy has had a single letter account since 2007." offering the guy merch and a meet & greet is maybe even worse than just taking it

what a brilliant business mind not to buy it the second he took over the company. very seriously, what is $20k to the worlds richest man? or he should have taken it when they took over the company and let it get lost in the news. instead, they announce the rebrand, then wait so long that people have time to reach out to the dude to ask him about it, then take it over. what a dumb rollout.

It really does show that he has no concrete plan and is just making all of this up as he goes, and as the whim strikes him or as he realizes that he forgot something else.  His hardcore incel fanboys do not realize how fucking stupid all of this makes him look, but it's waking up a lot of other people who were just half-paying attention.

His threatening companies that they had better advertise or else is going to be one of the last nails in the coffin.  So much for the CEO being a respected member of the advertising community.

I mentioned one of the banks I used rebranded/merged with another - I think even combined, their assets were well less than a billion, and the smaller bank was only worth $200 million or so, and yet the merger/rebranding was pretty seamless, everything flipped over to the new branding on a schedule they setup well in advance and informed everybody of, and even the employees at the branches had the proper signage, clothing, etc. when the time came.  And reading around, there's a steady stream of such things, with companies and legal teams that specialize in mergers/rebranding.

Meanwhile, the world's richest man, with a top-20 social media company worth billions can't make it work, even though we are 3-4 days into the rebranding, and he's having to fucking take handles away from people who've had them since the beginning because he couldn't be bothered to plan anything out or make an offer.  The end users/customers are never supposed to see this play out so publicly over such a long period - we aren't supposed to see how the Twinkies are made.

Even when Shaggy switched domain names after the "bevo" issue, it was relatively smooth from an end-user perspective.

I really do think there is a decent chance that when he flips the switch to X.com, and it will be soon, that he'll fuck it up so that people have a problem logging in.  Twitter is so big and complex, and with so much institutional knowledge completely wiped out, it's ripe for a major fuckup.

[Js1 85,056]

19 minutes ago, 'stache said:

It's like if Coca Cola dropped the name and just started putting a letter B on the can. All that building of a brand for nothing. Does he seriously not understand brand valuation?

Dr. B won’t stand for this 

[Pig Bellmont 8,679]

2 hours ago, NoName said:

X also warned advertisers that beginning Aug. 7, brands’ accounts will lose their verification—a gold check mark that indicates their account truly represents their brand—if they haven’t spent at least $1,000 on ads in the previous 30 days or $6,000 on ads in the previous 180 days, according to the email.

What a huge miscalculation of leverage. Watch him reverse course on this threat as companies leave rather than pay ransom. 

[texasdago 7,550]

1 hour ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

I'm seeing endless ads for other kinds of shit, like AI, crypto, AI + crypto, prepper food stuff, etc.  Also noticing some new trend of a large black "follow" button at the bottom of many ads.

 

 

 

 

block block block block

[locodos 5,329]

I do sort of wonder how long before Elon gets invited to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. 

[texasdago 7,550]

Deleted nearly every one of my Tweets on my account.  It felt like erasing a bunch of memories.  Thanks, Elon.  What a dick.

['stache 21,743]

The whole "X-treme" coolness of the letter X feels so dated, it seemed to hit its heyday in the 90's. XFL only still uses it because it was still a known brand from its short stint in the late 90s. Even then, it was to appeal to young people. The richest man in the world being obsessed with it feels so juvenile.  

[Storm the Field 5,270]

[NoName 16,271]

18 minutes ago, 'stache said:

The whole "X-treme" coolness of the letter X feels so dated, it seemed to hit its heyday in the 90's. XFL only still uses it because it was still a known brand from its short stint in the late 90s. Even then, it was to appeal to young people. The richest man in the world being obsessed with it feels so juvenile.  

to be fair, he was trying to make X.com a thing with paypal in the last 00's and was fired on his honeymoon in late 2000.

it feels dated because it absolutely is. reason infinity why it's a dumb rebrand.

['stache 21,743]

36 minutes ago, NoName said:

to be fair, he was trying to make X.com a thing with paypal in the last 00's and was fired on his honeymoon in late 2000.

it feels dated because it absolutely is. reason infinity why it's a dumb rebrand.

How as x.com not the third domain ever secured and by a porn company after xxx.com and xx.com?

Edited July 26, 2023 by 'stache

[NoName 16,271]

14 minutes ago, 'stache said:

How as x.com not the third domain ever secured and by a porn company after xxx.com and xx.com?

got purchased a loooooooooooooong time ago. paypal acquired it when they bought x.com, elon acquired it before then, and per a recent google search and article elon got it in 2017 back from paypal.

[Celery Man 20,874]

Elon holding on to the x.com domain 

[locodos 5,329]

2 hours ago, 'stache said:

The whole "X-treme" coolness of the letter X feels so dated, it seemed to hit its heyday in the 90's. XFL only still uses it because it was still a known brand from its short stint in the late 90s. Even then, it was to appeal to young people. The richest man in the world being obsessed with it feels so juvenile.  

sad Amsterdam noises

[pantone159 712]

10 minutes ago, locodos said:

sad Amsterdam noises

If they used that dark green color for the X, it would make it at least a little bit cooler.

[texasdago 7,550]

 

 

[Celery Man 20,874]

such a complete misunderstanding of masculinity

[atomheartbevo 89,362]

43 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

such a complete misunderstanding of masculinity

Most 12 year old boys don’t understand masculinity at all, outside of what they scream at each other while playing Fortnite or Call of Duty

Edited July 26, 2023 by atomheartbevo

[Rimbo 25,752]

41 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

such a complete misunderstanding of masculinity

I can't judge. I grew up thinking these guys were the height of manliness:

So... yeah.

[Celery Man 20,874]

3 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Many 12 year old boys have a serious aversion to pink.  

[Celery Man 20,874]

#thesoundoffreedom