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Terry Freedman's avatar

Blimey, Jody, I nearly spluttered on my coffee when I read your subtitle! Anyway, you make some excellent points. On a personal level, I've never bothered getting my Twitter account verified, because, well, I couldn't be bothered. I think the thing about paying for it (I've heard $8 as well as $20) is that only mega rich people will be able to afford it and therefore it does nothing to help anyone who is not a so-called influencer to avoid being cloned or spoofed.

But apart from that, I've been watching this with interest because I think that Musk is a force for good, at least compared to the erstwhile powers-that-be at Twitter who would suspend someone's account for liking a tweet they disapproved of.

However, to be honest, I feel VERY uneasy about the whole idea of mega-rich technocrats taking the lead in what and who is allowed to take part in public discourse. Nobody elected them, and they're either accountable to shareholders or, in Musk's case I believe, to nobody. I worry that some people (not necessarily Musk, but time will tell), look at dystopian visions of the future (such as in sci-fi stories or Black Mirror) and think they're looking at a road map!

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Jody J. Sperling's avatar

I love this comment and stand behind it 100%. Musk is a force for good, and he's known for flippant comments, so I'll give him time to sort it out, but I've experienced first hand that people who work "for" the ultrawealthy rarely have the same ethical rigor.

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Terry Freedman's avatar

Thanks, Jody. I couldn't agree more.

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