Anabelthe1st @Anabelthe1st@qoto.org

Shamelessly hopping on the #introduction bandwagon: Hi, I'm Ian. I'm a science communicator and space writer working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California as a media relations specialist. Space robot PR, basically. In a past life, I was a solar physicist. I love science fiction in all its forms and have a passion for #astrophysics, #astronomy and all things #space. When not typing, you'll likely find me at the #gym, #running in the hills, or at the pub with a G&T.

And here's my #LEGO shed where I do all my builds.

First tentative foray into Mastodon. Hello hello is anyone there?

I keep hearing that #Mastodon is not likely to replace #Twitter. To that I say: so what?
I've been contributing to the #Linux desktop for the last 15 years not because it's likely to replace #Windows, but because providing people with free desktop is the right thing to do.
I use and support Mastodon not because it's likely to replace Twitter, but because it's a social network done right.

A colleague suggested that ole Muskmelon has as a goal to destroy establishment journalism. I don’t doubt this, given his string-puller fascist Peter Thiel is in the mix. But I think he underestimated the disgust people have at this move, and the fact that many who gave the platform gravitas, humor and/or cachet have withdrawn their participation. This certainly includes many important journalists. Never mind the brand withdrawal.

Nice try, asshole.

#wakandaforever Was something special. #ryancoogler nailed it with the tone and direction. Every performance hit the mark. And #Angelbassett once again proves why she should get every accolade there is available for actors.

The lesson to take from the big layoffs at Twitter and Facebook is this: "The job will never love you back." No matter how much effort you put in, no matter how clever you are, no matter how long you've committed yourself to $COMPANY, when push comes to shove, you're just a replaceable part in the machine.

Keep your weekends and your evenings. Leave your bugs at work. Your time is for you, and your boss won't send you flowers.

In April 2013, the official Twitter account of Associated Press was hacked and tweeted that the White House was bombed. For the next few minutes the markets moved wildly and billions were wiped in market cap. FBI and SEC opened an investigation.

These days it takes about 8$ to pull off such a stunt. As we saw today, it wasn't long until someone would put 1 + 1 together.

The exodus of users and advertisers was bad, but wait until most publicly traded companies realize how massively exposed they are due to Twitter's mere existence in its current form. This is not a problem they can solve by just leaving the platform. 🍿

NEW posting on my newsletter “Is This America?” As Twitter enters its death spiral, I wanted to bring our attention back to why the sale of the platform to Musk never should have happened. https://sherrilyn.substack.com/p/on-twitters-end?utm_campaign=post

Echoing what other new folk have said: It's not true that "It doesn't matter which instance you join." for Black folk for example, it matters very much. I guess I lucked out joining this instance. Y'all are nice!

It's sorta like those "Best places to live" lists. Most of the top places are horrible to Black folk. There's a different list, which is "Best places to live *for us*." All the same dimensions, but lowest police racism, educational racism, and income inequality for Black folk.

- Fetterman flipped Pennsylvania with a pro-worker platform

- Nebraska raised the minimum wage

- 4 states banned forced prison labor

- D.C. abolished the sub-minimum tipped wage

- Illinois guaranteed the right to collective bargaining

The midterms were HUGE for worker power.

Twitter pulls paid verification after impersonators flourish https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/crypto/twitters-subscription-service-not-available-impersonators-flourish-rcna56730

I've done a lot of stupid shit in my life but I never poured gasoline all over 44 billion dollars and set it the fuck on fire

A billionaire emits a million times more greenhouse gases than the average person, according to Oxfam.

We know which ones we need to hold accountable for the climate crisis.

https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/carbon-billionaires-the-investment-emissions-of-the-worlds-richest-people-621446/

Looks like things are going worse and worse on :birdsite:: two top execs, #TrustAndSafety & #AdSales leads left the company and it's not a good sign, especially with T&S one leaving raising tons of privacy & safety concerns

Looks like things are truly spiraling down towards an end for #Twitter

Link to the story:
https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/10/23452133/twitter-executives-trust-safety-sales-ads-yoel-roth-robin-wheeler

Remarkable how many "genius billionaires" turn out to be frauds:

Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos)

Adam Neumann (WeWork)

Sam Bankman-Fried (FTX)

In just a few days, Musk has made Twitter a complete dumpster fire. This Tweet from a "verified" account (which are no longer actually verified in any way) has been up since yesterday afternoon.