Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

Xyls
Posts: 689
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 9:20 pm

Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

Post by Xyls »

caltrek wrote: Sat May 07, 2022 8:15 pm Elon Musk Thinks He Can Double Twitter’s Revenue Through Subscriptions Alone

by Emma Roth
May 7, 2022

https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/7/23061 ... tions-blue

Introduction:
(The Verge) Elon Musk — the world’s richest man and Twitter’s new owner — expects Twitter to earn almost $10 billion in revenue from subscriptions by 2028, a projection that doubles the $5 billion in total revenue the platform made last year, according to a report from The New York Times.

In a pitch deck viewed by the Times, Musk gave investors a taste of what to expect under his ownership. This reportedly includes driving up Twitter Blue subscribers to 69 million by 2025 and more than doubling that number to 159 million by 2028. Launched last year, Twitter Blue is the service’s $2.99 / month subscription that gives users access to an “undo tweet” button, app customization, ad-free articles, and other exclusive features. Musk expects a huge growth in total Twitter users as well, growing from the 217 million users reported last year to 600 million Twitter users in 2025 and, eventually, 931 million in 2028.

The pitch deck also outlines plans for an unnamed subscription service outside of Blue, called “X,” which Musk expects to bring in nine million subscribers in 2023 and 104 million by 2028. Earlier this week, Musk hinted at charging governments and corporations a “slight cost” to use Twitter. Whatever subscription “X” may be, revenue from it and Blue combined is supposed to hit the $10 billion mark by 2028, making up a large fraction of the $26.4 billion in total revenue Musk thinks the service will reach that same year.

According to the Times, Twitter is supposed to make up the rest of its total projected revenue with ads, something that Musk predicts Twitter will earn about $12 billion through by 2028. Twitter has been reliant on advertising as its primary stream of revenue in the past, but Musk, who said in a now-deleted tweet that Twitter should remove ads for paid subscribers, wants ads to make up just 45 percent of Twitter’s total revenue.
Musk’s pitch deck reportedly includes plans to rake in $15 million from some sort of payments business as well, which he expects to grow to $1.3 billion by 2028.
caltrek’s comment: As I have already indicated, I hate Twitter. I think after Musk gets through with it, I will hate it even more. I mean content providers will also have to pay a subscription? That is like paying somebody to be allowed to work. (Yes, I post a lot out of fun – but I am retired and living comfortably on a pension, social security, etc.).

No wonder Musk in now the richest man in America, if not the world.
Who the f*ck would pay to use Twitter?
Xyls
Posts: 689
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 9:20 pm

Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

Post by Xyls »

weatheriscool wrote: Tue May 10, 2022 7:18 pm Elon Musk says he would reverse Twitter ban on Donald Trump
Source: Washington Post
SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk said he would reverse Twitter’s ban on former president Donald Trump.

Musk, the Tesla CEO who is soon to own Twitter, said it was a mistake for the website to ban the former president.

“I think it was a morally bad decision to be clear and foolish in the extreme,” he said at a Future of the Car event hosted by the Financial Times.

He added: "I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake … It alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice.”
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolo ... k-twitter/

Good, it is anti-democratic to silence the opposition leader of the minority party of any democracy. That is what russia is doing.
Has nothing to do with democracy. This is a private company and can do whatever it wishes.

Elon is likely going to drive a large amount of users away with his "strategy" on content moderation. No permanent bans so allowing toxic as shit users to come back? Lol good luck keeping engagement with that strategy.
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

Post by caltrek »

I prefer LinkedIn. First, it allows for connection to the type of people who circulate their resumes in order to get better paying jobs. So, people are motivated not to come across as neanderthal fruit cakes. Also, they have a new feature, or at least a feature I just noticed that I like. Not only do they give you an "impressions" count, but once you reach twenty-five "impressions or more, they give you a demographic report on those impressions. While my following seems to be tiny, it is also diverse, which is good to know.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

Post by caltrek »

Of course, Future Timeline is still my favorite.

As for more conventional media sources, here is something to ponder:

Altercation: How Republicans Argue: They Lie
by Eric Alterman
Mau 13, 2022
(The American Prospect) If I have a single cause in life—aside from my insistence on the proper use of “was” and “were,” together with that of “less” and “fewer”—it’s my apparently quixotic quest to demand contextual information be included in news media accounts of political (and other) events. I wrote about this last week as it related to The New York Times’ (admirable) commitment to long-form investigations. Today, I’m inspired by a rather obscure story, also reported by the Times about a fight going on in the Department of Homeland Security.

But first, some meta-media context: As David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) pointed out in a tweet, when people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg speak of “free speech,” what they mean is “speech” in the control of the wealthiest people in the world.

The second piece of meta-context to always keep in mind when reading about U.S. politics is how deeply the contemporary right wing is embedded with the enemies of democracy, including its murderous dictators. It’s not just that CPAC is having its convention in Victor Orban’s Hungary. Nor is it just that Fox News is a more effective propaganda tool for Vladimir Putin than RT ever was. It’s also that the Republicans keep nominating candidates who are either personally, financially, or via their staffs playing for Putin’s team as well. It wasn’t just Trump and the people with whom he peopled the government. It was, as Steve Schmidt revealed this week, also John McCain, something that was originally reported by The Nation back during the 2008 campaign but lied about by the campaign and ignored by the McCain-besotted mainstream media. That article noted, and Schmidt has now confirmed, that “despite McCain’s tough talk, behind the scenes his top advisers have cultivated deep ties with Russia’s oligarchy—indeed, they have promoted the Kremlin’s geopolitical and economic interests, as well as some of its most unsavory business figures, through greedy cynicism and geopolitical stupor.”
Read further here: https://prospect.org/politics/altercati ... -they-lie/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8730
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

Post by wjfox »

Elon Musk's Explanation For Why He Put His Twitter Deal On Hold Leaves People Very Skeptical

Ben Acosta
May 16, 2022

In a move that surprised no one, Elon Musk announced his deal to purchase Twitter was “on hold”. While Musk claimed questions about bots on the site need to be investigated, not everyone was willing to buy that explanation.

https://www.comicsands.com/elon-musk-tw ... 28146.html
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

Post by caltrek »

Does Elon Musk Actually Have The Money To Buy Twitter? Speculation Says No
Dr Alfredo Carpineti
May 17, 2022

Introduction:
(IFL Science) Elon Musk's Twitter deal has been on hold for four days and the stalemate seems to be here to stay. Musk claims that Twitter's underestimating of the number of fake accounts – so-called "spambots" – on the platform has put the deal temporarily on hold.

Speaking at the All In Summit in Miami, Musk said that a Twitter deal at a lower price “was not out of the question. While Twitter's bot problem is well known, many are speculating Musk putting the deal on hold has more to do with it being unlikely that the world’s richest man can afford the $44 billion dollars originally agreed upon.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Musk has a net worth of $213 billion at the time of writing. Converted into hard cash, even if he were to spend $1 million every hour, it would take him 24 years and 4 months to run out. But the conversion to cash is the issue, and not just for this hypothetical scenario.

The same index suggests that Musk has only got $9.25 billion in “cash” with the rest of his fortune coming from shares. So, to raise the money for the deal, Musk has been looking for alternatives. Last month, NYU Professor Scott Galloway suggested in his Pivot podcast Musk would have to borrow the cash against his shares in Tesla.

Musk had secured $13 billion in bank loans and then moved to secure $12.5 billion more by pledging about $62.5 billion worth of Tesla stock as collateral. This still leaves about half of the money to be found, with private investors such as Binance chief founder Changpeng Zhao and Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talalapparently pledging money to help Musk. However, speculation is rampant that all of that is simply not enough and that Musk can’t afford the offer he made.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Musk sued by Twitter investors for delayed disclosure of stake
Source: Reuters

Billionaire Elon Musk was sued by Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) investors for delayed disclosure of his stake in the social media company in a complaint filed on Wednesday in California federal court.

The investors said Musk saved himself $156 million by failing to disclose that he had purchased more than 5% of Twitter by March 14. He continued to buy stock after that, and ultimately disclosed in early April that he owned 9.2% of the company.

"By delaying his disclosure of his stake in Twitter, Musk engaged in market manipulation and bought Twitter stock at an artificially low price," said the investors, led by Virginia resident William Heresniak.

The suit comes after Musk, the owner of electric carmaker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), said he planned to take over Twitter for $44 billion.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/m ... 022-05-26/
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

Post by caltrek »

The Supreme Court Shuts Down Texas’s Attempt to Seize Control of Social Media — for Now
by Ian Millhiser
May 31, 2022

Introduction:
(Vox) The Supreme Court handed down a brief order on Tuesday blocking a Texas law that would have effectively seized control over the entire content moderation process at major social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

The Texas law imposed such burdensome requirements on these sites, including disclosure requirements that may literally be impossible to comply with, that it presented an existential threat to the entire social media industry. Facebook, for example, removes billions of pieces of content from its website every year. The Texas law would require Facebook to publish a written explanation of each of these decisions.

At the very least, the law would have prevented major social media sites from engaging in the most basic forms of content moderation — such as suppressing posts by literal Nazis who advocate for mass genocide, or banning people who stalk and harass their former romantic partners.
Conclusion:
The Court’s order in Netchoice is temporary. It preserves the status quo until the Court can issue a final ruling on how the First Amendment applies to social media.

But it is unlikely that this issue will remain open very long. Two federal appeals courts have reached contradictory rulings on the legality of Texas-style laws. So the Supreme Court will need to step in soon to resolve that conflict.
Read more here: https://www.vox.com/2022/5/31/23149183/ ... ice-paxton
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Elon Musk Threatens to End Deal With Twitter
Source: Wall Street Journal
Elon Musk threatened to terminate his deal to buy Twitter Inc. TWTR -4.08%▼ in a letter accusing the company of not complying with his request for data on the number of spam and fake accounts on the social-media platform.

Mr. Musk said Twitter has refused to provide the data necessary for Mr. Musk to facilitate his own evaluation of the number of spam and fake accounts. In April, Twitter accepted Mr. Musk’s $44 billion bid to take over the company and go private. As part of the deal, Mr. Musk waived detailed due diligence that buyers typically perform on targets.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk- ... _lead_pos1
User avatar
Time_Traveller
Posts: 2090
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:49 pm
Location: Clermont, Indiana, USA, October 7th 2019 B.C.E

Re: Social Media & Big Tech news and discussions

Post by Time_Traveller »

Twitter board endorses Elon Musk takeover, urges investors to vote in favor of the deal
Jun 21, 2022

The Tesla billionaire Elon Musk is one step closer to owning Twitter.

On Tuesday the social-media giant's board of directors recommended that its shareholders vote in favor of the proposed $44 billion sale, according to a regulatory filing.

The board unanimously "determined that the merger agreement is advisable and the merger and the other transactions contemplated by the merger agreement are fair to, advisable and in the best interests of Twitter and its stockholders," it said in a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Twitter has not yet set a date for the vote.

Musk offered $54.20 per share to take the company private in April.

However, shares of the company have since sunk alongside a broader market selloff. The stock closed at roughly $38 on Friday, 34% below Musk's offering price.
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-mu ... ?r=US&IR=T
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
Post Reply