Brianna Wu Profile picture
May 13 3 tweets 1 min read
1/ I am convinced the disillusioned young men that will lose everything in the upcoming cryptocrash will turn to fascism, not socialism, as they look for someone to blame.

To them, crypto is a way out of the American trap of nonexistent wages for a generation.
2/ The meme culture, the in jokes, the worship of Musk. To a generation of undersocialized boys, this isn’t just an investment. It’s how they make sense of the world.

And it’s going to be a bloodbath.

They’re not going to join a union in response, they’ll go full fascist.
3/ They’ll blame it on media. They’ll blame it on banks run by you know who. They’ll blame it on people like me that pointed out how it was a scam.

And they will support anyone that taps into that anger and promises them the status they feel entitled to.

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More from @BriannaWu

May 14
1/ This month marks TWENTY YEARS of sobriety for me.

With the pandemic, estimates are 1 in 5 Americans has a drinking problem. I wanted to share some practical advise on getting sober.

Consider sharing, because odds are good someone who needs it might see it.
2/ First, sobering up - it’s the hardest part. I am of the opinion cold turkey doesn’t work without a rehab facility. The chemical changes to your body are too wild.

Taper back, and then stop altogether. Be ready for the worst insomnia of your life. It will take a few tries.
3/ The thing I believe makes most people relapse is the lack of therapy. You MUST address the underlying issues driving the addiction.

It’s like there’s a huge hole in you from trauma, and you have to fill it with something. Therapy is very hard work…
Read 11 tweets
May 13
1/ The breakdown of democracy in America is really the breakdown of the collective story we tell ourselves.

I think my generation experienced the last collective story of America accomplishing something, the first Iraq war under Bush 1. CNN had just launched.
2/ So we saw it all live on TV. The Republican Guard falling. Patriot missiles defending the coalition. It was a collective story of American triumph.

I cannot think of any other moment in my lifetime since with the same resonance of us accomplishing something.
3/ When you ask yourself why every generation of Americans since are so much more cynical, it's because every story since has been about American failure.

9/11. Iraq War 2. The 2008 crash. Coronavirus. Failure. Failure, more failure.
Read 5 tweets
May 12
Even with the stock plummeting, Tesla is still insanely overpriced. One reputable analyst feels a better value is around $150 a share - or 1/5th this value.

Why? Because this valuation says Tesla is worth every other car company on earth put together and then some. It’s crazy.
2/ Tesla is facing intense competition in EVs from companies with a better product and better service, like the Taycan. You don’t have to wait 4 months for a part if your Taycan breaks.

On top of that, more companies making EVs means more competition for batteries.
3/ We are not far from hitting the physical limit of how much raw material we can mine for batteries.

Is Tesla going to be worth more than every other car company on earth put together when they’re competing with GM, Ford, Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen and everyone else for parts?
Read 4 tweets
May 8
1/ A decade ago, PR professionals at civil rights non-profits were the public spokespeople for various civil rights struggles.

Today, it’s Twitter. Often legions of anonymous accounts.

In my opinion, it’s good that more people have a voice in their own equality.
2/ But I also think that Twitter being the public spokesperson for various civil rights movements has led to less strategic messaging.

And, while I think it’s good for public pressure - if public pressure is your only tool in your toolbox? That has some downsides.
3/ This overall shift is not all good or all bad. @HRC has a fairly horrific history in how they treat women and trans people for instance. Letting other people have a voice is good!

But, when anger is the only tool is the public relations toolbox, that’s quite limited.
Read 4 tweets
Apr 27
1/ In 2014, I warned if we didn’t prosecute Gamergate their tactics would become mainstream and poison our discourse. We didn’t and they did.

In 2015, I warned the FBI to look into 8chan, warning is was radicalizing people. We didn’t and they did.
2/ In 2016, I warned that if we didn’t defeat Trump the Steve Bannon version of the party would become the mainstream. We didn’t and they did.

In 2017, I warned social media platforms had to curb disinformation or it would forever poison our democracy. We didn’t and they did.
3/ In 2018, I warned hostile foreign actors were using bots to exacerbate existing divisions in America and we needed to stop the practice. We didn’t and they did.

In 2019, I warned that Trump’s denial of election results would lead to violence. We did nothing and it did.
Read 4 tweets
Apr 26
I’ve never talked about it before - but in the aftermath of Gamergate. I worked extensively with Twitter Trust and Safety to help improve Twitter’s policies.

That’s everything Elon Musk wants to dismantle. Thank you, @kattenbarge for telling my story.

nbcnews.com/tech/internet/…
2/ Here are a few of the highlights.

First, it’s a complete misunderstanding to think anything the Twitter Trust and Safety team does is political. We never had one political conversation.

They were trying to solve a USER EXPERIENCE problem. Every tech product has UX people.
3/ We did great work together. One example. Disinformation bots. It took years, but bots on service got drastically better from around 2015-2018.

That didn’t happen serendipitously. It happened by sending Twitter hundreds of examples so they could figure out how to block them.
Read 11 tweets

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