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Comment by atchoo | Hacker News Reader

I think you have to be quite credulous to engage in this topic of "twitter moderation" as if it's in good faith. It's not about about creating a good experience for users, constructive debate or even money. It's ALL about political influence.

> Iʻm heartened to know that @DavidSacks is involved.

I'm not. I doubt he is there because Twitter is like Zenefits, it's because his preoccupation over the last few years has been politics as part of the "New Right" Thiel, Master, Vance etc. running fund raisers for DeSantis and endorsing Musk's pro-Russian nonsense on Ukraine.

https://newrepublic.com/article/168125/david-sacks-elon-musk...

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Yeah, I saw David Sacks tweet:

“ The entitled elite is not mad that they have to pay $8/month. They’re mad that anyone can pay $8/month.”

There must be quite a few people in here who are well versed in customer relations, at least in the context of a startup, can anyone explain to me why Musk and Sacks seem to have developed the strategy of insulting their customers and potential customers?

I can think of two reasons

1. They think twitter has a big enough most of obsessed people that they can het away with whatever they want.

2. They think that there really is a massive group of angry “normies” they can rile up to pay $8 a month for twitter blue, but isn’t ironically the goal of twitter blue to get priority access to the “anointed elite”? For sure I’m not paying $8 a month to get access to the feeds of my friends and business associates.

David Sacks’ tweet does feel very Trumpian in a way though, which supports the notion of bringing trump back and starting the free speech social network.

I think their general plan will be to discourage/silence influential left-wing voices with enough cover to keep the majority of the audience for an emboldened right-wing.

If thinking imaginatively, then the proposal framed as "$8/mo or have your tweets deranked" is a deal they actively don't want left-wingers to take. They want to be able to derank their tweets with a cover of legitimacy.

The more they can turn this fee into a controversial "I support Musk" loyalty test, the more they can discourage left-wing / anti-Musk subscribers while encouraging right-wing / pro-Musk subscribers who will all have their tweets boosted.

Feels conspiratorial but it's a fee that mostly upsets existing blue tick celebrities which should be the last group Twitter The Business would want to annoy but they are the influential left-wingers. If you look at who Musk picked fights with about it e.g. AOC and Stephen King, then that is even more suggestive of deliberate provocation.

Whether planned or not, I suspect that this is how it play out.

Aside from the weird elite baiting rhetoric, does this mean that blue checkmark no longer means "yes, this is that famous person/thing you've heard of, not an impersonator" but now just means "this person gave us 8 dollars?"

I don't know if this has been clear yet. Or less than famous person/thing, do you have to submit ID / use real name to get verified.

> can anyone explain to me why Musk and Sacks seem to have developed the strategy of insulting their customers and potential customers?

I find it fascinating that so many people are whip-crack quick to loudly criticize the $8 checkmark move.

How many of these critics even use Twitter?

And of those who do use Twitter, how can any of them know the outcome of such a move? Why not just wait and observe?

I think because Elon and Co. are acting so dismissive and entitled. They're acting frickin weird. Admittedly I think who you think sounds more entitled depends on your worldview. I do think the journalist reactions are strange, but probably just because they're acting to something so strange.

Elon is hardly describing a vision for this new version of twitter that people might be inspired to spend $8 for, yes something vague about plebs vs nobility, and half has many ads, but his biggest call to action has been "Hey we need the money". They're acting so shitty to everyone it's hardly a surprise people aren't fawning in confidence back. Plus I can't help but feel that these people are really just echoing what everyone else is thinking. Why am I paying $8 a month for Twitter?

> Elon is hardly describing a vision for this new version of twitter that people might be inspired to spend $8 for, yes something vague about plebs vs nobility,

Yeah, Elon calls the status quo a “lords & peasants system” and says that to get out of that model Twitter should have a two-tier model where the paid users get special visual flair, algorithmic boosts in their tweets prominence and reach, and a reduced-ads feed experience compared to free users.

And somehow doesn’t see the irony.

You are showcasing exactly the behavior he blames for the degeneration of dialogue: take any kind of question and turn it into a political us vs them.

Isn’t that what Sacks is doing when he talks about the ‘entitled elite’ being ‘mad’?

When the context of the discussion is twitter moderation in the wake of Musk's takeover and who his team is, it's already political. For Yishan to pump up Sacks and his confidence in him to fix moderation, without acknowledging that today he is a political operator, is close to dishonest. Contributing this information is hopefully helpful.

Very helpful and unfortunate context, thanks

I think they are arguing its about removing political influence and restoring balance.

This will be seen as an "attack on the left" because Twitter has been controlled by the left till now.

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