Thread by @karaswisher

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 nytimes.com/2022/11/18/tec…

1. Twitter will not collapse imminently. Probably. It’s a resilient system and things are backed up. But it’s less failsafe and more prone to attacks by hackers who have an easier target. Elon is a gambler and he is betting on odds that fewer staffers will handle. Risky obvi.

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.

3. Moderation firings? He is hoping to build an AI system that replaces them that will not work well now but will presumably get better. And will costs a lot less, which is the move most logical. Does he care about the damage in the interim to users, advertisers? He does not.

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.

5. The indiscriminate firings? All tech is bloated and so is Twitter and he’s counting on the cuts to remove those who don’t revere him. Then he’ll pack up the circus tent and move it to a more malleable state like Texas, where the pols will suck up like a Hoover on steroids.

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 $.

7. In that vein, a chance to own the media/critics/pols who don’t fellate him is an added bonus? Trolling works as well as inspiring & your sad concerns of decorum & decency do not interest the Silicon Valley I know. Move fast & break things? Destroy things is more like it. Fun!

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.

9. Silicon Valley is cheering him on, whether they say it out loud or not. The tech bigs have lost a step of late for reasons mostly their own fault. So his obstreperous obnoxiousness is welcome & encouraged. He’s a bloated champion but he’s still swinging. Plus 🚀 & 🚘 are cool!

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!

11. I’m still not paying $8. Fuck that.