— Twitter Means Nothing; Or Right Now, It Means Everything

• What is Twitter, Anyway?
• What Does The Left Think Elon Musk is Trying to Accomplish?
• What is Elon Musk Really Accomplishing?
• The Golden Helmet
• Making Twitter Fun Again
• My Account is Still Permanently Suspended
• My Video

What is Twitter, Anyway?

It’s just a social media platform with very limited features by design.

In fact, when it began, the character limit was 120, same as for SMS on phones. Since 2017 it’s been 280 but still, that demands quite a bit of efficiency when attempting to get a complex idea off in one tweet.

It was dismissed by many as silly…and with various derisions such as “men don’t TWEET!“

In spite of that, however, it gained lots of traction as a place to exchange serious ideas and many serious people have accounts on it because it’s pretty damn efficient for that in ways what other platforms like Facebook and Instagram aren’t.

Its brevity or, pithiness when at its best, is likely a good reason it has persisted and at least part of why a guy who builds cars and rocketships decided it was worth paying 44 Billion for.

Amongst the things Elon Musk thought about when deciding to buy the thing or not must have been whatever his take is on Twitter’s role as a public town square; and if I think about that, isn’t it common that in situations where a bunch of people are arguing or discussing ideas, that everyone just gets a few words?

What Does The Left Think Elon Musk is Trying to Accomplish?

If they could characterize it as “kill and eat babies” and get away with it, the political left wouldn’t skip a beat in putting that forth.

On the other hand, the left has been characterizing any conservative views and speech as “far right extremism” forever and to such an extent that it’s not even questioned anymore.

Does anyone ever stop to ask “Wait, how can fully half the country be far-right extreme? Doesn’t ‘extreme’ imply few numbers compared to the whole?”

Blank out.

No; on the left, they don’t ask that. Such questions in themselves are a “far right” way of looking at things.

It’s what the leftist elites know and understand about what Musk is up to that necessitate the false narrative amounting to the self-contradictory claim that free speech threatens true free speech (the No True Scotsman Fallacy) and “our democracy” all at once.

They don’t explicate how…rather, simply employing a hodge-podge of character assassination by assertion with no facts, combined with relating everything to Trump (euphemism for ‘literally Hitler’) which, just as with the foregoing, is just so. No need to be perplexed. Making any sense whatsoever is the very least of their concerns.

You’re with them or you’re against them and if you’re with them, being literally stupid is the price you pay in exchange for the undeserved and unearned status bestowed upon you.

Don’t ask questions and get this straight.

1. Trump is who and what the Left says he is
2. Views outside of the Official Leftist Catechism are automatically Far Right and extreme
3. Both #1 and #2 constitute a threat to free speech and our democracy

At base, it’s embarrassing to even deconstruct, criticize, or otherwise stand against this nonsense. That’s part of its effectiveness. One has this sense that it’s such in-your-face lying that perhaps there’s something you’re missing or, at the very least, that pointing out obvious things about it is beneath you—it’s not a fair fight…it’s like foot racing an adolescent without extending a head start.

So many of us, myself included, just soldier on with producing what values we still can—on our own terms…which is very expensive—without all the baggage implicit in going tit-for-tat with the likes of the fervent left.

…It’s like being a serious anthropologist or paleontologist. Do you waste your time sitting around debating young-earth creationists or do you identify another excavation site and go dig?

What is Elon Musk Really Accomplishing?

You can see for yourself by simply browsing his own tweets…and it appears the richest man in the world writes them himself: https://twitter.com/elonmusk.

In a couple of newsletters just prior to and just after Thanksgiving, Florida lawyer Jeff Childers gives a good accounting of things Twitter and Musk. November 23 and November 26.

The frenzied Left set things up in order to say “see, what did we tell you?”

What did you think was going to happen?

Elon’s approach appears rather methodical to me, as though he’s thought a lot about this. I doubt it was much of a surprise that his initial act would be to thoroughly drain the swamp. For real…not like a Trump “drain the swamp” slogan, which is all that ever was…an empty bullshit slogan…and no fucking excuses.

[Trump’s utterly failed presidency—that should stay dead—is thoroughly summed up here: he became a politician and got concerned about reelection.]

That act brought little outrage because it was expected. What brought more is his getting rid of half the “work” force. I don’t know if this is accurate, but it’s purported to be a sort of employee BE and AE of Twitter workers. Fucking hilarious. Too good to fact check.

To the surprise of many but not to me, Twitter appears to be doing better under the “strain” of losing half its employees dumping all that dead [and costly] weight.

The outrage over it all seemed to die out as Twitter was posting record levels of engagement in terms of new users and existing users being far more active. And Twitter handled it just fine. What can they say? Perhaps they might have a case if it was a charitable non-profit. But it’s a for-profit company so…

Oops.

There’s another aspect of dumping the expensive employee dead weight. If “over-censorship” is a concern—and it was stated as such by Musk—then what’s better, chucking or modifying all the algorithms and have the same wokes as made and enforced them suddenly adhere to new policies they believe are evil…or just get rid of all the fuckers and sort it out with newly assigned or hired people who have a sense of doing one’s job?

As much as the leftstream media tries to portray this as a disaster, it’s just not showing up on user radars. The most hilarious toe-dip to see how it would play was CBS News which, when Elon unbanned Trump after doing a poll that favored his reinstatement, announced in faux ominous-drama fashion that it was ceasing Twitter activity (presumably in anticipation of a national, Trump-led insurrection via Twitter).

Nobody gave a shit and those who did, took of their time to mock and ridicule CBS News. Then, mere hours later…

So what’s Elon up to here? Doesn’t look like he’s made any grave errors so far. What’s his secret?

It’s not this, which reads like mealy-mouthed, weasel-worded, uninspiring, boring-ass lip-service to the masses of total wankers who used to influence Twitter…though it does go perfect with that pre- fun-again Twitter presided over by sourpusses who doubtless find North Korean television programming uplifting, enlightening, and woke.

2 thumbs down.

• First, none of our policies have changed. Our approach to policy enforcement will rely more heavily on de-amplification of violative content: freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.
• Our Trust & Safety team continues its diligent work to keep the platform safe from hateful conduct, abusive behavior, and any violation of Twitter’s rules. The team remains strong and well-resourced, and automated detection plays an increasingly important role in eliminating abuse.

There is no possible final resolution—though there’s progress for now—until this notion of “hate speech,” “hateful conduct,” and “abusive behavior” are confronted…because they are wholly incompatible with free speech, expression, association, assembly, etc.

These silly, meaningless notions constitute the Trojan Horse that invites the assholes and their ilk who used to run and use the place to keep fucking with you in perpetuity.

Twitter and Musk need to stop being stupid about this shit. You will never please or even satisfy the puerile assholes no matter how many “hateful” posts you censor or “hateful” people you ban.

All that said, I’m optimistic. Here’s why and what it amounts to is chess. Not 4D, just regular chess. Maybe. Hopefully.

The one sure thing is that the institutional, corporate, and elite left require a whole lot of utterly stupid fucks to accomplish what they accomplish. I trust Elon understands this and makes his moves accordingly.

The Golden Helmet

Way back I was introduced by a very smart older gentleman the notion of The Golden Helmet. It’s pretty much like being “above reproach.” They can’t get you on anything. But that’s focussed on negative, don’t -do stuff. TGH has a positive, proactive element to it as well. It’s not just what you don’t do, what is it that you do do?

Of course, the political-institutional and elite elements have long covered this through philanthropy, charity, and other PR bullshit for the consumption of the stupid and gullible.

When cases of those who eventually get caught arise from time-to-time the story is always the same. The do-no-wrong part is a complete fabrication and truly bad shit was covered up…both with a lot of help from friends in the right places.

And at that point in the denouement, the philanthropy and charity acts are of little to no consequence because such things are always fleeting.

Contrast that with TGH, using Elon Musk as a prime example.

1. No skeletons in the closet; if there were it would have come out.
2. The guy does viable electric cars and rocket ships. They need better means of conveying the not impossibly difficult (it’s not rocket science or brain surgery). Plus, unlike philanthropy and charity, there’s a financial bottom line to all he does that keeps customers and employees served, mostly happily, and it’s tangible and lasting. Twitter could be crushed for any reason immaginable and Musk is still a hero for all that other stuff.
3. His actions are unpredictable because they’re logical, reasonable, rational, measured, and circumspect. He’s disciplined, methodical, and patient. He just isn’t flying off the handle like his detractors want him to…creating the mayhem then crave.

It all adds up to the closest thing to invincibility I believe I’ve ever seen.

Impressive.

Making Twitter Fun Again

When all is said and done, the only thing that really matters is that Twitter is fun again, and not the equivalent of watching North Korean television programming (which I’m sure is just wonderfully inspiring…for all comrades) as it has been for years.

This is a broad rule of thumb that applies widely. For the most part, things that are genuinely fun (and not stupid) for mature and serious people are wholesome and life lifting. Drudgery and toil may put essential food on the table but other than that, it’s unhealthy and not fit for human consumption.

Most jobs are unhealthy and unfit for humans…

And damn, Elon isn’t even shitposting and it’s still fun. He unbanned Trump, but Trump isn’t back to shitposting and it’s still fun.

What more is there to say on this score? Twitter hasn’t been fun anymore since it got woke some years back. It got to be preachy, judgmental, prejudice, presumptuous and took itself too seriously as any agent for change.

Ironically, it is an important agent for change, but that only works one way: positive and fun. What Elon is doing. In the hands of serious leftist commies, it just doesn’t work. It garners fringe elements who are active and loud…and totally no fun whatsoever.

And very simply, only other fringe elements get engaged with that sort of thing and the vast majority just isn’t interested.

Twitter is breaking user and engagement records not because free speech is such an explicit need and desire, but because people just wanted to have fun again on Twitter.

My Account is Still Permanently Suspended

About a year and a half ago I deleted my Twitter account, which was itself a 2nd account I’d started since having my original @rnikoley account (since 2007, 8k followers) summarily suspended permanently over a bunch of nonsense.

There’s no real reason to include this except to show transparency.

In a nutshell, I appealed the ban once Musk took over and it was stupidly denied again.

There has been talk of a general amnesty for banned accounts but who knows when/if, or what the parameters would be? My ban was over subjective and undefinable “hateful conduct.”

This, too, is of grave Chicken-Little anticipatory concern, apparently…just as in the months preceding Musk’s final acquisition. The sky never stopped falling.

…There was talk, rumors, or whatever, that both Apple and Google were considering de-platforming the Twitter app from their monopolistic, locked-down-phones app stores. Apple would neither confirm nor deny (often the best strategy), but enough people believed it to be true so as to heap mounds of scorn upon both Apple and Tim Cook Twitterwide.

Elon upped the ante.

Latest word is that Musk and Cook met in Cupertino and Elon was assured that Apple never, ever—not even in their wildest dreams—considered pulling the Twitter app. It was all just a misunderstanding.

It’s all clear, now.

My Video

So, well, it is rather gripping. It’s a test case in a lot of ways. It’s exposing a lot of stuff.

So now we get even more of a clue as to why the enormous resistance to Musk’s purchase in the first place. And it came from nowhere. Someone raising $44 Billion individually to buy a company just isn’t integrated into human thinking.

Had it been anything but the individual purchase that it was, it would have been easily stopped in a whole host of ways.

He not only blindsided them but but totally end-arounded them. There’s simply zero legal precedent anywhere to prevent a private citizen-individual in good standing from purchasing something that’s legally available for purchase.

So I did a video, which was prior to writing all but the introduction. There’s overlap, and there’s things I didn’t delve into here, pretty much like always.