Elon may well become “The Czar of All Things”.
intercst
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People rubberneck. It is double the size. Give or take. X is also a good place to run ads.
Don’t expect the big advertisers to rush to buy ad space. The reputation does not help a lot of them.
He is the world’s biggest dreamer.
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Elon is supposed to be “Cost Cutting Czar” in the new Administration. Business will want to buy his favor.
intercst
7 Likes
Why not, we’ve gone completely upside down.
Only for four (or less) years. Then he and X are GONE because there is no reason to use either for business.
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I would expect they will rush to shower Musk with adulation, and money. I have seen plenty of honchos who demand underlings pay a tithe to keep their jobs.
Steve
2 Likes
Why only four years? Do you think that, if TFG can draw a breath, he won’t run in 28, regardless what the Constitution says? He only promised to not run in 28 if he lost this time. Instead, he has a clear mandate from “We The People”, to do everything he has been talking about.
Steve
1 Like
I am not seeing how this necessarily helps Twitter - especially since the POTUS has a financial interest in a direct competitor.
The POTUS would have to clear the board as it pertains to financial regulatory approval for X to become the everything ap and that seems unlikely in the next two years - and that doesn’t seem to be in his financial interest to do so.
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I think that X will promote this result as evidence of the power that the platform still has to shape public opinion. It is likely that those who criticize the role of money in elections will help them with that. There will be voices that claim that Musk put the “whole of X” in service to successfully affecting the election, and who will use the result to decry the role of billionaires being able to influence elections. One consequence of that will be to help X make the argument that it’s still the platform that matters when it comes to politics - esp. since other platforms (like FB) have made a concerted effort to withdraw from that.
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Are you saying that you think he will run again in 2028? I think your time would be better spent focusing on what the Vice President-elect will do in 2028.
DB2
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OK, but does that necessarily drive a significant boost in ad revenue? I am not convinced - in particular because the owner has displayed an obvious bias and an overt willingness to put his thumb on the scale. Any belief of X being a platform of free speech should be over after the owner force-fed users pro-Trump content and elevated other conspiracy content.
That is exactly what I am saying. There has been a narrative that prosecuting TFG for his crimes is wrong. The question should be left up to “the people”. “The people” have spoken with a clear voice. If the law takes a back seat to mob rule in that case, why should a POTUS be limited by the Constitution, rather than “We The People” voting on the issue? As I said, if he can draw breath in 28, he will run.
Steve
2 Likes
DrBob2 has written something that I heartily agree with!
Yowsah!
I actually can easily imagine POTUSelect retiring early to golf and leaving VP Vance to do whatever it is that Thiel wants??
And what is it that Thiel wants?
d fb
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I don’t know - maybe? It’s always better to have lots of people using your site than not, and it’s generally better to have your site be thought of as integral to the zeitgeist and national discourse than not.
There was a period after Musk took over Twitter when people really thought that the platform might be starting a descent into obsolescence - that it was doing a MySpace. Not sure that was still something people thought might happen, but this result puts a nail in that.
And with the really unambiguous results of the election, we might end up entering a “Republicans buy sneakers too” era again. There’s a pull factor of companies realizing that maybe it’s not the end of the world to be associated with X’s audience. And there’s a push factor that government actors may get upset with companies that use “brand protection” as a reason to avoid interacting with that audience (both on X specifically and across all other platforms).
The “hobbits” and “deplorables” have made it clear that they’re part of who America is - no more “this is not who we are” - and that may have a very positive effect on businesses that count them as their audience.
And leave the crowds of adoring fans, and leave the ability to threaten and beat up anyone he wishes?
Steve
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I don’t think he has to retire to be out golfing every day. Plus, being POTUS is exceptionally profitable for his other businesses and lastly one can’t put a price on the power of being POTUS - and that is hard for anyone (regardless of party) to easily give up.
I can’t imagine him giving it up without kicking and screaming. In fact, I would expect him to try and find a way to keep the power in the family in one form or another.
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Yep. I see VP Vance with the portfolio of all domestic and foreign policy issues, with the new President focusing on Making America Great Again.
intercst
2 Likes
That strikes me as being a dangerous strategy as it would suggest X is directing editorial content. That would make the argument that X is a publisher rather than a neutral platform easier to make.
That could have legal consequences and provide some motivation to revisit the protections of Section 230.
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He is not someone who makes money. He has inherited and borrowed.
The job did not make him money as far as I know.
Oh, I don’t think they need to do it in a way that risks them running afoul of that. They’ll just hype up how important the plaftorm is - that it’s users were able to change the course of history with by amplifying their voices on X, not that the company X exercised any specific editorial control. That X has proven itself too important a platform to be ignored because of any retrograde content that might be on the site.
Don’t know if it will work. But it probably doesn’t hurt that X was perceived as being an influential factor in the election.