Archive for the ‘Twitter – tweets’ Category

For Elon, now comes the hard part.

April 26, 2022

Will his noble intentions get “trumped”?
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Last week, we asked the question: Will Elon be the dog that caught the bus?

We opined that — of the key assets that Musk is buying — all are a bit problematic.

  • The brand name is polarizing and arguably passé
  • The subscriber base is largely populated by left-leaning media and politicos …  and woke, pro-censorship loyalists who are likely to defect from an open information platform.
  • Ditto for advertisers, many (most?) of which are likely to “go Disney” and run for the hills rather than risk being outed as inadequately woke … or worse than that, being taint-branded as supporting free speech.
  • The hardware infrastructure — computers and communications network — are in place and operation .. but replicable.
  • The software — think: message transmission and control algorithms — are up & running … and being managed.
  • The human assets — proficient and mission-dedicated — are the biggest question marks given their zeal for progressive politics and “moderated discourse”

That gets us to Musk’s biggest challenge: Getting the organization aligned with his “open forum” vision … and, operating for (not against) Musk’s goals.

Consider an analogy: Trump’s efforts to mobilize the Federal government to his America First agenda.

Please, let’s stipulate to, but put aside, Trump’s personality issues and focus on his policies.

Trump was actively sabotaged by the enforcement agencies — think: “Intelligence Community”, FBI, IRS — and slow-rolled by the career bureaucrats who make “the system” work (or, not work depending on your perspective).

Remember Chuckie Schumer’s admonition to Trump:

“Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.” Source

It’s easy to imagine Musk running into similar roadblocks as he tries to shift Twitter 180 degrees from politically moderated  discourse  to an open forum of alternative views.

Twitter has about 7,000 employees that will need to buy into Musk’s vision.

That’s a reach given their numbers, their technical expertise, their access to the algorithms … and, oh yeah, their deeply embedded political leanings.

Getting them on board (or replaced) will be a monumental organizational transformation.

The good news: If anybody can do it, it’s probably Musk.

Go get ‘em, Elon.

Posted in Musk, Elon, Trump, President Donald J., Twitter - tweets | 1 Comment »

Will Elon be the dog that caught the bus?

April 21, 2022

Good intentions, but what exactly is he buying … and what are chances for success?
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These are the questions that I’d usually pose to my MBA students when we were doing an M&A case in class.

Let’s apply them to Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter.

So far, most the reaction to Musk’s bid for Twitter has been at the philosophical / political level: Will his purchase open the town square for open information exchange … or, open the floodgates for existence-threatening “misinformation”.

I buy that Musk’s goal of open discourse is on the up-and-up, so I’m all for his acquisition.

That said, my questions are at more tactical level:

> What exactly is he buying?

> What are his chances of success if he gets “it”?

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On the first question, the simplistic answer is that he’d be buying control of  “an up and running communications platform”.

OK, but let’s dissect that a bit.

What are the key component parts?

  1. A well recognized, valuable brand name?
  2. An established base of subscribers and advertisers?
  3. An in-place infrastructure of  hardware, software and people?

Which of the above offer enough enough value to justify a $43 billion outlay?

Let’s take them one at a time from a Musk perspective…

(more…)

Posted in Twitter - tweets | 1 Comment »

If it hadn’t been such a tragic week, this stuff would be (damn) funny …

March 28, 2016

The Brussels terrorists’ attacks were were an immense tragedy … to be taken seriously.

You wouldn’t know it, given some of the past week’s noteworthy dumb & dumber happenings.

Let’s start with the UK’s response to the bombings.

Did the Brits make any notable raids to crack the terrorists’ network of killer cells.

Nope, instead of going for the jugular, UK authorities went for the capillaries and arrested some dude for for making an inappropriate, potentially anti-Islamic tweet:

image

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The charges were eventually dropped, but please tell me, how does law enforcement prioritize chasing insensitive tweeters over cold-blooded killers?

Maybe it has to do with the UK police patrolling with 1 bullet less than Barney Fife.

Tweeters are probably “safe stops” … cold-blooded killers, not so easy.

Or, maybe the world is just going completely wacky.  A couple of more examples …

(more…)

Posted in Brussels, College life, Obama, Obama, Michelle, Terrorism, Twitter - tweets, University policies | 1 Comment »