So "X" - nothing to see here. Elon's in control - Part XXX

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120859346#Comment_120859346

Is that true? If so, that would be throttling. No freeze peach issues there.

If Elon Musk told me my name I'd doublecheck my birth cert.

odyssey06

Have people already forgotten Musk's false accusations of doxxing?

Anybody who thinks Musk isnt a liar obviously hasnt been paying attention and their claims have no credibility.

https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/elon-musk-reinstates-journalists-banned-accounts-1235464129/

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120858749#Comment_120858749

Yet if advert revenue is down 50%, there's immediate question marks to ask about those stats. Clearly those wanting to spend dollars on Twitter don't see that apparent uptick as of value - in which case what are those stats not saying? How many are bots, or "bad quality" users just trolling or adding to the service's poor reputation of late?

timetogo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120859898#Comment_120859898

No, not throttling, just so many interactions by blue ticks that you can never scroll down to after the blue ticks and give up.

As they all seem to be similar demographic it has the affect of just seeing total agreement with Elon.

Christy42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860349#Comment_120860349

I mean the only reason for a blue tick is if you are given one for free or if you agree with Elon. The 2nd of which likely have it to push their posts and will post more often than the 1st.

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120858749#Comment_120858749

But what ??

Who cares how many people (or Bots) are visiting if there's no money being made ?

Twitter was already losing money before they lost 50% of their Ad revenue and before Elon loaded the company up with hundreds of millions of annual debt repayments to cover his stupid purchase price.

If anything , an increase in traffic along with a collapse in Advertising revenue tells an even worse story because it means that the advertisers don't believe that the "new" visitors bring any value to the table, so all that alleged traffic growth is worthless to the Company.

PopePalpatine

Is anyone really shocked by this?

https://twitter.com/ZenOfDesign/status/1680615472717352963?t=pkjuHLyuRRHvLUtt5b9hPg&s=19

Too long, didn't click version: only the finest of the Muskovites are getting their share of ad revenue.

AndrewJRenko

Deadbeat director Musk fails to pay his bills again

https://twitter.com/larrymadowo/status/1680879054889668610?s=46&t=3l1OhjvjsuAh4w9RMjlH8g

A colonist plundering Africa...

I refuse to believe it.

francois

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120864120#Comment_120864120

Well his family have form in Apartheid era South Africa

pixelburp

Apparently the first Cybertruck also finished production today; no word on how the approx. 200,000 back orders will be fulfilled, or when mass production might start or ramp up. Still can't believe that monstrosity is an actual design to be built by a supposedly serious car company.

They're on the back foot here too, cos the traditional car companies have stolen a march with the successful production, and sales of, electric pickup trucks. How Musk hopes to persuade folks already driving their Ford f150 to trade it for a stainless steel concept car, will be an interesting conundrum.

https://twitter.com/Tesla/status/1680121747910148099

ForestFire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120864278#Comment_120864278

First truck and they take a picture with it practically hidden....

Did the wheels or side panels fall off or something 😕😁

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120864346#Comment_120864346

Probably trying to not remind people what it looks like.

Agent Coulson

Hope they worked on reinforcing the unbreakable glass

Tony EH

Hideous looking thing.

Psychedelic Hedgehog

It's a low polygon model at least, should be handy to render on a 486.

(niche joke)

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120864402#Comment_120864402

You are awfully cynical.

Cookie_Monster

They've been testing it in NZ at the alpine proving grounds

https://www.drivencarguide.co.nz/news/tesla-cybertruck-spotted-again-in-nz-testing-near-wanaka/

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120864278#Comment_120864278

Back foot? Stolen a march? What on Earth are you on about?

Q2 F150 Lightning sales: 4,466 or 2% of their truck sales.

Ford's total EV sales in Q2: 14,843.

Tesla's Q2 total sales: 466,140.

I am not a Tesla fanboy. I don't even own a car. But "back foot"? "stolen a march"? All that's happened of note with Ford's EVs is that they've signed up to use Tesla's superchargers. It might have been valid 2-3 years ago to talk about other big manufacturers are going to eat into Tesla's pie but it's now been a decade and it still isn't happening. This is the same for all legacy manufacturers.

I suppose that if the Tesla truck doesn't sell well, it will be used as proof that Musk is a complete failure in life, and if it succeeds, it will be thanks to the engineers at Tesla.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120865057#Comment_120865057

This video goes into the question of pickup sales and why the Cybertruck might be playing catch up when it finally hits the market. I believe Ford are dropping the price of the 150 since that video came out too, but haven't seen it confirmed.

Tesla will be entering a market that has already seen "good pickup, but electric" options in existence and some relatively good sales figures (for the market) - only this time Tesla's option is a distinctly outlandish, nonconformist design that'll immediately require some persuasion of the target market. Unless the Cybertruck undercuts the big car corps' trucks in price, I don't see the in here.

Fadó, Tesla's massive advantage with their saloons was being a "luxury" level, normal road car - only they were electric. In an era when electric cars had looked more like mobility scooters, that was a critical aspect of Tesla's success and brand appeal. This time the Cybertruck will be entering a scenario where not only are there healthy competitors with existing healthy sales - but the Cybertruck looks like àss (just at a baseline, what person in rural, middle America will want a stainless steel truck?)

If the Cybertruck succeeds, tbh the only thing it'll prove is that Americans truly have no concept of taste. I've repeatedly praised Musk for his work in Tesla in this thread, but the Cybertruck is a joke for a good reason; the use of The Homer gif is apt here - although Homer's design at least had practicality.

https://youtu.be/xpUIZ32n9nw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120865141#Comment_120865141

I just don't see what point is being made. It's a truck not to everyone's tastes, but it's hardly the be all end all of the company and it hasn't even been released. Only the fact that it's Tesla makes it apparently worth talking about.

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120865533#Comment_120865533

The over-arching point is that Tesla will never be more than a relatively niche car maker in the grand scheme of things - Which is perfectly fine by the way.

Nothing wrong with being a well regarded small volume player like a Volvo for example - Lots of nice cars that are widely available but not Ford/GM/Toyota type scale so the stock price valuation is madness.

The Supercharger thing could actually turn out to be their biggest asset if they license it properly , but who knows.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120865592#Comment_120865592

Well I'm still not sure what the point is.. But for context, they're selling roughly 3x what Volvo is, and coming up on half of what Ford is. And they have more gigafactories on the way.

Are they smaller? Sure. But niche? The Model Y was the best selling car in Q1 2023. Can you really call the company with the best selling car worldwide "niche"?

I really feel like Tesla's ramped up an awful lot without people fully realising. The valuations are crazy, but their growth and promise is also crazy. The other manufacturers simply don't have the battery production capacity and supercharger networks, and it just seems plausible they can keep building more factories and selling more and more cars.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120865533#Comment_120865533

I never said it would end the company? I"m not sure what point you're making either. I brought up the Cybertruck because it's the first commercial-level vehicle from Tesla - in of itself noteworthy and of broad interest - and it's being more than a little disingenuous that the only reason people are talking about it is cos it's Tesla.

Plenty has been written about the Cybertruck precisely because it's "not to everyone's tastes"; whatever the saloons were, they always looked like normal cars. Like I said, a stainless steel pickup vehicle for rural America? Uhhhhhhhh, sure?.... and considering Tesla already has issues with build quality, it doesn't augur well from the outset. Alongside the tricky extra wrinkle that in the time since the truck was announced, the EV pickup market is not a blank space anymore.

My original Tweet was quite agnostic with regards my expectations or beliefs. It's as ugly as sin, has demanded attention & got it - but if Tesla/Musk see something others don't regarding the pickup market in America, it's not clear. Cos it sure looks like a modern day DeLorean, or Sinclair C5.

Grayson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120865654#Comment_120865654

They're also not that reliable. I saw a thing last week where they're something like the 8th most reliable electric vehicle manufacturer. They got a jump on other manufacturers but they're going to start losing market share. And Musks antics aren't helping. 5 years ago I might have bought a tesla, now not a hope. He's a toxic person and a lot of people won't go near hsi brand.

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120866053#Comment_120866053

That and all the cars are just ugly - The Model S had something about it 10+ years ago when it launched , a hint of Aston Martin in the side profile but it just looks old and jaded now.

pixelburp

I would have said the saloons look fairly sleek and high-class, but I'd not be "into cars" either, if you know what I mean. Certainly a damn sight more timeless and broadly respectable than whatever the F the cybertruck was aiming for. Especially given the supposed demographic aimed for isn't moved by concept art from Cyberpunk 2077, but want something rugged and beefy looking.

AndrewJRenko

Really hope that word of this flaw doesn’t spread widely

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2023/07/disabling-self-driving-cars-with-a-traffic-cone.html

Cordell

Tesla cars don't have LiDAR, but first of all, why the fk would anyone do this?

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120867218#Comment_120867218

Have you met students?

Getting back to Twitter. I had a browse with my old account last night and it’s turned into basically some kind of hellish culture wars nightmare realm. Seems to be nothing only homophobic, xenophobic and racist garbage.

Can’t really see myself ever using it again. It’s really turning extremely weird.

I can see why advertising is down. Why would you want your brand anywhere near that?!?

Penn

Felt like a huge ramp up in ads/promoted tweets yesterday. At one point every third/fourth tweet was promoted, but they were the absolute worst types of tweets; Bitcoin, faux-motivational gibberish, some tweets basically just saying "Hey, let's be friends on Twitter! Add me!", and just the most random-ass bullsh*t that were probably scams. I doubt a single one was written by an actual real person, yet all from verified Twitter Blue accounts.

Way to go getting rid of all the bots and using Twitter Blue to weed out scammers! That has definitely worked!

Also the tens of new followers I kept getting all of which were the same: profile photo do a woman, obviously stolen form somewhere, and a link to some sex cam site in the bio.

I was having to block and remove anything up to 20 of them a day. Absolute joke shop of a social networking site. It’s fallen to bits since he took over. It’s just bots, shills and nazis.

VinLieger

Yeah in the last week I keep getting added to random blue account lists called "bitcoin rewards" or "bitcoin gifts"

I really don't have the time or the patience for dealing with all the scamming, spamming nonsense though. It's just not interesting or fun to use anymore - just wall of spam and US style culture wars ranting away.

Quin_Dub

I have a twitter account but I don't follow anyone and I have never liked or shared any tweets in the 15 years the account has existed.

Yet, at the moment if I go to the twitter homepage it suggests that I should follow Elon Musk (of course) and Matt Walsh?!? - The ultra right wing misogynist homophobe racist "commentator"

So yeah - The recommendation algorithm is really on point at the moment.

As usual in this thread, I cannot see these changes.

A mixture of Vietnamese news and some Irish / British news along with Brexit and Jamie Bryson. Like if you look at this image, you can see a section of my feed and it's all completely normal.

https://i.imgur.com/5NLoaX9.jpg

It is so bizarre reading about people's entirely different experiences, like they're on a completely different website.

Penn

It definitely comes and goes. Like I said, yesterday, an influx of ads, every 3-4 tweets. Today, pretty much back to normal.

It's also going to depend on the accounts you follow, and how you view Twitter; the Home tab or Follower tab (I only use the Follower tab, see tweets/retweets from accounts I follow, in chronological order). The Home tab you're more likely to get a few acocunts sprinkled in who may not be anything you're interested in, but they're verified, argue a lot and therefore have big engagement.

I can understand why Elon Musk may be one of the top recommended follows for new accounts. He does have among the largest engagement on the site because of who he is, and he tweets/replies a lot. Matt Walsh being one of the top recommended follows though for new accounts, that smells f*cky.

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120869715#Comment_120869715

I was curious and compared browser to android app and i get no ads on browser compared to like every 4th/5th tweet is an ad on android.

Penn

Musk seemingly moving towards changing the name of Twitter to X, and removing the bird logo for an X.

Basically, changing some of the most recognisable branding and associated nomenclature in the world for something so incredibly bland and nonsensical.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120886998#Comment_120886998

Pretty much confirmed.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-gets-rid-of-twitter-bird_n_64bd44f3e4b0df863210e2d0?d_id=6109942&ncid_tag=tweetlnkushpmg00000067&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=us_main

Logo revealed, tweets will be now known as 'An X' and followers will now be called viewers.

Can't wait to log into X to see DMX re-X an X from Xzibit.

How long until he attempts to trademark the letter 'X'?

pixelburp

An X?

This cannot be serious. Why on earth would you want to replace one of the world's most recognisable, iconic digital identities with ... That? I get it's now the umbrella org but yeesh.

Headshot

hahahaha

what a f-ing idiot

Getting rid of one of the most recognised brands in the world for just an X

Tony EH

if this is true it's one of the dumbest moves I've heard in ages.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120887602#Comment_120887602

It has to be a wind up. I can't believe Musk is that arrogant and stupid to reset a brand as ubiquitous as Twitter - it'd be as if Coca Cola rebranded itself to .. ... I dunno, "Brown".

Agent Coulson

It's more than likely a very lame publicity stunt where he changes the name and logo for 24 hours then backtracks with a meme.

To show how strong his meme game is.

astrofool

@Beasty should update the thread title accordingly.

nachouser

Well, he did name one of his kids X Æ A-Xii, so it tracks. Also, x.com now re-points to twitter.com

Which probably means an old tweet will now be an xcrete.