1mo ago

Is this (finally) the end for X? Delicate Musk-Trump relationship and growing rivals spell trouble for platform

www.theguardian.com Is this (finally) the end for X? Delicate Musk-Trump relationship and growing rivals spell trouble for platform

The former Twitter could fade away, or help shape a dark future hosting voices of a new authoritarian world

Summary

X, formerly Twitter, faces its largest user exodus, fueled by Elon Musk’s controversial leadership and Donald Trump’s election victory.

Rivals like Bluesky and Threads are gaining traction, with Bluesky surpassing 16 million users.

Musk’s dual role as platform owner and head of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency raises ethical concerns, particularly as X becomes a hub for alt-right content and political influence.

Speculation grows over a potential merger with Trump’s Truth Social, but tensions between Musk’s business interests and Trump’s policies could strain their relationship, shaping X’s uncertain future.

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Speculation grows over a potential merger with Trump’s Truth Social

Because if that won't let the rest of the famous people and media get off of Twitter, nothing will.

Define "end". It'll never literally go away because Musk can just keep throwing money down the whole indefinitely. But one metric I'd like to see go to zero is the number of news articles that embed Twitter links as source material.
- My definition of "end", in the form of analogy: Myspace still exists too, but its relevance is long over.
- Everyone I follow suddenly linked to their blue sky accounts now. There's no reason to be on it anymore
  
  I saw a YouTube video yesterday where the guy closed with “follow me on BlueSky” which I had never heard used in a mainstreamish video.
- It's totally dumb that people calling themselves journalists write entire articles based only on tweets, essentially virtual gossip. I will be happy to see that end. At least it's not as common now as it was even 2 or 3 years ago.

Comcast, Disney, and IBM Are Among Advertisers Returning to X After Ad Freeze
No.
- Is this because Elon now has political power?
  Pretty shocking that Disney would do this after Elon gave Disney CEO a “fuck you”
  
  Elon has the ear of the president-elect now (for the time being anyway, until he gets Scaramucci'd). Of course they're going to try to make him happy.
  Corporations are sociopaths. They don't care about what's right, they car about what creates the most value for the stockholders.

Trump and musk are locked in a voracious 69. Each trying to be the first to orgasm as to satisfy an ego certain it is dominate over the other.

Maybe Musk can turn X over to Alex Jones, if Jones loses Infowars. X can't get any worse than it already is, right? Right?

I won’t be surprised if X and Truth Social merge in some fishy “deal”.

For some tech nerds, the X-odus is not something to mourn, but could herald the era of decentralised social networks they have been dreaming of known as the “Fediverse”.
Advocates of the “Fediverse” argue that there should be one account for any social media network in the same way that Gmail accounts can email any email addresses, or mobile numbers call users on any other network.
In walling off social networks so users can’t leave, the platform has the power. Instead, newer social networks including Bluesky are being built on “ecosystems” that enable them to interconnect.
No one knows what will happen to X, with predictions ranging from collapse, to flipping to an anti-Trump platform if Musk and the president lock horns, to becoming a training ground for Musk’s xAI venture. AI could gobble up social media, and xAI is valued at $40bn – almost the price Musk paid for Twitter.

Oh yeah just like all the misinformation and racism ended the Trump campaign right?

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