Source: X goes offline in Brazil after Elon Musk’s refusal to comply with local laws | X | The Guardian One of the world’s most popular social networks, X, has gone offline in Brazil – the country with the fifth largest digital population – after Elon Musk’s refusal to comply with local laws meant it was blocked by the supreme court. Millions of Brazilian X users found themselves unable to access the network on Saturday morning as internet providers and mobile phone companies began to enforce the ban. When the Guardian tried to access the network on its computer and mobile phone, it received a message reading: “Seems like you lost connectivity. We’ll keep retrying.” Large numbers of Brazilians sought shelter on the rival network, Bluesky, which reported that it had gained 500,000 users in the past two days. “Welcome to Bluesky!” the company posted to its new adherents in Portuguese. Works for me. In part because I still see no value in X. Yesterday, I took another peek and though the previous jerks were still blocked, the content was thin. For example, a poll of the percentage of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents on X . . . the ranking: Republicans - largest percentage Democrats - about half the percentage of Republicans Independents - just under the percentage of Democrats So when Trumps private twitter goes out of business, Twitter/X and be their new home. Bob Wilson
The 100% ‘say whatever you want’ is not a responsible media business model. Refusing to submit information requested by a court is a worse one. Can you still purchase a ‘verified’ user flag?
At this point, the value in Twitter, similar to Telegram, is in defining how governments are going to deal with social media that doesn't limit abusive users / worst offenders. It's really not that hard. Either you ban trouble makers or governments will ban your product.
That combined with advertisers not wanting their product sandwiched between offensive "free speech." Here is an example: Bob Wilson
Musk Twitter/X almost as bad as DJT: How much Twitter’s top investors have lost on Musk’s deal - The Washington Post When Elon Musk bought Twitter and renamed it X, he didn’t do it alone. Though the billionaire tapped his vast wealth to cover the lion’s share of the $44 billion purchase price in 2022, he also relied on bank loans and a long list of investors, the full extent of which was only recently revealed. . . . Since late last year, Fidelity has consistently valued the X stake in one of its funds 70 percent below the purchase price, a drop in valuation first reported by Axios. Figures released Friday show that Fidelity now values that stake about 72 percent lower than when Musk took over X, taking its overall portion of the company from a valuation of around $316 million to $88 million. I still find little value in Twitter/X and annoyed by Musk dominating political postings. I wanted to follow his technical posts but the politics spoils it. Well there will be a home when "Truth Social" goes under. Snapshot posts tonight by Elon Musk: Complaint about Brazil judgement. Silly flowchart of "It's fine" vs. "BASTARD" Solar activity video Citing Trump interview Condesending posting about how people form political opinions. Smart Summon video "Grok" AI app on Twitter/X Colossus data center online "X TV" app for videos on Twitter/X Disparaging comment about how people form political opinions Summary: 3 technical, 2 ads for Twitter/X, and 5 political snark disparaging voters. So 30% useful and 70% noise. Bob Wilson
Regardless of motivation, it appears to be a financial disaster. I canceled my 'paid' access and so far, have yet to see any advertisements or consistent technical content that merited a second look. One blessing is the 'ignore user' function works only to reveal Elon spoils the effect. SAD! Bob Wilson
it's not pretty when someone goes off the rails, and i he is likely surrounded by 'yes men' than good friends who want to help.
I get a sense of panic at Twitter/X over the approaching, November 5th election. Technical content has all but disappeared. Elon postings have all but turned it into channel Trump. Bob Wilson
I heard on Rachel Maddow (?) that Ford started his own antisemitic newsletter and gave them to his dealers. Then he required his newsletter be included with every new Ford. So a strange coincidence this morning. I was watching some YouTube videos about .223, 50 gr, hollow points (for example https://priuschat.com/threads/range-time.250044/page-6#post-3478269) when a Trump advertisement popped up in the video. I cut it off within seconds, no technical content. But it makes sense as I know who are most likely to shoot at me, my home, my electric cars, and my girlfriend. Bob Wilson
