Great column. And here’s my pile-on: Musk’s spoiling-for-a-fight Twitter responses to his critics reinforce just how petty and uninformed the guy is. It’s not a good look for a man in his position as head of a major communications forum to be so thin-skinned he feels he has to directly reply to his many critics. First of all, talk is cheap. So anything he says is going to be offset by all of his mistakes in judgment, which keep piling up day by day, hour by hour. They add to his lack of credibility and naïveté--again, traits that don’t inspire confidence in advertisers, the public, or employees he “didn’t fire” but are being begged to come back and do the work he naively didn’t believe needed to be done. The whole thing is a morality tale for clueless rich dudes whose press clippings suggested could do no wrong. But here Musk is, screwing up badly, and it’s hard to see this turning out well. Except maybe somebody will start a better Twitter. And Musk will buy a one-way ticket to Mars.
When are you folks going to start migrating to Mastodon? Come on in! The water is warm. I’m already following Ben Wittes, Anne Applebaum, and Molly Jong Fast. We need the Bulwark crew to represent!
This is a minor point but I subscribe to the Bulwark at relatively high rates because I assume it has a stronger commitment to journalistic integrity than, say, the Washington Post or Fox News:
The claim that Twitter has lost "millions of users" is not supported.
The linked article's own click-bait title says only "a million users" (that's not the same) and the actual data suggests that during Oct 27 to Nov 1 there were 877k deactivations and 497k suspensions, which is "more double the usual" (implying a regular churn in Twitter usership), with *no data* provided on number of sign-ups. So actually nothing is known from this article about total Twitter usership.
Even if you include both deactivations and suspensions together (1374k), double the usual seems to suggest only an additional *674k* deactivations or suspensions, so again not "millions." But who knows - the authors of that article were not trying to inform, just create a good headline out of a more nuanced, but incomplete MIT analysis.
tl;dr - no credible justification is cited for the claim that Twitter has "lost millions of users." A close reading of the article cited makes this clear. Maybe there is other data supporting this but I can only find more click bait.
Speaking as someone who has never used twitter, there might be a silver lining to this. I have always wondered who in their right mind would get their news from twitter (or Facebook for that matter). Sure twitter might be the place where some story is initially broken but if it’s important the press is going to cover it. And cover it better and more completely. But clearly I don’t live in the real world. So maybe if twitter implodes, that would be one less source of non-news.
One other unrelated comment for Charley…
I just listened to your Friday podcast with Bill Kristol. You talked about the upcoming midterms, but your characterization of the Arizona election process wasn’t accurate. You lumped Arizona in with the states that don’t allow processing of mail-in ballots to start until election day when in fact Arizona starts processing those ballots two weeks before election day. So the first batch of released results includes a significant number of mail-in ballot results. Thus, the “red mirage” characterization doesn’t apply to Arizona.
That’s was one of the truly bizarre things about the 2020 election. In Arizona, Biden had a (relatively) big lead on election day and it was Trump that gradually whittled the lead down as the results from the more rural areas started coming in. That led to the demonstrations in front of the vote processing center here in Phoenix with the protestors chanting “count all the votes”. So in the states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, Trumplicants are demonstrating to “stop the counting” because Trump is ahead at the time while in Arizona where he is behind, the chant is just the opposite. But then logic has never been the Trumplicant’s strong suit.
Wow, Charlie! Best f’ing column I’ve read in ages. Musk may be in the act of defenestration. But Charlie is actively disemboweling Musk from the nose to the nave. As a (retired) English teacher, I’m also looking at Musk’s self destruction as a morality tale against hubris born from a lack of self awareness and an UN willingness to learn. And if Twitter blows up in the process, so be it. It was a cesspool for Neanderthals before, and it’s only getting worse under “anything goes” Musk.
You nailed this! We have done this to ourselves. "I can be like him someday!". No, no you can't. The odds are against you. Adore Musk, Trump and others at your peril. They don't care about you, they don't care about anyone but themselves. Now, McKenzie Scott? I can get behind her.
At this rate, The Bulwark is going to post a glowing book review of "The Conquest of Bread" by Christmas. (Honestly, even an intelligently critical one in good faith would be fun.)
The cancer of negotiation is spreading far and wide. Just recently the wholesome conservative folks at Claremont suggested that it was time for the US to move in this direction and offered all kinds of equivocations and lame excuses and rationales for the US to offload the Ukrainian problem. They are to be heckled, crucified and ridiculed for their weakness and hypocrisy.
Agree, it is changing. Where I live, it is coal dominated and other than some lip service and marketing about wind power, the utility seems to have zero interest in changing. It’s not a reason not to buy an EV but it’s another factor (like mining the materials for the batteries) that should be talked about more.
Politico headline from today: "Voters appear ready to blame Democrats for economy, inflation"
With a sub-headline of, "The final POLITICO-Morning Consult poll before Tuesday’s midterm election shows voters convinced the country is on the wrong track."
But buried inside the story their final generic poll is Dem +5 48D-43R.
"The POLITICO-Morning Consult poll is an outlier on this question, showing support for Democratic congressional candidates at 48 percent, five points above support for Republican candidates."
Here's an interesting idea for posters here with stock portfolios--check your roster and see if Tesla (TSLA on the Nasdaq) is on the list. If it *is*, then speaking as a former intelligence analyst, I advise you to ditch the stock as fast as you can--even if you sell at a loss...the stock is probably going to hit the floor harder than the stiffs at the St Valentine's Day Massacre. The world (and the business world in particular) is seeing in real time that Elon Musk is actually NOT a business genius like Andrew Carnegie or Kiichiro Toyoda (Founder of what became Toyota Motors). It would appear that Elon Musk is *actually* a horrific manager (who really should not be in charge of anything resembling a business), AND, it also would appear to be the case that Elon Musk can be scammed into paying insane amounts of money on things that actually are not worth very much.
Stop betting on Elon Musk's "business acumen"...because he does not have any.
What a fabulous piece. Thank you.
Great column. And here’s my pile-on: Musk’s spoiling-for-a-fight Twitter responses to his critics reinforce just how petty and uninformed the guy is. It’s not a good look for a man in his position as head of a major communications forum to be so thin-skinned he feels he has to directly reply to his many critics. First of all, talk is cheap. So anything he says is going to be offset by all of his mistakes in judgment, which keep piling up day by day, hour by hour. They add to his lack of credibility and naïveté--again, traits that don’t inspire confidence in advertisers, the public, or employees he “didn’t fire” but are being begged to come back and do the work he naively didn’t believe needed to be done. The whole thing is a morality tale for clueless rich dudes whose press clippings suggested could do no wrong. But here Musk is, screwing up badly, and it’s hard to see this turning out well. Except maybe somebody will start a better Twitter. And Musk will buy a one-way ticket to Mars.
When are you folks going to start migrating to Mastodon? Come on in! The water is warm. I’m already following Ben Wittes, Anne Applebaum, and Molly Jong Fast. We need the Bulwark crew to represent!
This is a minor point but I subscribe to the Bulwark at relatively high rates because I assume it has a stronger commitment to journalistic integrity than, say, the Washington Post or Fox News:
The claim that Twitter has lost "millions of users" is not supported.
The linked article's own click-bait title says only "a million users" (that's not the same) and the actual data suggests that during Oct 27 to Nov 1 there were 877k deactivations and 497k suspensions, which is "more double the usual" (implying a regular churn in Twitter usership), with *no data* provided on number of sign-ups. So actually nothing is known from this article about total Twitter usership.
Even if you include both deactivations and suspensions together (1374k), double the usual seems to suggest only an additional *674k* deactivations or suspensions, so again not "millions." But who knows - the authors of that article were not trying to inform, just create a good headline out of a more nuanced, but incomplete MIT analysis.
tl;dr - no credible justification is cited for the claim that Twitter has "lost millions of users." A close reading of the article cited makes this clear. Maybe there is other data supporting this but I can only find more click bait.
Speaking as someone who has never used twitter, there might be a silver lining to this. I have always wondered who in their right mind would get their news from twitter (or Facebook for that matter). Sure twitter might be the place where some story is initially broken but if it’s important the press is going to cover it. And cover it better and more completely. But clearly I don’t live in the real world. So maybe if twitter implodes, that would be one less source of non-news.
One other unrelated comment for Charley…
I just listened to your Friday podcast with Bill Kristol. You talked about the upcoming midterms, but your characterization of the Arizona election process wasn’t accurate. You lumped Arizona in with the states that don’t allow processing of mail-in ballots to start until election day when in fact Arizona starts processing those ballots two weeks before election day. So the first batch of released results includes a significant number of mail-in ballot results. Thus, the “red mirage” characterization doesn’t apply to Arizona.
That’s was one of the truly bizarre things about the 2020 election. In Arizona, Biden had a (relatively) big lead on election day and it was Trump that gradually whittled the lead down as the results from the more rural areas started coming in. That led to the demonstrations in front of the vote processing center here in Phoenix with the protestors chanting “count all the votes”. So in the states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, Trumplicants are demonstrating to “stop the counting” because Trump is ahead at the time while in Arizona where he is behind, the chant is just the opposite. But then logic has never been the Trumplicant’s strong suit.
Wow, Charlie! Best f’ing column I’ve read in ages. Musk may be in the act of defenestration. But Charlie is actively disemboweling Musk from the nose to the nave. As a (retired) English teacher, I’m also looking at Musk’s self destruction as a morality tale against hubris born from a lack of self awareness and an UN willingness to learn. And if Twitter blows up in the process, so be it. It was a cesspool for Neanderthals before, and it’s only getting worse under “anything goes” Musk.
Happy Four Seasons Total Landscaping Day to all who observe.
You nailed this! We have done this to ourselves. "I can be like him someday!". No, no you can't. The odds are against you. Adore Musk, Trump and others at your peril. They don't care about you, they don't care about anyone but themselves. Now, McKenzie Scott? I can get behind her.
I love "self-fondling solipsism". Man, that is choice. Good work, Charlie.
As usual got a good laugh, especially the publicity tapeworm. 🤣🤣
At this rate, The Bulwark is going to post a glowing book review of "The Conquest of Bread" by Christmas. (Honestly, even an intelligently critical one in good faith would be fun.)
The cancer of negotiation is spreading far and wide. Just recently the wholesome conservative folks at Claremont suggested that it was time for the US to move in this direction and offered all kinds of equivocations and lame excuses and rationales for the US to offload the Ukrainian problem. They are to be heckled, crucified and ridiculed for their weakness and hypocrisy.
Musk has sucked BILLION$ from the United States Government! Do you still think he is brilliant?
Agree, it is changing. Where I live, it is coal dominated and other than some lip service and marketing about wind power, the utility seems to have zero interest in changing. It’s not a reason not to buy an EV but it’s another factor (like mining the materials for the batteries) that should be talked about more.
Politico headline from today: "Voters appear ready to blame Democrats for economy, inflation"
With a sub-headline of, "The final POLITICO-Morning Consult poll before Tuesday’s midterm election shows voters convinced the country is on the wrong track."
But buried inside the story their final generic poll is Dem +5 48D-43R.
"The POLITICO-Morning Consult poll is an outlier on this question, showing support for Democratic congressional candidates at 48 percent, five points above support for Republican candidates."
Um . . . what?
Here's an interesting idea for posters here with stock portfolios--check your roster and see if Tesla (TSLA on the Nasdaq) is on the list. If it *is*, then speaking as a former intelligence analyst, I advise you to ditch the stock as fast as you can--even if you sell at a loss...the stock is probably going to hit the floor harder than the stiffs at the St Valentine's Day Massacre. The world (and the business world in particular) is seeing in real time that Elon Musk is actually NOT a business genius like Andrew Carnegie or Kiichiro Toyoda (Founder of what became Toyota Motors). It would appear that Elon Musk is *actually* a horrific manager (who really should not be in charge of anything resembling a business), AND, it also would appear to be the case that Elon Musk can be scammed into paying insane amounts of money on things that actually are not worth very much.
Stop betting on Elon Musk's "business acumen"...because he does not have any.
Sell.
Your.
Stock.
NOW.