Anyone else enjoying a bit of vicarious pleasure in watching the popular social media platform now apparently (IP woes nowithstanding) known as X circle the drain?

Schadenfraud!

I dunno, I've never been a fan of Twitter, but what happens when the egotistic megalomaniac gets bored and moves onto meddling with something we do care about.

Maybe we can persuade him to buy Google, cause it to implode, and start moving back towards how the Internet used to be...

I can only bear it a little these days. It wouldn't upset me in the least if it went down the plughole. While it was moderate entertainment for the first year or so, it's been awful for a very long time. It leaves me feeling soiled and unhealthy if I read for more than 10 minutes. 

When I have a reason to read messages on the platform formerly known as Twitter, I use Nitter, which is a lightweight frontend/proxy that removes tracking and bloat, and works without JavaScript.

The main nitter.net instance sometimes gets rate-limited, but there's plenty other instances for when that happens. Also, it was temporarily broken when Elon did his "must be logged in" thing, but the developers found a workaround within a few days.

I'm very much a read-only user on Twitter, and still find it good for political coverage direct from journalists. I also follow a few favourite authors and some daft single-purpose accounts. Very few actual friends. The glimpses it gives me of what's outside the bubble generally don't make me want to ever see what's recommended for me or what's trending.

I'm also on Mastodon, but haven't got round to fully following everyone I should.

I'm amazed that Elon Musk is able to do the stuff he's been doing, apparently impulsively with no real strategy or analysis.

I'm not really that surprised. People over-estimate ability on a regular basis. The financially successful usually over-estimate what they are capable of, as the last few years of Tory govt has made clear. They can't actually wing it, and neither can he.