Savor the Great Musk Panic
The New York Times earlier this week ran a guest essay by Gawker founding editor Elizabeth Spiers, fulminating about Elon Musk’s effort to purchase Twitter. She wrote: What exactly does [Musk] believe can’t be said on the platform right now? It certainly doesn’t take long to find discredited race science, arguments that women are intellectually inferior, antisemitism… It is easy to assume that the banned speech that Mr. Musk is standing up for is worse even than that. As the comedian…
Read more
a year ago · 1122 likes · 954 comments · Matt Taibbi
Listen to This Article: Savor the Great Musk Panic
I've had more fun this past week on Twitter than the past 2 years, reading the written meltdowns, gnashing of teeth and incessant whining of the blue checkmarks. Who knows what Twitter will become? Musk isn't a God King though he does have a pretty quirky sense of humor. I got to attend the opening of the GigaTexas plant outside of Austin 3 weeks ago and had no idea what to expect. It was for the most part a pretty young crowd (25-35 yrs olds) made up mostly of current employees and their "one-Plus" guests. It was a VERY ethnically diverse crowd. While there was a small VIP area in the area of the second floor part of the factory where the stage was setup for the music and remarks by Musk that evening, most of this second floor area was filled with a large enthusiastic crowd, with an even larger contingent outside rocking out, with everyone having a good time, posing with their favorite current or future Tesla EV. The entire factory floor was open for everyone to walk through, see how the cars were made and put together, people signing their names on a couple of Model Y's to mark the event. A very open, relaxed atmosphere.
I relate this experience as a way of suggesting that what we may see from Musk and those that he brings in to right the ship at Twitter may surprise all of us including his critics. Maybe he can come in and make Twitter a better place and "more fun" with a more positive energy that has been typical of Twitter in the last year or so. If not, no big deal. We'll go find another way of talking to one another and sharing ideas and information without being ruled over by nannies hired by billionaires OR by the new Ministry of Truth recently created by the Biden Administration.
Excellent article