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  • Running a social media company is not at all like running a normal tech company. It's one part technology, but it's one part psychology. He doesn't understand the psychology part whatsoever. He doesn't understand stand why people choose to engage or not engage with a community. He doesn't understand how and why Twitter became part an important news and information source and all of decisions he's made so far have reduced the relevance of the product.

    Twitter verified status is there to help people trust Twitter, not just the person behind the checkmark. Now nobody trust your product. It also doesn't take a genius to understand that limiting access to your product makes people use it less.

    • Elon has publicly claimed to have Asperger's (or, as it's known by the modern DSM, "ASD Level 1").

      While I don't know if that's a self-diagnosis or the truth, I also have ASD Level 1 so I can somewhat understand his thought process... sometimes.

      The fact that the platform makes the community isn't necessarily something I'd consider at first, and I don't think Elon considered it either. I really do think Elon was mad about how much people on the internet disliked him, so he made an impulsive bid to kick 'em out and tried to buy the whole platform. At some point someone talked some sense into him and he tried to back out, only to realize he was trapped in the deal and couldn't back out.

      So the only thing he could really do at that point is double down. Kick the people off the site that he wanted gone. Find a way to kick out the bots that were clearly irritating him. Unban people who he thought were unjustly banned. There are easy and simple solutions to all of those things, and although they aren't popular that's sort of the problem with ASD Level 1:

      • Failure to make eye contact or read social cues properly
      • Challenges in establishing or maintaining conversations

      ...

      • Apprehensive behavior

      ...

      • Trouble shifting focus

      Expand that behavior up to a community of millions of people and you can start to understand Musk's behavior. It's fundamentally a community, with social norms and mores that aren't immediately obvious to those with ASD Level 1 (myself included). ASD makes it hard to have a grasp on why a community is there, and if you're a megalomaniac on top of that I can see how it'd be very easy to just say "Eh, I'll change it to work for me" without care for how it affects everyone else that uses it.

      So you have him just making all these dumb-looking changes because understanding and empathy isn't his strong suit. He just does what he thinks will fix "the problem" and assumes that users are a given.

      • Yeah but Elons problem isn't just the ASD - that's part of it sure, but his problem is having ASD and a mother who told him repeatedly from a very very early age, that he was a genius.

        That would be damaging to a neurotypical persons self view, but I dread to think how that damages a neurodivergent 😲

        In short, Elon definitely displays narcissistic tendencies - and I suspect that being constantly told you are a genius who will change the world, is a bug reason why.

      • The fact that he's trying to find a "cure" for ASD (using the most extreme methods) makes me think he's a self-loathing autistic and a turncoat who deserves no praise from others with ASD. I certainly don't respect him.

      • The fact that the platform makes the community isn't necessarily something I'd consider at first, and I don't think Elon considered it either.

        Small correction, it's actually the community that makes the platform. The community exists regardless of platform, the platform is there to help the community connect. The platform can help make new communities by facilitating connections but the platform needs communities to exist. People will form communities tailored to their interests without the internet all day, they've done it for millenia. If the platform makes it difficult for communities to connect, then the community will just go elsewhere.

    • Doesn't he have a condition that keeps him from understanding social norms? Wouldn't that alone disqualify him from making decisions about a social media company/site?

  • His supporters are confused and, perhaps, starting to feel the cracks of cognitive dissonance. “Surely someone who can figure out how to build spaceships can figure out how to distinguish scrapers from legit users,” Graham—the same one who supported Musk in November—tweeted on Saturday.

    Elon stans still stanning.

    How can anyone watch this dumpster fire and conclude that Elon Musk knows what he's doing with this company? My only guess is that he's intentionally tanking it so he can get out of it through Chapter 13.

    EDIT

    Most importantly...Elon Musk does not build spaceships. He runs a company that builds them. He is not a rocket scientist.

    • How can anyone watch this dumpster fire and conclude that Elon Musk knows what he's doing with this company?

      A lot of people look at how a company is doing and credit their success to the handful of people in leadership positions or in the public eye. Unless people can see your name and face you basically don't exist as anything more than an interchangeable cog in a machine. It's hard for people to give you credit when they don't know that you exist or what you do.

  • If we have an analogue to r/EnoughMuskSpam, I'm not aware of it. But I'm also not sure we need one if his fuckups keep being dramatic enough to top the regular news communities.

  • When I reached out for clarification, the company auto-responded with an email containing a poop emoji.

    You can't make this [poop emoji] up, people would say it's too farfetched.

61 comments