Hey everybody, Peter Zeihan here coming to you from New York. I know normally people don’t like it when I do a video from my hotel room, but I’ve got a view with cathedral right here. So I figured maybe we’d make an exception. Today, I’d stay we’re gonna talk about distribution channels, and specifically why I’m leaving Twitter completely.
So in three things, first of all, I used to love Twitter, because it provided me access to firsthand information in places that the mainstream media for whatever reason couldn’t or wouldn’t go. The best example I can give you is the Ukraine war, as technologies become more important in global media, the number of people who were employed in that space has dropped. And so there’s a lot fewer eyes and fingers touching any particular story that has one of the reasons why we have a lot more opinion in our news than we used to, and a lot less fact checkers, your editors, fewer people to see anything. And so when something new starts up, especially when there’s something new is kind of, you know, violent and dangerous. There just aren’t enough people within the existing media landscape to redirect, in this case to either side of the front line and Ukraine. And so Twitter was where individuals who had personal context in the area could provide information. And sure there’s a lot to vet, but the point is, it was a source of information. Now, when the Ukraine war began, the old Twitter management went through and purge Russian bots from the system, which all of a sudden opened up Twitter to be glorious in any number of venues, because was no longer being spammed by disinformation, at least not to the same scale. But then Elon Musk came in. And as part of his commitment to free speech, he destroyed all content moderation, and allowed encouraged the bots to come back in force. And so now I would say on my feed my curated feed, it’s about 90 95% misinformation. And so I’ve gone from spending an hour or two thumbing through Twitter, getting a feel of what’s going on in the world to spending 12 hours and having no idea what’s going on, because it’s just crap. So I’ve stopped. The second big issue has to do with interaction. Now, part of the thing that was wonderful about old Twitter is the people who were providing that firsthand information were accessible. And you know, not to put too much of shine on it when you’ve got 100,000 or more followers, those people tend to pay attention if you ask them a question. So for me, it became free information gathering. And I could engage with conversations with potential sources, as well as just normal viewers about what was going on. And it gave me ideas of what to do, for example, for these videos, because you guys could interact with me, you could access me and vice versa. Well, that stopped. Basically, the things that are in the for you category are mentioned by you has disappeared from my feed. And over the last six weeks, I’ve had seven interactions with all of you combined. Now, if you want to spam me with porn bot that gets through and if you want to launch a crypto scheme and see if I’ll fall for that gets through and if it’s a porn themed crypto scheme that absolutely gets through, but it’s gone from being one of the most rewarding parts of my job to just complete a time suck and a waste of everything that I do. So that’s gone. And then there’s third is Elon Musk himself on a wanker.
It was one thing when he would blindly parrot whatever piece of Chinese propaganda came across his screen. And another thing when he started doing the same thing for Russian propaganda, and then Iranian propaganda, but of late, he’s gone down the white supremacist road on the anti semitic road. And it’s almost like Musk has revealed to the world that in reality, he’s not a green or a businessman. He’s just an unapologetic Apartheid Era white, South African, which apparently is exactly what he is. And so I’m done.
We’ll still be using Twitter as a distribution channel for the videos for those of you who are somehow able to find some sort of use for it, probably the crypto bros. But for everybody else, I would just underline that the fastest way and the most reliable way to get the videos is to sign up for the newsletter. It’s www.zeihan.com/newsletter design.com/newsletter, which is always the first place that the video goes before Twitter before YouTube before everything else. So just sign up direct, we will never share your data with anyone and the video remains free. Okay, that’s it. I’ll see you around. I’ll still be checking in on Twitter every few weeks to see if anything’s changed, because you know, God, it certainly can’t get worse is my thinking but then it keeps getting worse but who knows, maybe we’ll have a change in management. Maybe we’ll have a change in policy and I’ll be some version of what it used to be but until then, newsletter. All right. Take care.
Peter Zeihan
Geopolitical Strategist
Commentary
Our commentary partners will help you reach your own conclusions on complex topics.
Is the US looking for a war?
8 hrs ago
Peter Zeihan
How future generations could shift US support for Israel
Yesterday
Peter Zeihan
Why election of European Commission president is so important
Wednesday
Peter Zeihan
‘Both completely corrupt’: What Americans think of Biden, Trump
Tuesday
Dr. Frank Luntz
Why I’m done with Twitter (X) … and Elon Musk
Peter Zeihan
Geopolitical Strategist
By Straight Arrow News
X, formerly Twitter, has lost half its value since Elon Musk’s acquisition. The social media platform has witnessed a mass exodus of major advertisers and a substantial departure of users, including numerous celebrities. The mass exit can partially be attributed to the changes implemented by Musk, which some argue have worsened the spread of misinformation.
Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan explains why he loved old Twitter, why he’s (sort of) leaving the platform, and how Musk’s control led to its downfall.
Excerpted from Peter’s Nov. 30 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:
What was once a platform where you could access open-source information that was reliable and free…has now been laid to rest by Elon Musk. Yes, I’m talking about that little blue bird we’ve known and loved for years.
I’m not one for beating dead horses, but at the very least, I’d like to explain my reasoning.
#1 is misinformation: the lax content moderation policies have opened the floodgates of disinformation.
#2 is a lack of meaningful interactions: what was once a breeding ground for stimulating conversations has become a vat of unintelligible sludge.
#3 is Elon Musk: I simply can’t support anything that man does anymore.
While I’m saying goodbye to Twitter (X) for personal use, we’ll still distribute my videos there.
Hey everybody, Peter Zeihan here coming to you from New York. I know normally people don’t like it when I do a video from my hotel room, but I’ve got a view with cathedral right here. So I figured maybe we’d make an exception. Today, I’d stay we’re gonna talk about distribution channels, and specifically why I’m leaving Twitter completely.
So in three things, first of all, I used to love Twitter, because it provided me access to firsthand information in places that the mainstream media for whatever reason couldn’t or wouldn’t go. The best example I can give you is the Ukraine war, as technologies become more important in global media, the number of people who were employed in that space has dropped. And so there’s a lot fewer eyes and fingers touching any particular story that has one of the reasons why we have a lot more opinion in our news than we used to, and a lot less fact checkers, your editors, fewer people to see anything. And so when something new starts up, especially when there’s something new is kind of, you know, violent and dangerous. There just aren’t enough people within the existing media landscape to redirect, in this case to either side of the front line and Ukraine. And so Twitter was where individuals who had personal context in the area could provide information. And sure there’s a lot to vet, but the point is, it was a source of information. Now, when the Ukraine war began, the old Twitter management went through and purge Russian bots from the system, which all of a sudden opened up Twitter to be glorious in any number of venues, because was no longer being spammed by disinformation, at least not to the same scale. But then Elon Musk came in. And as part of his commitment to free speech, he destroyed all content moderation, and allowed encouraged the bots to come back in force. And so now I would say on my feed my curated feed, it’s about 90 95% misinformation. And so I’ve gone from spending an hour or two thumbing through Twitter, getting a feel of what’s going on in the world to spending 12 hours and having no idea what’s going on, because it’s just crap. So I’ve stopped. The second big issue has to do with interaction. Now, part of the thing that was wonderful about old Twitter is the people who were providing that firsthand information were accessible. And you know, not to put too much of shine on it when you’ve got 100,000 or more followers, those people tend to pay attention if you ask them a question. So for me, it became free information gathering. And I could engage with conversations with potential sources, as well as just normal viewers about what was going on. And it gave me ideas of what to do, for example, for these videos, because you guys could interact with me, you could access me and vice versa. Well, that stopped. Basically, the things that are in the for you category are mentioned by you has disappeared from my feed. And over the last six weeks, I’ve had seven interactions with all of you combined. Now, if you want to spam me with porn bot that gets through and if you want to launch a crypto scheme and see if I’ll fall for that gets through and if it’s a porn themed crypto scheme that absolutely gets through, but it’s gone from being one of the most rewarding parts of my job to just complete a time suck and a waste of everything that I do. So that’s gone. And then there’s third is Elon Musk himself on a wanker.
It was one thing when he would blindly parrot whatever piece of Chinese propaganda came across his screen. And another thing when he started doing the same thing for Russian propaganda, and then Iranian propaganda, but of late, he’s gone down the white supremacist road on the anti semitic road. And it’s almost like Musk has revealed to the world that in reality, he’s not a green or a businessman. He’s just an unapologetic Apartheid Era white, South African, which apparently is exactly what he is. And so I’m done.
We’ll still be using Twitter as a distribution channel for the videos for those of you who are somehow able to find some sort of use for it, probably the crypto bros. But for everybody else, I would just underline that the fastest way and the most reliable way to get the videos is to sign up for the newsletter. It’s www.zeihan.com/newsletter design.com/newsletter, which is always the first place that the video goes before Twitter before YouTube before everything else. So just sign up direct, we will never share your data with anyone and the video remains free. Okay, that’s it. I’ll see you around. I’ll still be checking in on Twitter every few weeks to see if anything’s changed, because you know, God, it certainly can’t get worse is my thinking but then it keeps getting worse but who knows, maybe we’ll have a change in management. Maybe we’ll have a change in policy and I’ll be some version of what it used to be but until then, newsletter. All right. Take care.
Is the US looking for a war?
With conflicts, skirmishes and tensions simmering around the globe, and with the United States playing supporting roles in several of them, the question of whether the country getting involved directly is legitimate. The war in Ukraine, for example, has forced several European countries to reintroduce mandatory military service to confront the growing threat from Moscow.…
8 hrs ago
How future generations could shift US support for Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, calling for increased bipartisan support for Israel amid its 10-month war with Hamas. He praised President Biden’s “half century of friendship to Israel” and referred to Hamas as “sheer evil.” In the video above, Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan analyzes…
Yesterday
Why election of European Commission president is so important
Ursula von der Leyen has been reelected to another five-year term as president of the European Commission after a vote by EU lawmakers. Von der Leyen will now preside over a coalition that shifted to the right after recent European elections, where ultra-conservative parties won a record number of seats. In July, von der Leyen…
Wednesday
Protests in Bangladesh signal more trouble ahead
Public protests in Bangladesh against government hiring practices — and against the government’s military response to those protests — have left at least 174 dead and 2,500 jailed. Bangladesh’s people face an acute jobs and unemployment crisis, so public disagreements over hiring practices carry significant weight. The regime recently enforced a nationwide internet blackout as…
Tuesday
In US election, early polling doesn’t tell us anything yet
From President Joe Biden’s declining health to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, there’s been a series of major political developments in the United States that might impact the results of the November election. These developments have led to renewed confusion, concern and debate regarding which candidate might win, and in the Democrats’ case, which…
Jul 19
Underreported stories from each side
Group accuses Pa. teachers union of illegally using money to back Shapiro’s 2022 campaign
8 sources | 0% from the left
Getty Images
Some House Republicans slam Vance as Trump’s VP pick: ‘The worst choice’
8 sources | 0% from the right
Reuters
Latest Stories
Congress still trying to figure out how to reduce wasteful military spending
Watch 2:29
3 hrs ago
US Navy, Air Force making waves with new weapons at RIMPAC
Watch 6:03
3 hrs ago
Israeli PM Netanyahu meets with Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Watch 2:54
3 hrs ago
Growing US nuclear power resurgence reaches the nation’s heartland
Watch 1:19
3 hrs ago
Beer from the sun, other solar thermal projects get government funding
Watch 2:04
3 hrs ago
Popular Opinions
In addition to the facts, we believe it’s vital to hear perspectives from all sides of the political spectrum.
Trump has an excellent opportunity with Black voters
8 hrs ago
Star Parker
Don’t fall for GOP’s cheap racist attacks on Kamala Harris
9 hrs ago
Dr. Rashad Richey
Americans must reject Trump to defend our democracy
Yesterday
Jordan Reid
Why all the changes in European parliamentary governments?
Wednesday
Newt Gingrich