A reason for Twitter's recent weird actions
190 sats \ 6 comments \ @Bitman 2 Jul 2023 tech
This time last year Twitter refused to pay rent for their HQ to get leverage to renegotiate - this only pissed their landlords so much that Twitter were served an eviction notice.
Now it seems that there might be a similar reason why Twitter has been restricting page views (and who knows, maybe even the API pull) - they've been refusing to pay for their cloud bills for the last few weeks.
The deadline for the payment being the end of June.
https://theconversation.com/twitter-is-refusing-to-pay-google-for-cloud-services-heres-why-it-matters-and-what-the-fallout-could-be-for-users-207718
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10 sats \ 5 replies \ @OriginalSize 2 Jul 2023
Seems plausible. Credit is drying up and a lot of people are sharpening their pencils.
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @zuspotirko 2 Jul 2023
Credit is drying up and a lot of people are sharpening their pencils.
I'm pretty sure previous Twitter management could have pulled this off. Long-term profitability wasn't far away, subscriptions could have become a strong challenger for patreon etc.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bitman OP 2 Jul 2023
So a case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?
Plus ol' Jack Dorsey is all in on Nostr.
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Bitman OP 2 Jul 2023
You're right about the cost cutting and credit drying up. I'm not sure which came first though - it's gotten into a feedback loop for so long.
With Musk a reluctant buyer, he must be regretting his purchase more and more every day.
As Musk never really had an intention to buy Twitter in the first place, I'd imagine that he didn't have a game plan either. Yikes!
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @OriginalSize 2 Jul 2023
I think he's prepared to fight this out until Twitter becomes the free speech town square or nothing. I don't worry about Twitter one way or another. We've plenty of options with nostr, etc.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bitman OP 2 Jul 2023
I think he's prepared to fight this out until Twitter becomes the free speech town square or nothing.
Never really thought that he'd think that way, but I guess that's a possible thought for Musk - I guess it's a gamble that he could afford to lose, and a massive lever if it pays off.
However, I can't help but think that he won't like defeat as it won't be good for his ego. Plus, he's making such a ham-handed job of it so far...
I totally agree about the alternatives. There's so much going for FOSS alternatives and it's getting more and more appreciated by the general public (and free publicity).
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