Nov 4 Update: Tim Poole of Timcast dot com uploaded a Nov 4 vid on Elon's firings at Twitter around the world; and some of the woke freak in response. Listen!
There's never been anything like this, we are in uncharted water. Isn't that just the way it must be when moving from the old world to the new?
We feature a great report by Newsthink's Cindy Pom, the 7 minute vid and transcript.
Transcript
Cindy Pom 0:00
It's been a busy first week since Elon Musk took control of Twitter on October 27. He appointed himself CEO, make that Chief Twit, or Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator. There were plenty of complaints. When Musk said people would have to start paying $8 a month to keep their blue checkmark or to get one, AOC wasn't too happy. Musk's response to the congresswoman, Pay up.
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO didn't waste any time getting down to business. He ousted Twitter's nine Board of Directors to become the sole Director, though he says being sole Director is temporary. He also started to trim the fat and is reportedly planning on eliminating nearly half of Twitter's workforce, or 3700 jobs, according to Bloomberg.
These two guys pretended to be laid off employees and gave their names as Raul Liga and Daniel Johnson to reporters who fell for their prank. But Musk did really start day one as Chief of Twitter by firing top Twitter executives, CEO Parag Agarwal got the boot; so did Chief Financial Officer Ned Siegel, and legal affairs and policy executive, Vidya Gotti. Gotti was reportedly instrumental in permanently banning Donald Trump from the platform for controversial tweets related to the Capitol Hill riot in January 2021. Musk said banning the former US president was a morally bad decision.
Everyone is wondering whether the former president will be back on Twitter. Musk mused that if he had $1 for every time someone asked him if Trump is coming back on this platform, Twitter would be minting money. Before any big changes, he says Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints. No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes. He said the process would take at least a few more weeks.
Musk did buy the platform because he's a self-described free speech absolutist who believes Twitter should be the digital town square, but thinks it has gone too far in squashing dissenting opinions. The final straw appears to have been when Twitter suspended the Babylon Bee, a Christian satire account that named US Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, its Man of the Year.
Many who are viewed as conservative feel they've been unfairly targeted by Twitter. Clinical Psychologist Jordan Peterson had his account suspended over his post about transgender actor Elliott page, formerly Ellen Page.
Jordan Peterson 2:35
But the suspension will not be lifted unless I delete the hateful tweet in question, and I would rather die than do that.
Cindy Pom 2:42
Musk replied to Peterson's daughter that anyone suspended for minor and dubious reasons will be freed from Twitter jail.
Jordan Peterson's daughter 2:49
Elon Musk won't only be freeing people from Twitter jail. Just like his ambitions for SpaceX and Tesla, he has far bigger plans for Twitter.
Cindy Pom 2:58
In his view, Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app. There's speculation that he wants to replicate the success of WeChat, which has basically become the everything app in China. When YouTuber Steven Mark Ryan of Solving the Money Problem pointed out that it's insane that Twitter has not currently implemented a YouTube clone. Musk responded with a wink. Could we see creators monetizing videos on Twitter? Musk polled people to ask if they wanted to bring back Vine, the short video sharing app that Twitter shut down in 2016. He talks about it being a possible competitor for TikTok.
All these plans rely on good engineering. Musk reportedly sent in his trusted Tesla engineers to inspect Twitter's code to assess the company's needs. They'll have to tackle the problem of fake and spam accounts. In fact, Musk tried to get out of buying Twitter believing it wasn't worth the 44 billion he offered to take it private due to the number of spam bots. Musk believes the way to defeat the spam bots while also making money for Twitter is to start charging you for this blue checkmark. This is arguably his most controversial move during week one. The blue verification badge has become a status symbol granted to journalists, celebrities, politicians, some of whom were furious when they heard they'd have to pay $19.99 a month to keep their blue tick, as reported by The Verge. Musk replied to an unhappy Stephen King that Twitter needs to pay the bills somehow and wondered if the horror author might be willing to dish out $8 instead. He called the current system for who has and doesn't have the blue tick BS, and that charging $8 a month for anyone who wants it would mean more power to the people. This would be part of the Twitter blue subscription service which comes with other benefits.
Although Musk has long-boasted that Tesla does not pay for advertising, advertising has been crucial to Twitter survival. General Motors temporarily pulled ads from Twitter following the takeover. Musk tried to reassure advertisers that Twitter would be a respected advertising platform and in an open letter he stressed that he doesn't want Twitter to become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences.
He also said he bought Twitter to help humanity, whom I love. Will people love the new Twitter? Users have been noticing some changes. When the White House boasted seniors are getting the biggest social security increase in a decade thanks to President Biden, context checkers pointed out it's because inflation has been the highest in decades. The White House then deleted the tweet.
Musk can only hope that Twitter soars to new heights, like his rocket company SpaceX, though some have vowed to leave. However you feel. Let that sink in, that a new boss is in town. Twitter is now a private company and will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. However, millions of investors have already dropped their shares in the last few months, as it got too volatile. And their caution is well-founded. The classic 6040 portfolio of stocks and bonds, the go-to investing method for decades, has lost around 34% this year. As a result, Goldman Sachs says portfolios need to be rebalanced to avoid further losses. They highlight the importance of investing in real assets that have historically outperformed in volatile conditions, assets like fine art.
And it's why Masterworks is seeing increased demand this year. Masterworks lets you invest in multimillion dollar paintings from legends like Picasso. You can buy shares in these paintings without owning millions yourself. Contemporary Art has outpaced the S&P 500 by 131% for the last 26 years, even during the bull market of the last decade. In October, Masterwork sold this painting by George Condo for a 21.5% net return. In fact, six of Masterwork's seven sales have brought in over 20%. net returns. Masterworks has a waitlist to join their 550,000+ members, but you can skip the waitlist by clicking the custom link in the description. That's masterworks.art/newsthink. Masterworks.art/newsthink to get started investing in fine art. Thanks for watching. For News Think I'm Cindy Pom.
On Thursday, Elon Musk is expected to cut 3,700 Twitter employees, or over half of the company's workforce globally, to reign in Twitter's costs, according to the Verge.
To prevent sabotage, Twitter has temporarily shut down all of its offices and disabled badge access to all physical locations. An email was sent to its employees on Thursday informing them to "go home and not return to the offices on Friday."
90% OF TWITTER ASIA IS FIRED: SOURCE
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 4, 2022
85% INDIA TWITTER IS FIRED: SOURCE
Is it a competition who can fire more?
Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022
Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America.
Advertisers should support:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
Tiny talk is talk so small it feels like it’s coming from your own mind
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022
Cassandra Fairbanks article on Timcast dot com. Go woke, go broke. Tim Poole points out that Jimmy Kimmel has the right to criticize anyone but his problem is that he is dishonest.
Ya think? LOL.
Ruby Ray Media, the World's Premier Community Media Platform, was created to support Citizen Journalism at its finest.
By accepting you will be accessing a service provided by a third-party external to https://rubyraymedia.com/
Copyrights, Ruby Ray Media® Ruby Ray Systems® and our Torch Logo Registered Trademarks, are owned and licensed by Ruby Ray Systems Sàrl.
Copyright © 2020 Ruby Ray Systems Sàrl, a Swiss Limited Liability Company. All rights reserved.
Made in Switzerland