This Thread From Kara Swisher About WHY Elon Is Doing This And What Will Probably Happen To Twitter Is Incredible
Kara Swisher is one of my favorite Journos. She’s for real and OLD-SCHOOL. She’s all about relationships and has known Elon for twenty years.
Kara was also friends with the four guys who started Twitter when it was ODEO. She used to take time muffins and cakes and shit 20 years ago.
She and Elon were friendly until very recently. There might not be anyone better to diagnose WHY Elon just reinstated Donald Trump and seems intent on blowing up Twitter (I’m all for bringing back Donald, by the way).
— Dean Blundell🇨🇦 (@ItsDeanBlundell) November 20, 2022
Kara put together what I’d say is the definitive thread on WHY Elon is zeroing out Twitter and how little he cares about money – especially other people’s money. OPM.
I spent the last day talking to smart folks who know Elon to try to grok why it feels capricious and what the method is to the seeming madness. Here you are for those who care and for those who don’t, good for you for ignoring chaos monkeys https://t.co/C4QzKSvOMe
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) November 19, 2022
2. He is also counting on users to put up with inconveniences like you can’t get your archive or user count. Tech users are used to glitches and they might not leave yet over small jams. He’s probably right even if it’s a sucky attitude toward consumers. Does he give a fuck? No. pic.twitter.com/GbE4g3oYYN
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) November 19, 2022
4. All the hand waving meanness & fetid stunt tweeting? It makes folks come look & grows usage, even if it is to see the traffic accident. The look-at-my-frantic-antics is called marketing or snarketing as one Twitter user put it. Growth at all costs? That sounds familiar. pic.twitter.com/vtAbFTSw7u
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) November 19, 2022
6. Does he care that you think he’s an amateur/asshole/wackjob/chode while doing it? He does not. The brand is Elon and always will be that is what you know now more than ever. If it works, he’s done it ONCE AGAIN; if not, it’s mostly OPM and who cares if the Qataris lose $. pic.twitter.com/Qkt6EIesKQ
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) November 19, 2022
8. Did I mention marketing? As Trump uses outrage to raise money from suckers, Elon is doing much the same to focus the attention on Twitter. You can’t buy this kind of advertising & the crazier the tweeting, the better. Oh let’s do a poll to see if Donald should return! Burn. pic.twitter.com/KWzpfRglKB
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) November 19, 2022
10. He still needs revenue and quick. Blue checks nonsense didn’t work. Payments a zillion miles away. Enterprise services too. Advertising is even more fucked. That said, will tech shore up its own & will bankers let him off the hook & will we forget his ugliness? You betcha! pic.twitter.com/lcDto5eh0z
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) November 19, 2022
Wham.Bam. Thank you, Ma’am. I said the same thing last week on the podcast, so I’m thrilled Kara Swisher noted it, too, because it makes me feel like a fucking genius.
(It’s cued up, so you don’t have to wade through two hours of us talking about farts)
In my opinion, Scotty is an Elon buff and reads too much into it. I think it’s just that easy. Elon thinks so macro; $44 billion in Saudi, Qatari, and Other People’s Money doesn’t matter to him. Who gives a fuck if he loses it. They assumed the same risk he did, and losing $15 billion in Saudi Blood money would make him feel heroic in a weird way.
In layman speak: if you borrowed a couple hundred from an asshole and didn’t pay the asshole back, you’d care less, and everyone who hated the asshole would laugh at the asshole.
He’s not thinking about making his $150 million a month to service the debt he incurred or the 90% drop in ad dollars. He hates advertisers.
Incels and hackers break stuff out of principle, and being a hero in that community matters to him. And he doesn’t give a shit if he breaks it. Buying a breaking Twitter would be just as legit as turning it into the most excellent app the world has ever seen.
He’s just messin’ around. Replacing people with AI, he’s making up on the fly while using Trump for free PR, and it’s working. He wants YOU to have to be on Twitter and wants you to pay for his high-minded shit while you do.
You might, too, if you had $200 billion in your sock drawer.
I’ve started to notice the glitching. Problems loading your timeline and a bunch of tweets that look overlaid while your screen loads. Almost like it can’t keep up. Sometimes it just glitches out.
It’s probably a great time to take up woodworking, anyway.
DB
Dean Blundell
Dean Blundell is a Canadian radio personality. Best known as a longtime morning host on CFNY-FM (The Edge) in Toronto, Ontario. In 2015 he was named the new morning host on sports radio station CJCL (Sportsnet 590 The Fan). Dean started his career in radio in 2001 and for nearly 20 years been entertaining the radio audience. Dean’s newest venture is the launch of his site and podcast which is gaining tremendous momentum across North America.
