Twitter- The 44 Billion Dollar Questions

[JAMES4578]

As most will likely know Ellon Musk's take over Bid has been accepted subject to shareholder approval. Expected to go through towards the end of the year when shares will be delisted and it will go private.

Seems an extraordinary price to pay for a social Media company which has generally struggled for profitability and concerns over giving so much power to one individual. Musk is a strong advocate of "Free Speech" but how far should the boundaries go , concerns it will mean limited regulation. current leader Parag Agarwal has stated that the future direction is uncertain. 

See here for the Tech take on it:

https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/26/23040879/elon-musk-twitter-plans-free-speech-bots-anonymity-algor...

[antikythera]

Free speech as long as it's not Tesla employees who weren't allowed to form a Union to have a voice in their workplace. I find the guy the biggest hypocrite going but don't really care what happens to twitter as it is not a platform I use. He's as unhinged as Dr. Evil from Austin Powers so expect a bumpy ride...

[Glenntech]

I'm all for freedom of speech. It's an important part of us being individuals and different views bring different ideas
I'm worried that the freedom of speech he may have planned will undermine the work done so far on equality and respect. Though there's still a lot they have to do in that regard
Hopefully we won't have some of the vile stuff that has been taken away back on twitter

[JAMES4578]

I think there are different interpretations on "Freedom of Speech", in my view clearly hate speech should not come under that umbrella and some propaganda needs to be tackled.   An  exchange of ideas is welcome, always some who prefer an echo chamber though.

I do use Twitter  and other social media but am not a fanatic.

[Glenntech]

I agree with you
Though I don't use twitter too much now. Just scroll through really and sometimes post

[JAMES4578]

@Glenntech I do not tweet (the official term) as much nowadays really either.

Since the news apparently much interest in an open source alternative. https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-mastodon-an-open-source-twitter-alternative-is-having-a-m...

However many stick to the well known sites whatever issues they may not particularly wish to start over again and may have a number of contacts there.

[JAMES4578]

Deal seems to  on hold at the moment after a dispute on the number of Bots, though is that the whole story? https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/may/17/elon-musk-twitter-deal-bot-tesla 

[JAMES4578]

As the saga goes on Musk reported to be looking for way out, however need to see on that score .   Further information here https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/06/in-letter-to-twitter-musk-threatens-to-kill-merger-deal-... 

[JAMES4578]

Musk's interest not really waned, in question and answer session with employees lays out vision  with Twitter being more like Tiktok and Wechat,wishes the platform to be informative and entertaining https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/16/23171054/elon-musk-twitter-deal-1-billion-users-wechat-tiktok   He also says he would allow outrageous comments but they should not necessarily be amplified.  Some have taken this to mean he would be a bit more hands on than originally envisaged but cannot always take up at Face Value.  https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/16/23171014/elon-musk-twitter-all-hands-free-speech-moderation 

[JAMES4578]

The latest is that Musk  now wants out of the agreement, however Twitter intends to sue.  https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/12/23205553/elon-musk-twitter-deal-charlie-kirk-jason-miller-republi...    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jul/11/elon-musk-twitter-memes-lawsuit-threat-deal  shares prices have fallen on the news.