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Elon Musk and the Twitter acquisition saga
- Thread starter EviLore
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ManaByte
Member
Wait...what?
Apparently 70% of Musk's are fake too.
That just means he has a lot of banned accounts following him, since a "fake" follower is usually just a banned account.
Basically the Resetera model of user counts. Worth about $4M minimum to investors.
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Unknown Soldier
Member
This is getting wild. Dude straight up calls Elon "special needs" right on camera. Twitter is getting so exposed right now for what it really is.
It's all in the wrist
Member
So, what would happen if they banned Elon Musk right now?
BigBooper
Member
Oh they go on dates like this and ask a bunch of questions about the company kind of like we're doing right now.
GHG
Member
"you're lucky that you met me organically cause I would be questioning everything about you"
Holy shit I'm done
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
It looks like Musk tried to spike the deal by repeatedly making disparaging remarks against Twitter and Twitter employees (part of the deal was that he would not), and then with the "I need more info before the purchase" stunt he pulled (which led to even more of his disparaging remarks on Twitter).
However, it appears that Twitter is going to enforce the merger despite Musk's fantastical bot and spam claims now that the stock prices have leveled out lower than where they were when he made his proposal. And it really is almost entirely due to Musk's puerile behavior. He's the head of numerous companies and in the middle of a serious deal for a large merger involving the livelihoods of thousands and he essentially behaves like a teenager. Pathetic.
gizmodo.com
I predict that this whole affair concludes in one of two ways:
1. Musk keeps misbehaving to the point that the SEC and whatever other regulatory bodies are applicable force this into the courts for years
2. Twitter's board wins, enforces the merger and gets paid, then everyone just leaves while some other entity builds Twitter's replacement and Twitter evaporates like MySpace
I kind of want #2 to occur for selfish reasons. I am sure most of the Twitter workers can go elsewhere and land on their feet, but also, I think there's long-standing core functionality issues with Twitter that have never been addressed and never will be with Twitter's current leadership. A new product built from the ground up with an eye towards being all that Twitter should have been in the first place probably will never come to be unless Twitter itself first either dies or is greatly diminished.
However, it appears that Twitter is going to enforce the merger despite Musk's fantastical bot and spam claims now that the stock prices have leveled out lower than where they were when he made his proposal. And it really is almost entirely due to Musk's puerile behavior. He's the head of numerous companies and in the middle of a serious deal for a large merger involving the livelihoods of thousands and he essentially behaves like a teenager. Pathetic.
Twitter Won’t Budge in Face of Musk’s Spam Bot Obsession, Says It Will ‘Enforce the Merger Agreement’
Twitter's board emphasized its commitment to the $44 billion sale and insinuated that it was prepared to sue to get Musk to honor the agreement.
gizmodo.com
I predict that this whole affair concludes in one of two ways:
1. Musk keeps misbehaving to the point that the SEC and whatever other regulatory bodies are applicable force this into the courts for years
2. Twitter's board wins, enforces the merger and gets paid, then everyone just leaves while some other entity builds Twitter's replacement and Twitter evaporates like MySpace
I kind of want #2 to occur for selfish reasons. I am sure most of the Twitter workers can go elsewhere and land on their feet, but also, I think there's long-standing core functionality issues with Twitter that have never been addressed and never will be with Twitter's current leadership. A new product built from the ground up with an eye towards being all that Twitter should have been in the first place probably will never come to be unless Twitter itself first either dies or is greatly diminished.
strange headache
Banned
Ultimately, Twitter needed to be taken down a notch. The only "puerile" behavior here is Twitter's blatant lie about its active userbase, with nearly 20% being outright fake.
Elon is laying it all bare and shows us that relying on social media to gauge public opinion is a very bad idea.
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BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
There's no reasons to attack me personally because I am a critic of some person you admire, thanks.
It makes sense for the board to enforce the merger. If Elon resists paying what he offered It slows the takeover by tying it up in court. If Elon really wants to own Twitter right away to fully realize his vision then it encourages him to pay.
He might win eventually in court, but if it takes a couple years will it still matter to him then?
He might win eventually in court, but if it takes a couple years will it still matter to him then?
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strange headache
Banned
Nobody is attacking you personally, your take just reeks of hostility. Elon is trying to force twitter to come clean, they are the ones lying about their actual userbase and putting their own employees at risk. You are literally defending a company whose execs are on record crapping on the value of free speech and making fun of mental illness.
Inflating your own user numbers in order to push your ideological views and make yourself seem more important for the public opinion making process has done way more damage to American society than Elon's powerplay.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
It's also defrauding investors, which is a class C felony.
strange headache
Banned
Advertising a car as brand-new when the motor has 200k miles is probably also a-ok with the twitter defense force here.
They would make for some nice gullible fools for shady car dealers.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
We are already seeing those side-effects less than two years in
Mistake
Member
I can only imagine how this started
PV “Now hiring: one attractive homosexual to seduce twitter employees”
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BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
You're imagining hostility that isn't there because I am critical of someone you admire. Meanwhile I am just trying to have a regular, non-hostile discussion while sharing my opinions on the matter (which I just re-read them and they're certainly not harsh).
Elon Musk's claims are completely unfounded. They had internal discussions, and Twitter's CEO explained it all professionally on Twitter (such as why they obviously cannot openly share their methods and practices on detecting bots, or how they determine what accounts are active mDAUs on any given day). Elon Musk's public response? A poop emoji in the Twitter CEO's thread. It shouldn't take a lawyer to explain to an adult why that is a disparaging remark against Twitter and/or their workers in this context and in the context of the deal.
On the bolded: I'm no longer explaining why free speech isn't relevant to a private platform like Twitter (or here, or Facebook, or Reddit). And you're projecting by assuming I am "defending" a corporation. You like Musk, I get that, but that doesn't mean that anyone critical of him is suddenly a supporter of <X>. We're discussing the Twitter merger, Twitter, and Musk, not one another.
ManaByte
Member
Fuck right off with that bullshit. The amount of spam/bot accounts are way more than 5%. Anyone with a decent sized following on that shithole can tell you that. If you only have 3 or 4 followers, sure you're not going to see it.
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
If they were lying. Every step during this process Twitter has done things properly and professionally (edit: as an organization as it relates to the deal - I just noticed that post above with an exec complaining privately). They know they cannot lie about anything they're discussing, and given their behavior thus far, there's no reason to assume they are. Elon Musk meanwhile is basically just claiming something in public and expecting others to believe it. The burden of proof is upon him. They've apparently already shared all of this data internally.
So that leads me back to my post that started this line of discussion: I personally think it will either end up in the courts (which won't matter to Musk - by the time the slow wheels of justice turn he'd have earned back any legal costs or fines he may incur and more), or Twitter can show that the original deal must be respected and well, who knows, but hoping for a Twitter replacement is built that is better.
If it's so obvious, then prove it. I am sure Musk can afford a battery of engineers and lawyers to do it for him - or at least challenge the data and methodology he's already been informed about. Personally I have 300+ followers and none of them are obvious bots - though I've certainly come across some here and there before blocking and reporting them.
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StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Stock buy out: $54
Stock at: $37
Twitter trying to push it through. Elon wants it held up until his bot rate can be verified under 5%. Articles say he might counter offer a lower price if bots are high.
Might be worth the gamble it goes through. Maybe if it drifts to low $30s.
Stock at: $37
Twitter trying to push it through. Elon wants it held up until his bot rate can be verified under 5%. Articles say he might counter offer a lower price if bots are high.
Might be worth the gamble it goes through. Maybe if it drifts to low $30s.
strange headache
Banned
Twitter's response is not professional at all, merely a very transparent excuse to not divulge their real numbers. For years they avoided releasing actual numbers to their investors and mDAUs are just another arbitrary measure allowing them to inflate their actual numbers. They are also lying about it now:
Metric and data transparency at Twitter are absolute wank and Elon's claims are certainly not unfounded.
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StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
IMO, no doubt in my mind a decent portion of social media are bots.
And that's no even including all the inactive people who count to the overall profile count. Tons of people who made accounts and never use it except for a couple tweets and follows they did 10 years ago. You can slash those people as just as useless as bots.
And that's no even including all the inactive people who count to the overall profile count. Tons of people who made accounts and never use it except for a couple tweets and follows they did 10 years ago. You can slash those people as just as useless as bots.
LQX
Member
I just do not get the fanboyism for Musk, much of which reminds me of stock pumpers, and there is some irony in that because the antics of both mostly fucks over the average investor. Musk is supposedly the richest man on earth so he can get away with playing with money. Most other investors cant.
Also, from the start I did not think Musk was serious about buying Twitter and I bet he thought there would be more pushback, and at first there was, which probably fueled him to keep caring and trying, but now that things have calmed down and most could give a shit, he is trying to find a way out with the "bots" nonsense. He may still end up buying Twitter, but it will be because he has to save face and call his own bluff. Billionaire stupidity and hubris.
Also, from the start I did not think Musk was serious about buying Twitter and I bet he thought there would be more pushback, and at first there was, which probably fueled him to keep caring and trying, but now that things have calmed down and most could give a shit, he is trying to find a way out with the "bots" nonsense. He may still end up buying Twitter, but it will be because he has to save face and call his own bluff. Billionaire stupidity and hubris.
DragoonKain
Neighbours from Hell
I have a gut feeling he’s not going to buy it. Elon is like the world’s biggest troll and part of me always thought this was more than just a free speech thing and he was buying it to stick it to his haters. But that is a fleeting feeling and once reality sets in and the price of paying that even though he’s the richest man in the world, I think he’s looking for a reason to get out of it now after having everyone freak out about it for weeks.
I think within a week or two the WSJ will have a breaking news report that the deal is dead.
I think within a week or two the WSJ will have a breaking news report that the deal is dead.
Vicetrailia
Banned
Everyone knows that twitter has a lot of bots. Good bots, bad bots.
Also for the active user base we all know that the 80/20 principal is just the standard. 20 percent of the people make 80+ percent of the content. Or in twitters case 25% of the people make 90% of the content.
Also for the active user base we all know that the 80/20 principal is just the standard. 20 percent of the people make 80+ percent of the content. Or in twitters case 25% of the people make 90% of the content.
ManaByte
Member
Nah he was buying it because they banned one of his favorite shitposting accounts, The Babylon Bee for their "Man of the Year" award to Rachel Levine.
Wheeljack539
Member
ManaByte
Member
He better have good security or else he'll probably be found dead from two self inflicted gunshot wounds to the back of the head from two different caliber bullets before he stuffed himself into a duffel bag.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Seems more like a declarative statement.So, he's complaining about free speech?
He's going to be more politically involved? Yeah, makes sense to brace for more.
He's been making quite a few statements already.
Something about "Exxon is rated top ten best in world for environment, social & governance(ESG) by S&P 500, while Tesla didn’t make the list!" really set him off.
It has made me curious what the evaluation system is.
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
BadBurger you do know that Twitter's sample size for their bot figure is 100 right?
I was aware given Musk's tweets from the other day, yes.
What we don't know is: is this actually accurate (*), how precisely and how often are these sample sets analyzed, how many different kinds of tests does Twitter employ and do they all share the same sample size, their supposed margin of error, their confidence level (percentage of probability given all of their testing to this point), or any other relevant data one would need to draw any useful conclusion from this information. I think it's vague and possibly misleading to claim "a sample size of something is 100, so therefore <X>".
(*) I think it's entirely fair to doubt the complete accuracy of Musk's claim given his....
1. Predilection to lying : such as when the SEC fined him for $20m for falsely claiming on Twitter that he had enough funding to take Tesla private, or when he lied about being willing to use $6.6bn to help the UN combat world hunger
2. His propensity to knowingly break rules and laws - there's some examples in my previous several comments in this thread, but additionally, how he didn't properly disclose his initial stock purchases to begin with, how he broke his NDA sharing this supposed sample size figure, how he challenged Twitter's claim publicly while presenting a figure he summoned completely out of thin air (that at least 20% of accounts are bots or spam), etc
Oh damn, I didn't know they were banned. Now that I think about it, it has been a while since I read the name "Babylon Bee"
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DeepEnigma
Gold Member
I do not believe he will be any more involved than he has been already as a billionaire with DoD contracts.
He is a man with ideas and opinions.
ManaByte
Member
Based on the attacks on him so far:
1. Alt-Right
2. Nazi
3. Literal Hitler <-- We are here.
4. Rapist
5. Serial rapist
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DeepEnigma
Gold Member
So business as usual from the bots and their empty vessels.
Remember, we are on an "alt-right" forum according to them as well.
He did mention awhile back he hopes his political opponents stay with Twitter. Maybe there won't be any real increase. He's just trying to increase public fixation on an already present constant noise.
ManaByte
Member
Oh no, the real attacks outside of Twitter are going to begin now that the Ministry of Truth is being shut down. I expect to see him dragged before congress over some kind of invented drama related to Tesla or something before the deal can close. They're not going to let go of their propaganda tool that easily.
Chittagong
Gold Member
There is no way Elon didn’t understand the extent of bots and fake accounts before doing the deal. He has engineers and researchers who have answered more complicated questions.
I think this current fuss is one or both of two things
1 - Elon’s networth is melting as Tesla is tumbling along with other stocks, and the acquisition would be too big a part of his net wealth, or could risk a margin call
2 - Twitter is following the other badly managed tech stocks in their tumble and the premium of Elon’s offer is becoming ridiculous
I think this current fuss is one or both of two things
1 - Elon’s networth is melting as Tesla is tumbling along with other stocks, and the acquisition would be too big a part of his net wealth, or could risk a margin call
2 - Twitter is following the other badly managed tech stocks in their tumble and the premium of Elon’s offer is becoming ridiculous
His follow up doesn't seem to make much sense. It's lashing out at an entire institution as though it represents the epicenter of some vague imaginary threat to civilization.
Funny referring to himself as a virus that needs inoculating from then goes on to attack with a virus metaphor.
It's sounding like he's got the mind viruses.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
He makes perfect sense to me.
Wheeljack539
Member
Didn't the SEC suddenly announce they were looking into Tesla once the deal for Twitter seemed like a done deal?
ManaByte
Member
Or censoring an inconvenient news story or two.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Hopefully centered around Rome.
p_xavier
Authorized Fister
At least he's safe from Amber Heard for the rapist part, although she might invent another storey because she needs the money to pay Depp...
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