Truth Social faces uncertain future. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/02/trump-truth-social-digital-world-merger "Trump Media & Technology Group was destined to merge with Digital World Acquisition Corp, a special-purpose acquisition company, or Spac. But shareholders in Digital World are now being asked to give the company another year to complete the deal. If they refuse to do so at a meeting on 8 September, the enterprise may never become the $1.7bn company it once envisioned... At one time investors in Digital World were hot for the Trump tie-up. Shares in Digital World soared to $175 when the merger was announced. On Friday, they stood at $16.51".
Truth Social/DWA merger extension was approved by about 72% of stockholders, according to a regulatory filing Sept 6. Tomorrow's announcement will confirm if Truth Social will meet liquidation or not. Updated Sept 9: The companies have now reaffirmed their commitments to the transaction (to merge in 12 months). Trump gets control over the company with 55% of voting power in the stock. Digital World and Trump Media still have more to do before their merger can close. Digital World, for instance, must file amended regulatory filings before Oct. 9. If the company does not, Trump Media can walk away.
The Twitter(X) bot problem Bots are influencers. They scour a platform, performing many tasks that make them money. A bot can be used to select 'like' & 'retweet' over & over again on a tweet - the algorithm then kicks in & boosts the tweet to the Top Tweet List. SM users can buy packages of followers from influencers, e.g in the 100s, 1000s or even millions (all these phony followers are inactive accounts). It is estimated that X has now approximately 250M active users and Khoros (online SM analysis company) revealed in 2022 that 44% of all accounts on X did not send a single tweet. Musk now believes that he can get rid of the bots by imposing a total paywall - a subscription fee for all users, not just for the blue shield users. The subscription cost may start at $12/yr for access to the platform with structured increases based on access to other X services, though Musk did not articulate any of this in the announcement this week. Bot creators will no doubt be happy to pay $1/month for unfettered influence - most have already paid for the blue shield as it no longer verifies that you are who you say you are. Maybe Musk's new requirement for a government ID & photo as verification on new sign-ups will prevent future bots from scouring the platform - if this gets extended to existing users, along with having to provide credit card info for the new fees, it's possible that another mass exodus will occur. There are currently very few skilled personnel still working at X who can handle the security and privacy prerequisites associated with storing such highly sensitive information. If the expected return on Musk's $44B loan with the banks is 7% per year, then X needs a profit of $3 billion per year. Musk is currently below that threshold.
YouTube announces several new user video tools These will compete well with TikTok ... "YouTube Shorts has now climbed to over 70 Billion daily views from over 2 Billion signed-in users every month. And now, we’re announcing new tools that make it easier than ever for anyone to express any idea and bring it to life on Shorts. Later this year, we’ll begin testing Dream Screen, a new experimental feature that allows you to create AI-generated video or image backgrounds to your Shorts simply by typing an idea into a prompt" "Next year, YouTube Studio will tap generative AI to spark video ideas and draft outlines to help creators brainstorm. The insights will be personalized for each channel and based on what audiences are already watching on YouTube. We’ve been testing a version of AI-powered tools in YouTube Studio with creators, and more than 70 percent of those surveyed said it’s helped them develop and test ideas for videos." And many more in the link ... https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/made-on-youtube-2023/
Oct 12 Update re: item 54 and 55 in this thread ... "Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC), the blank-check acquisition company that plans to merge with former U.S. President Donald Trump's social media firm, said on Thursday it would return to investors $533 million raised for a cash infusion in the deal, after some already backtracked on another $467 million of commitments. The development is the nail in the coffin of the $1 billion investment that DWAC (DWAC.O) had raised for the merger with Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which runs the Truth Social platform. It raises further doubts about whether the former U.S. president will go ahead with the deal, now that TMTG no longer stands to receive $1 billion if and when it closes". https://www.reuters.com/markets/dea...mln-raise-trump-social-media-deal-2023-10-12/
How to see what’s happening on Mastodon without creating an account https://www.popsci.com/diy/mastodon-social-rss/
(3rd October) Reddit finally takes its API war where it belongs: to AI companies https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...-cant-reach-an-ai-deal-with-google-microsoft/
Musk: X to become Financial Hub in 2024 https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/26/23934216/x-twitter-bank-elon-musk-2024 IMO: This comment in the comments section says it all... "So what happens when the thin-skinned manbaby running this clown show of an app decides that he doesn’t like you or your comments and bans you? Do you get cut off from everything? Or what happens when he decides on a whim that he wants to close a data center, drops in with Joe Schmoe Movers and a bunch of randos to rip out servers and send them who knows where with no secuity? What happens when the six engineers holding the site together with spit and duct tape, sleeping in the office, can’t stop him from implementing some arbitrary code change with no testing, taking down the site and cutting you off from your entire financial life? Or exposing vulnerabilities that allow a massive breach, all of your money disappears, and customer service sends you a poop emoji in response to your repeated inquiries? There is zero precedent for the average Joe to trust this guy. Why would the FDIC or SEC trust him to run a bank/brokerage?" I would think the EU would also have reservations on his application to implement in 2024.
I agree that several BigTech platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube are designed to keep users, including underage users, watching, scrolling content as much as they can. I acknowledge this is harmful. Industry should not do that, especially toward underage people during recent 3 years. On the other hand teenagers have high motivation to socialize and form groups, including meeting in person. This natural tendency is protective against social media overuse. Are prosecutors just gonna to ignore the fact that most governments around the world restricted or made it difficult for teenagers to meet other teenagers in person? What are the alternative ways to spend time in 3rd decade of XXI century? Mostly games, social media... Also isolation in itself may cause symptomps similar to brain-damage. You don't need social media for that Being cut off from other humans changes your brain. Here's the science on how. Scientific American https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSyDIDS1lbY
YouTube’s Ad Blocker Crackdown Spurs Record Uninstalls https://www.wired.com/story/youtubes-ad-blocker-crackdown-spurs-record-uninstalls/
