Elon Musk has been celebrated by the far right for probably close to a year now, participating and in some cases, propagating right wing talking points. However, since acquiring Twitter, Elmo has risen to demigod status with the group. The amount of fawning over him in far right circles is quite honestly astounding. There are literally people calling him things like the most significant American ever and greatest advocate for free speech the country has ever had. But is he the savior they think he is? On a side note, see if you can spot the parallels between Elmo and another right wing idol.
He tweets random, vague phrases which his followers devour as though it's wisdom from heaven. The rest of us see them as the faux intellectual nonsense they are. He could tweet about a dump he took and they'd consider him even more of a messiah. Because he's one of them.
As I've already mentioned, the first dump of the Twitter Files was a nothing burger that the right was practically orgasmic over. If you recall, it said both presidential campaigns had access to request the removal of certain tweets and that Twitter suppressed the NYP story about Hunter Biden's laptop. Twitter being a non-government entity, it's free to do that. But Elmo is on the scene to make things right in the world.
Last night saw the second dump of Twitter material and it was an even bigger non-event, at least for most users. It essentially confirmed they moderated content, as they saw fit, per their TOS. Again, the right wing screamed for blood, since most of the accounts suppressed were theirs. Who knew that stochastic terrorism and disseminating false information wouldn't be well received? On the flip side, they again hailed Elmo as the messiah that would amplify their voices, allowing them to properly propagate patently false lies to their followers. (Did you know that many right wingers believe we have literally open borders?)
While it's obvious Elmo is courting the far right, because he's one of them, it's equally obvious to me his motivation lies beyond providing a platform for free speech for them. First and foremost, the man is a certifiable narcissist and the adoration he receives from the right provides sustenance to his voracious ego. You can see this in his increasing number of faux intellectual tweets.
The second is because he sees these rabid fans as a gravy train. Most people are aware that Twitter has lost 80% of its advertising revenue, due to concerns over Musk's right wing ilk and lack of stability. He attempted to bring revenue in via his ill-conceived and poorly executed $8 monthly fee, that he killed after a few days, and a verified fake account drove millions of value out of medical companies' stock. However, if he can't fund the platform with advertising, the best avenue toward profitability remains revenue from users, which is his end game with the far right. He thinks they'll love him enough to support a massive take rate on a monthly fee. Considering their record of giving their money to their idols, I'd say he's right. In other words, he's a groomer. The elephant in the room is there aren't enough right wingers to completely offset the lost ad revenue.
Back to content moderation, which is where Elmo is essentially trolling the right wingers. They clearly think Twitter will be a complete free for all, where they'll be the dominant voices, because Elmo loves them. If you read the tweet below, which seems to have been conveniently passed over by his cult, you'll see that won't be the case. Even crazy Elmo knows that if he doesn't keep the far right out of the general population, the mass exodus by the rest of society, and complete abandonment by advertisers will accelerate. Elmo's banking on the far right not noticing they're only seeing each other and based upon their gullibility, he's probably right.
So, if you're one of the many Elmo worshipers, be aware you're being groomed.
Of course, this is all predicated on the platform not imploding, as various staff continue to exodus. Today saw two key members of its Trust and Safety Council resign over Elmo's policies causing a decline in safety.
It seems the far right has an affinity for wealthy, faux intelligent and self made, pied pipers who secretly despise their followers.
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