from the so-much-missed-opportunity dept
At present, the brand new e-book by NY Occasions reporters Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, comes out. For those who’re in any respect fascinated by what went down, I can’t suggest it sufficient. It’s a well-written, deeply researched e-book with all kinds of particulars in regards to the lead-up to the acquisition, the acquisition itself, and the aftermath of Elon proudly owning Twitter.
Even if you happen to adopted the story carefully because it performed out (as I did), the e-book is a worthwhile learn in a number of methods. First, it’s fairly unbelievable to tug all of it collectively in a single e-book. There was a lot craziness taking place each day that it’s generally tough to take a step again and take within the bigger image. This e-book offers readers an opportunity to just do that.
However second, and extra vital, there are many particulars damaged by the e-book, a few of that are mind-boggling. If you wish to learn a few elements which were revealed, each the NY Occasions and Vainness Honest have run excerpts. The NY Occasions one covers Elon’s infatuation with “relaunching” Twitter Blue as a paid verification scheme every week after he took over. The Vainness Honest one appears to be like at the actual closing of the deal and the way chaotic it was, together with Elon developing $400 million quick and demanding that Twitter simply give him the cash to cowl the price of closing the deal.
Each excerpts offer you a way of the varieties of wonderful tales instructed within the e-book.
However as I learn an advance copy of the e-book, two issues stood out to me. The primary was Elon’s close to whole lack of know-how of the idea of Chesterton’s Fence. The second was how a lot the outdated regime at Twitter was already attempting to do virtually every part that Elon claimed he needed to do. However as quickly as he took over, he was so positive (1) that the outdated regime had been full idiots and (2) that he might motive his approach into fixing social media, that he not solely ignored what folks had been telling him, he actively assumed they had been attempting to sabotage him, and did away with anybody who might be useful.
Elon rips out some fences
For those who’re unaware of the idea of Chesterton’s Fence, it’s that you simply shouldn’t take away one thing (comparable to a fence) if you happen to don’t perceive why it was put there within the first place. Again and again within the e-book, we see Elon dismiss all kinds of concepts, insurance policies, and methods that had been in place at Twitter with out even caring to search out out why they had been there. Typically, he appears to imagine issues had been carried out for the dumbest of all causes, however by no means bothered to know why they had been really carried out. Certainly, he so distrusted legacy Twitter workers that he assumed most had been mendacity to him or attempting to sabotage him.
It’s maybe not that shocking to see why he would belief his personal instincts, not that it makes it good. With each Tesla and SpaceX, Elon bucked the traditional knowledge and succeeded massively. In each circumstances, he did issues that many individuals mentioned had been inconceivable. And if that occurs to you twice and makes you the world’s wealthiest particular person, you possibly can see the way you would possibly begin assuming that every time folks recommend that one thing is a foul thought or inconceivable, it’s best to belief your intestine over what persons are telling you.
However the level of Chesterton’s Fence isn’t that it’s best to by no means do issues in a different way or by no means take away insurance policies or expertise that’s in place. The purpose is that it’s best to perceive why they’re there. Elon by no means bothers to take that tiny step, and it’s a giant a part of his downfall.
In Character Restrict, we see that Elon has virtually no precise mental curiosity about social media. He has little interest in understanding how Twitter labored or why sure selections had been made. Propped up by a circle of sycophants and yes-men, he assumes that the earlier regime at Twitter should have been completely silly, and due to this fact there isn’t any motive to take heed to something they needed to say.
It’s gorgeous how in story after story within the e-book, Elon has zero curiosity in understanding why something works the best way it does. He’s positive that his personal instincts, that are clouded by his distinctive place on the platform with tens of hundreds of thousands of followers, symbolize everybody’s expertise.
He’s fairly positive that his personal instincts can get him to the best solutions. This consists of pondering he might (1) double promoting income in a couple of years (when he’s really driven away over 80% of it) and (2) eclipse even that erroneously predicted elevated promoting income by getting hundreds of thousands of individuals to pay for verification. Really, because the e-book particulars, a tiny fraction of customers are keen to pay, and it’s bringing in only a few million {dollars} per quarter, doing little to staunch the losses of billions of {dollars} in promoting that Elon personally drove away.
The tales within the e-book are jaw-dropping. Individuals who attempt to clarify actuality to him are fired. The individuals who stick round shortly study the one factor to do is to deceive him and therapeutic massage his ego. And thus, the e-book is stuffed with tales of Elon ripping out the vital pillars of what had been Twitter after which being perplexed when nothing works correctly anymore.
He appears much more shocked that tons of individuals don’t appear to like him for his blundering round.
Outdated Twitter was already planning on doing what Elon needed, however approach higher
Maybe that is considerably associated to the final level, however the e-book particulars a number of methods wherein Parag Agrawal, who had simply taken over from Jack Dorsey a couple of months earlier, was already trying to do almost every part Elon publicly claimed he needed to do with Twitter.
When Elon first introduced the deal to purchase Twitter, I suggested a few (unlikely, however doable) methods wherein Elon might really enhance Twitter. First up was that by taking the corporate non-public, Elon might take away Twitter from the whims of activist investors who had been extra centered on the short-term than the long-term.
The e-book goes into nice element about how a lot activist traders created issues for each Dorsey and Agrawal, pre-Musk. Particularly, their income and consumer calls for really made it considerably harder to place in place a long-term imaginative and prescient.
In my unique submit, I talked about persevering with Twitter’s precise dedication to free speech, which meant fighting government attempts to censor data (not just once you disagreed with the political leaders).
However past that, there have been issues like additional investing in and supporting Bluesky (see disclaimer)* and its ATprotocol. In spite of everything, Elon claimed that he needed to “open supply” the algorithm.
Shifting to an open protocol like ATProtocol would haven’t simply allowed the open sourcing of the advice algorithm, it might have opened up the flexibility for anybody to create their very own algorithm, each for suggestions and for moderation. As an alternative, that’s all taking place on the totally unbiased Bluesky app, which actually only exists as a result of Elon threw away Twitter’s deal to work with Bluesky.
Moreover, the e-book reveals that effectively earlier than Elon got here on the scene, Parag and different prime execs on the firm had been engaged on one thing known as Challenge Saturn, which was mentioned a bit in Kurt Wagner’s earlier e-book on this matter, however which is defined in additional element right here.
The e-book reveals that Parag very a lot agreed with Elon (and Jack) that anticipating corporations to continuously fully take away problematic content material was not a really efficient resolution.
In order that they created a plan to mainly rearchitect every part round “freedom of speech, not freedom of attain.” Paradoxically, that is the exact same motto that Elon claimed to embrace quickly after taking up the corporate (and after firing Parag).
However Parag and others at Twitter had already been engaged on a system to operationalize that very thought. The plan was to make use of completely different “ranges” and “circles” wherein customers who had been following the principles would have their content material eligible to be promoted to various levels inside the algorithm. The extra you violated the positioning’s guidelines, you’d transfer to additional and additional outer layers/rings of the system (which is the place the Challenge Saturn identify got here from). This might result in much less “attain,” but additionally much less of a necessity for Twitter to completely take away accounts or tweets.
It was a giant rethinking of how social media might work and the way it might assist free speech. In studying about it within the e-book, it sounds like precisely what Elon mentioned he needed. A small staff inside Twitter, pushed by Parag’s imaginative and prescient, had been engaged on it since approach earlier than Elon bought his shares and began the takeover course of. In line with the e-book, whilst Elon triggered such a large number in the summertime of 2022 attempting to again out of the deal, Parag stored pushing the staff to maneuver ahead with the concept.
As soon as Elon took over, it seems that a couple of remaining folks on the firm tried to indicate him Challenge Saturn and clarify to him how it might match the beliefs he had talked about.
However Elon ignored them, tossed out all of the work they’d carried out on it, and simply randomly began unbanning folks he thought belonged again on the platform with none plan on how one can take care of these customers in the event that they began inflicting issues (and driving away advertisers). He assumed that his new verification plan would remedy each the income points for the corporate and all moderation points.
Even the concept Twitter was too bloated with extra workers and an absence of imaginative and prescient appeared to be a part of Agrawal’s plans. Earlier than Elon had made his transfer, the e-book reveals that Agrawal had drawn up plans to put off roughly 25% of the corporate and drastically streamline every part with a deal with constructing out sure traces of enterprise and customers. He did transfer to put off many senior leaders as a part of that streamlining, although it wasn’t as clearly defined on the time what the bigger plan was. Elon’s effort to purchase Twitter outright (after which again out of the deal) pressured Agrawal to place the layoff plans on maintain, out of a worry that Elon would view these layoffs as an try and sabotage the corporate.
It’s really placing how a lot of what Elon claimed he needed to do, Parag and his exec staff had been already doing. They had been making issues extra open, clear, and decentralized with Bluesky. They had been lowering the reliance on “takedowns” as a belief & security mechanism with Saturn. They had been betting massive on “freedom of speech, not attain” with Saturn. They had been preventing for precise free speech with authorized actions across the globe. They had been reducing worker bloat.
However the firm was doing all of these issues thoughtfully and intentionally, with a bigger technique behind it.
Because the e-book particulars, Elon got here in and never solely tore down Chesterton Fences all over the place he might, he dismissed, ignored, or lower unfastened all of these different initiatives that may have taken him far alongside the trail he claimed he needed to go.
So, now he’s left with a web site that has bother functioning, has misplaced almost all of its income, and is mostly seen as a laughingstock closed system designed simply to push Elon’s newest political partisan mind farts, moderately than enabling the world’s dialog.
In fact, within the wake of all that destruction, it has enabled issues like Bluesky to spring forth totally unrelated to Twitter, and to place a few of this into follow. Simply this weekend, Bluesky passed 10 million users, helped alongside by Elon’s (once more) hamfisted combat with Brazil, which (like so many different issues Elon) could have a superb motive at its core (preventing towards secretive authorities calls for), however was carried out within the dumbest approach doable.
If there’s one factor that’s painfully clear all through the e-book, it’s that Elon was appropriate that there have been all kinds of ways in which Twitter might be extra environment friendly, extra open, and fewer strict in takedowns. However he dealt with every within the worst approach doable and destroyed what potential there was for the positioning.
Later in the present day on the podcast, I’ll have an interview with Kate Conger in regards to the e-book and Elon the place we discuss some extra about all of this.
* As I’ve mentioned earlier than, I’m now on the board of Bluesky, which wouldn’t have been essential if Elon hadn’t instantly lower Bluesky free from Twitter upon taking up the corporate.
Filed Beneath: character limit, chesterton fences, content moderation, elon musk, free speech, kate conger, parag agrawal, project saturn, ryan mac, social media
Corporations: bluesky, twitter, x
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