Poll: Are you going to leave Twitter after Musk's acquisition?

[somesortofthing]

I honestly don't think it'll change that much. Musk's statements thus far suggest that he lacks a basic understanding of the problems inherent to running a platform like Twitter, so he'll probably just get frustrated and lose interest once he starts running into them. I suspect that the company will end up in the hands of a group indistinguishable from the current board, except they'll be Musk's friends.

[memish]

Why do people keep saying he'll get frustrated and lose interest, as though he has a history of giving up on things once they get hard? People were saying that about his bid too.

[irvingprime]

Actually, he sounds to me like he has an entirely reasonable understanding of twitter. Can you provide specific areas where you think his understanding is deficient?

[ocdtrekkie]

I don't think you'll see changed policy, but you'll see the one-off demands of a guy who gets what he wants. So Trump unbanned, people who upset him randomly banned, etc.

[Karsteski]

I may actually start using it depending on what kind of platform it turns into, to be honest.

[d4mi3n]

I'd like to call out that individual responses to this don't matter. What matters is if Twitter remains a place for public discourse. So long as we allow public discourse to happen on private platforms that aren't held responsible for maintaining the availability, accountability, and freedom (as in speech) of these public forums, Twitter will continue to be problematic.

Whether it's Musk or a private group of shareholders, the ownership doesn't much matter if whoever controls it at the time can decide what the public is or is not allowed to discuss or share.

[w0de0]

The platforms themselves, expressions of free enterprise and free association, are part of the discourse - not merely a location.

We're not, and never really have been over the full course of the information age so far, in need of new, online public fora. (Go to your city council meetings.)

They are just neat.

[usrn]

Maybe people will finally start moving the "official" accounts of politicians and government agencies to something federated like Mastodon or Pleroma.

[matt321]

freedom of peach is only a thing in the USA. Your forget that most of the humans on this planet aren't in the USA an don't expect freedom of peach.

[grundoon]

...Twitter ... a place for public discourse..." lol

[lol768]

Elon's statement suggests forced "authentication" for all users, so that'll presumably be the end of anonymous Twitter profiles and the start of needing to prove identity at sign-up time: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1518677066325053441

[fimbulvetr]

I would expect that feature roughly the same time I expect full self driving in Teslas, or the Cybertruck, or a mission to Mars. Musk makes lots of promises.

[tazjin]

I think that means making blue checkmarks available for all humans.

[memish]

They could use zero knowledge proof

[davemtl]

I decided to take a break from social media this week so logged out of Twitter & Instagram prior to this announcement and removed the apps from my phone. Depending on how it goes over the next week will depend when and if I will resume using it. I deleted my Facebook account in 2020 mid-pandemic and noticed an improvement in my mental health. Deleting my Facebook account had an interesting side effect, I found myself actually conversing more with my social circle instead of liking posts.

[freitasm]

Already done a few months back. Also logged out from Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and removed those apps from my phone too.

[Markoff]

One of these is not like the rest and it doesn't make sense to remove it.

[ryandvm]

Twitter was kind of a shithole that I was thinking of quitting anyway, so being bought by an obnoxious billionaire meme lord was just the kind of push I needed.

[robonerd]

If he manages to make twitter fun then I might join, but probably not.

[extheat]

Absolutely. Twitter (and similar social media) have become a cesspool for negativity, flame wars, left-versus-right, and spam that make it intolerable.

[linsomniac]

I can't, I have a 4 letter username. Valuable real estate...

[noizejoy]

Sell now? Might be at it’s peak?

[joemazerino]

I'm glad he's doing it.

[nicohvi]

I previously deleted my account, will create a new one

[ppetty]

I have a Twitter account I don’t use much, not sure how this might affect that. I do think the internet is missing a pure communication channel like the emergency broadcast system. If Musk can create a true open or transparent platform could he potentially make it a non-profit? People might balk at the idea he’d spend so much to take it private but that would be iconic. Who’s done something to alter the internet as we know it like this if he goes down the public service non-profit route? If he goes the other direction, I’d love to see how he could make it profitable; but does he have to???

[livinginfear]

My sincere, however unlikely hope is that the division regarding Musk's acquisition causes enough users to leave to cripple the platform. I don't think there will be another Twitter if this one fails. I can't foresee any single platform gaining the same network effect now that the idea of this style of site has been replicated. I think that Twitter is already waning in relevance, and too politically fractious as is.

I legitimately think that Twitter has a net negative moral utility, and I hope it dies.

[gabrielsroka]

For poll results, see

https://gabrielsroka.github.io/hnpoll.html?id=31159585

[Fargoan]

It makes no difference to me who owns it. I barely use Twitter but I guess I might use it more if there are any improvements made. I really don't like Twitter

[RickJWagner]

Why would I leave?

As far as I can tell, Musk will just de-politicize it and let more people speak.

More ideas is better. You don't have to agree with everything.

[jesuslop]

If He restores RSS access I'd follow some guys

[WithinReason]

With the Feedbro RSS reader you can subscribe to Twitter users

[TigeriusKirk]

Very few people will actually leave Twitter over this. Those saying they will are the mostly likely to be caught in its addictive vortex.

[SecurityMinded]

I only have a twitter account, just because.. I never post anything but planning to do so to piss off some people with "holier than thou" attitudes, especially ones who are screaming they are going to leave twitter if Musk acquires twitter. It is gonna be fun. For those snowflakes who are going to leave, don't let the door hit your tushies.

[outside1234]

Elon has no idea what he is getting into.

Why would anyone work for Twitter if they take it private?

They are going to have to pay cash at crazy salaries.