Nov.11

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Dem 48

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This Week in Schadenfreude: Twitter in the Shi**er

We don't much care for Twitter; it seems clear to us that it's done much more harm than good. We also don't much care for Elon Musk. He's clearly brilliant but he's also a jerk. For example, unceremoniously firing half your employees, in violation of California law no less, is an ultra-jerk move.

Point is, the ongoing meltdown of the Musk-owned Twitter is an occasion for much schadenfreude, in our view. A rundown of the this week's disasters:

• Quite a few verified, blue-check users changed their "names" to Elon Musk, to make fun of the new monthly charge for the privilege. Comedian Kathy Griffin was banned for life for doing it.
  
  
• While real users are balking at the new fee, fakers are more than happy to pay a few bucks for a laugh or for some attention. There are now a great many "verified" accounts for LeBron James, Joe Biden, Mickey Mouse, George Washington and Jesus Christ, among others.
  
  
• Those high-ranking executives who were not fired have been bailing out. That kind of institutional memory is not easy to replace.
  
  
• Racist language is way up on the platform. That's a bad thing overall, of course, but it's a good thing as an object lesson in what happens when you can your moderation staff and pander to alt-right types.
  
  
• According to a now-former engineer, the remaining staffers aren't going to be able to keep up with all the bugs that emerge on a daily basis, such that the site's functioning will quickly degrade within a month or so.
  
  
• In view of the above issues, Twitter is now begging some laid-off employees to return.
  
  
• Musk is now freaking out about Twitter's financial prospects, warning that bankruptcy could be in the near future. Actually, maybe that's what he wants, since it would stop the bleeding. His overall fortune has now dropped by $100 billion in the last year.
  
  
• Twitter competitor Mastodon has gained more than 70,000 users in the past week.

In short, get out your popcorn. Or your marshmallows, if you enjoy toasting them over a nice dumpster fire. (Z)