Did Elon Musk Buy a Dud in Twitter?

Even if you don’t use Twitter, you probably know that the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, bought Twitter for a staggering $US44 billion. Personally, I think it was a waste of money, but what do I know? I’m not a billionaire. Musk has stated that Twitter is losing more than $4 million a day, so he had no other option but to cut staff.

So if it’s losing money, why did Musk buy Twitter? Well, in his own words, “The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilisation to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence”. Okay, so from a philosophical standpoint, I agree with that. Censorship has become pretty bad on social media of late and it sounds like Musk is trying to taper it. But ultimately, when it comes to censorship, who decides what’s allowed and who decides what isn’t? Somebody has to decide what is okay, right? Musk said it himself, “That said, Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!”. Obviously, this means censorship will still exist under Musk. It has to, otherwise any horrible thing could be said, and any horrible picture or video could be posted without any consequences.

Musk talks about Twitter as being a digital town square, but is that what it is? Is that what Twitter has become? I don’t really think so. A town square, in a free society at least, allows people to say what’s on their mind, to discuss topics, and to participate in rigorous debate. The platform allows it. But I would argue that Twitter due to its online limitations, character limits, and anonymity and so on, even with Musk in control, has turned into 1. An Echo Chamber, that is, a place where people only encounter beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, which reinforces their existing views, while alternative ideas are not considered. I’ll show some examples of this soon; 2. A Political Slanging Match, basically, just a place where people use angry uncontrolled language and throw insults at each other; and 3. Not a Place for Reasoned Debate. I would argue it doesn’t matter who’s in control, this is what Twitter has become.

Let’s look at some real-life examples.

“Democrats are good at creating jobs. No modern Democrat has been better than Joe Biden. Republicans are bad at creating jobs. No modern Republican has been worse than Donald Trump”. I think he must think people are pretty stupid. The first thing that came to mind is that over the last few years there’s been a pandemic and lots of people lost their jobs due to lockdowns and so on. I would argue that allowing people to go back to work after a pandemic is not creating jobs, but according to this guy, Biden’s magically created these jobs? It sounds a bit misleading to me. Anyway, of course, people who support the Democratic Party will love this Tweet. People on the other side of politics will either not see this Tweet as they would never follow this man, or if they do see it, they would either ignore it or write some angry comment. I certainly don’t see this Tweet as changing anybody’s mind.

On the other side of politics, “Donald Trump is the greatest President in US History. Ron DeSantis is America’s favourite Governor. Republicans should NOT be forced to pick either — we want both! Trump 2024. DeSantis 2028 & 2032”. Okay, so obviously Trump supporters would love this Tweet: “How lucky are we to be alive at the same time as the greatest leader in world history, Donald J. Trump!”; “Trump should have DeSantis as his Vice President and vice versa. That would be an awesome duo!”; Democrats, on the other hand, will either never look at this account, or reply angrily or with an insult. One person (or bot) just replied with an image: “Moron-o-meter rates this Tweet: Dumbest thing ever said!”. Others wrote: “Trump will be in an orange jump suit and slippers before 2024”; “You should go back to your country. Take fat boy with you... Juan 2 3”; “If trump wins in 24 there won’t be an election in 28. He already tried to become a dictator and the republicans will make it happen for real”. The point is, these Tweets are just echos in a chamber. They’re not changing anybody’s minds. Reasoned debate is simply not occurring on Twitter.

Okay, so you get the idea. This is the real Twitter, at least, in my experience. Nobody is convincing anybody of anything. One side of the political spectrum is shouting at the other side. Neither are convincing either of anything. Considered and rigorous debate simply isn’t occurring. It’s just become a slanging match and an echo chamber, and I don’t think Elon can change this. Buying Twitter is like paying $44 billion to buy a class of kindergarteners. “I stuck a crayon up my nose!”. “You smell funny!”. “I’ll fart where I want to!”. “Methane’s bad for the planet!”. I think Elon’s realised he’s bought himself a very expensive dud.

MUSIC
Melancholia by Godmode