What if Elon's overpayment for Twitter is a bargain? He now commands the attention of millions of people, who seem powerless to resist commenting on him, on the platform he owns.
I'm extremely weary of talking about him, but I think the dynamic of mass attention capture is alarming and worthy of comment. What does it mean for society's most connected people to be stuck in a mental vortex?
@acjay I agree. I don’t like him and I think this is really bad for Twitter - but I’m sure he didn’t pay that much without knowing what he gets out of it. It’s really concerning having him be able to shape social media even more.
I thought the world was getting very scary already, but this can make it far worse.
@pweisk The thing I don't want anyone to forget is that this guy also tried to weasel out of buying Twitter. History is already getting rewritten to portray him as a chessmaster.
But yeah, the question of whether he is a mad genius is somewhat independent of the danger, and it's important not to lose that thread.
@acjay for what’s it worth, I don’t think he’s a mad genius. Just someone very stubborn with far too many resources which easily allows him to shape the world to his liking. And the world he seems to like is not especially great.