Perception 04: Taibbi confirms VST's observations re Musk

Tit for tat in the world of competition?

Hours after VST’s further observations around Twitter under Musk, none other than Matt Taibbi, with confirmation from substack, has bolstered VST’s observations.

A couple of hours ago, Taibbi flagged his concerns that substack links were being blocked from Twitter. Apparently, Musk unfollowed Taibbi as a result.

https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1644428913651642387?s=20

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/04/07/twitter-files-journalist-quits-platform-after-elon-musk-places-restrictions-on-substack/

https://mashable.com/article/twitter-substack-blocked-embeds-interactions-on-tweets

Substack confirmed that they were aware of a problem between substack and Twitter:

Substack @SubstackInc Apr 6

We're investigating reports that Twitter embeds and authentication no longer work on Substack. We are actively trying to resolve this and will share updates as additional information becomes available.

https://twitter.com/SubstackInc/status/1644059805315747844?s=20

And so, Taibbi declared he’s leaving Twitter.

What does this mean?

It’s a question of content and value.

What do you get from Twitter and what do you get from substack? As a user, you obviously get different things from each platform and you will likely continue to use both.

But ask yourself these questions:

“When you pay $8 to Musk, what content do you get for it and who made it?”

“When you pay $5 to Matt Taibbi, what content do you get and who made it?”

Musk never made any content. He didn’t even make the content of the Twitter Files. Musk, like his predecessors and other socmed bosses, is selling you content created by Twitter users that he got for free.

Taibbi carried out analysis, research and journalism, all of which also informs his commentary. He is a content creator of high order. This is why he is a threat once he got busy with the Twitter Files.

These two things aren’t directly in conflict at every level. Musk is in competition with substack (in his mind) and is executing a business decision. That removes the personal and business reason why Taibbi uses Twitter (to promote his substack). If that’s not possible, why use the platform?

The next question is whether Musk changes his position on Taibbi’s access to the Twitter Files. If he does, he will be making a superficially transparent mistake, although the argument that Taibbi is “a billionaire’s lackey” would be fractionally diminished by some notional (but likely unreal) tension between them.