Elon vs Twitter update: Elon helped America win , Tesla stock through the roof

I agree with you that Twitter has been upending politics for years, and not in a positive way. Musk taking it over...I feel will actually be good for the left.

Be careful of what you wish for.

 

im glad Jack isn’t a fear mongering loud mouth.

Twitter is an app. The world isn’t going to end lol.

 

Depends how that functions, if its about forcing them to return to a sense of normality distanced from the absurdity of crying that they can't sterilize children anymore, then good

If it's just about returning to some off kilter people on the right who are saying equally evil things, then eh, not really

 

You might want to wipe that white stuff off your chin.

 

Wapo on "freeing the algorithm"

It's all interesting from a tech standpoint if/how this can happen. Elon's earlier idea of putting it on github echoes what digital rights folks wanted to do with writing/editing laws on open source. Except here it's not really laws, but the data guiding the machine to promote patterns viewers might enjoy. Too much of this and you deepen balkanization of echo chambers (cable news). Not enough and it becomes junk.

The other issue is by revealing the secret sauce and trade secrets of their algos, they're essentially unlocking their doors to anyone who wants to walk in their house full of customer data. I'm reminded of how fast internet users turned a machine learning AI into a neo-nazi within a day. Definitely some challenges there.

We're better off trying. It's not my 44 billion...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/16/elon-musk-twitter-algorithm/

...Even if Twitter made its secret formula public, including the math it uses to “train” its machine learning algorithms, an outsider looking at it wouldn’t be able to make meaningful conclusions from it, said Michael Ekstrand, an assistant professor of computer science at Boise State who researches recommendation engines. An outsider would also need to see the underlying data used to “train” those algorithms — the billions of bits of data showing who looked at, liked or shared tweets, among many other possible factors.

Releasing that data would raise serious privacy concerns, experts said.

“The algorithm is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Robin Burke, a professor of information science at University of Colorado at Boulder and a researcher specializing in recommendation algorithms. “The rest of the iceberg is all of this data that Twitter has,” he said, most of which it can’t release publicly.

Musk should be well-versed in the complicated nature of algorithms, the experts said. Tesla, a company he runs, is using machine-learning algorithms to develop autonomous driving technology. That undertaking is so massive that Tesla is building its own supercomputer and customized semiconductors to process all the data.

There are other ways of improving transparency that are more practical, the experts said, some of which Twitter is already doing. Some critics have called on social media companies to simplify their algorithms so that when there are issues, like perceived biases toward specific groups of people, they can be more easily addressed. Others have called for independent audits inside the companies.
Twitter has an in-house research team called Machine Learning Ethics, Transparency and Accountability that looks at potential biases in its algorithms. It has published research, for instance, on whether the algorithms that automatically crop profile photos contained inadvertent bias.

One idea that has been floated is separating Twitter into multiple different algorithms. Twitter could select business partners that would have access to the data and develop algorithms tailored to certain audiences.


Nathan Baschez, co-founder of Every, a tech-focused writer’s collective, argued in an article Friday that Twitter should allow outsiders to create their own algorithms tailored to specific interests. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey replied to a tweet posted by Baschez, confirming that he had floated that idea while he was chief executive of the company before he stepped down in December.

In congressional testimony in November 2020, Dorsey suggested the idea broadly. Algorithms “are responsible for showing us what we see or what we don’t see and there needs to be more choice in their use,” he said. Twitter is also funding Bluesky, which aims to decentralize social media in part to give people more choice in how their feeds are organized.

A former Twitter employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private matters said the company has considered an “algorithm marketplace,” in which users can choose different ways to view their feeds. But efforts to offer more transparency have proved challenging, the person said, because of how tied Twitter’s algorithms are to other parts of the product. Opening it up could reveal trade secrets and invite abuse, the person said.

Burke said that the idea has merit but would require a restructuring of the way Twitter operates and how its data flows. “The fact that it’s hard to imagine it happening points to the monolithic nature of these social media companies,” he said.

Releasing Twitter’s code to the public could also have negative side effects. Those aiming to game the system by spreading disinformation to sway an election could use the information to manipulate the platform, experts say.

Why Facebook won’t let you control your own news feed

Even if Musk succeeds and the code is released publicly, it’s likely critics will continue to be skeptical of whether it’s the full code and if something could have been left out. In essence, the billionaire would be asking Twitter users to trust him that there was no foul play going on behind the scenes, just as the company is today under its current ownership.

“It’s probably impossible to eliminate all skepticism and cynicism. There are always going to be people who don’t believe what’s being said,” Ekstrand said.​

This is bigly ****ton of cash rich. They already have a metaliic **** measuring contest. and now this

Bezos got off cheap buying wapo for a quarter billion. If only Elon could buy a hundred and seventy five Wapos with all that Twitter money.

 

If Musk actually goes after bots and such a lot of right wing talking heads are going to lose a lot of followers...it's late I don't feel like looking for it but most of the bots were favoring hard right positions and spreading that misinformation and creating that division.

 

[Premium Post]
This might be worth a separate thread and a poll.

Better development for society?

1. Elon Mush obtains financing from Morgan Stanley to buy Twitter for $44 billion.


2. Trader_Jorge partners with Stratton Oakmont and JT Marlin to acquire Clutchfans for $4 billion.

 

Maybe they just don't trust their own company's PAC. It's a corporate PAC where contributions are made to the PAC and the PAC decides who to contribute to. Also, any contributor who gives more than $200 will have their name, address and occupation disclosed to the FEC...

 

Yes. The conspiratorial mind will try to explain away why the thing they're hoping to see in this algorithm dump actually isn't there. If it means turning against Musk or whoever the new leadership will be, that's what will happen.

 

Exactly.

Look, people are letting their fears on the left and bias on the right to see this in skewed lens. This isn't a bad thing that's happening.

Musk didn't buy Twitter with cash, he did it on credit - he doesn't have 44 billion lying around. He had to borrow the money to do it. That tells you one thing - he's not looking to lose money here. He actually believes he can make Twitter more profitable and that's a good thing for Twitter.

I don't think Twitter makes more money by becoming the new Gab. You don't spend $44 billion to destroy a company. And Musk doesn't have a record of playing partisan politics - he's not out to destroy the left.

I don't think he understands social media though as it's a very different animal that building cars or rockets. But heck, maybe he's smart enough to hire the right people who do and he can turn twitter in something more than the cesspool its becoming.

 

Better development for @Clutch for sure .

 

I'm curious how potential lack of profit motive in this case -- since Musk seems (or pretends) to not care all that much about his net worth -- could play out in turning Twitter into a more ethical product. Rather than trying to maximize engagement, which can be socially destructive, does he steer it in a direction which instead maximizes the ability to have constructive dialogue (including disagreement)?

 

Thank you tinman, I try my best. Hopefully, I at least have your vote.