- Twitch’s new anti-bot system caused viewer counts to nosedive across hundreds of channels, with some losing over half their displayed audience.
- Channels running 24/7 reruns saw the biggest drops, with Mira falling from 2,000+ to under 200 viewers overnight.
- The cleanup affects sponsorship deals and ad rates since brands have been paying premium prices for audiences that were partially fake.
Remember when Elon bought Twitter in large part to get rid of the bots?
No, I remember when he tried to back out of buying it but the SEC forced him to follow through.
If only they hadn’t…
Honestly, Twitter not being a cesspool when Musk bought it is a huge retcon. Remember, Twitter is where Trump rose to power. Jack Dorsey is just a tech bro billionaire among the rest of them.
Twitter was a barely working mess where fringe opinions thrived, whether they were destructive or constructive from what I’ve heard of it. The Musk buyout made it into a not-really-working mess with only destructive opinions.
now replaced by the humanoid replicant known as SPEZ.
Elon had no reason to buy twitter, he just enjoys price manipulation and gambling. However, once he did obtain the platform, his priority was very clearly to manipulate the public with it, that’s why he fired all but the most loyal of staff.
In his defense, what else could he have done with it? Run it like a normal business? He’s incapable of that, best he can do is state-subsidized overpromising stuff, and there was no angle for that with Twitter.
He actually could have just let it operate like normal, give himself bonuses, and slowly sell off his shares like he did with Tesla. Small changes like blue checkmark verification fees, ad free premiums, and labor cost minimization can be stretched out over time.
Instead he immediately cut the place in half and started promoting propaganda and hate. It’s well proven his algorithm sent democrats and liberal ideology to the back while heavily promoting Republicans.
We both could have done that. But I’m not sure he could have.