Slashdot Mirror
Twitter Stock Plunges 21 Percent After Earnings Show Effects of Fake-Account Purge (marketwatch.com)
Twitter shares fell 21% on Friday as the company reported that user growth had turned negative, even as its quarterly results beat Wall Street expectations. The decline was even greater than Facebook's almost 19 percent plunge in shares after the social media giant reported disappointing results. MarketWatch reports: Twitter posted a profit for the third consecutive quarter, with its $134 million in net income equating to 13 cents a share. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 17 cents. The FactSet consensus estimate had been 16 cents. Twitter's revenue climbed 24% to $710.5 million to beat the FactSet consensus estimate by about $2 million. Even as executives talked about Twitter's bright future on the earnings calls, investors appeared to react to Twitter's slowing user growth, as its monthly user count went south, falling by 1 million to 355 million, as compared with the year's first quarter. The decline was expected after recent reports had the company purging about a million fake accounts a day.
I honestly think one of the main reasons Trump won was the media's refusal to call him out on obvious lies and his shady business record. And that refusal was fueled by a desire to see a horse race and to suck up all those ad buys. Trump should never have been a serious candidate. He refused to release his tax returns, has a string of failed businesses and a court case where he admitted under oath his net worth isn't near what he claims and a long history of extra-marital affairs of the sort that don't go down well with the base he was trying to appeal to. That baggage should have wrecked him. But the media continually went easy on him even as they piled on Hillary.
Of course if they'd buried Trump in his own bad press early on folks would have stopped paying attention and the guys bank rolling his campaign would stop; meaning no more free eyeballs and no more free ad money. Trump got something like a billion in free coverage most of it positive. But then again if the media was doing it's job we'd be calling Bernie Mr President.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Never tweeted a tweet, never really saw the benefit, followed Mark Rusonavitch (sp) for a minute, maybe im just not that exciting...
Anyone remember when I said they were at least 30% bots and when the world finds out the shareholders all take a bath?
Before when few knew what was going on it was a valuable tool. Now, everyone knows the tricks. On to bigger and better ways to influence the election. #MAGA
Hey, FUCK.
I will now vote for Trump, his kids, or whoever they want me to vote for for LIFE.
Fuck you maoist SHIT. Fuck you low life. FUCK YOUR EXISTENCE.
Move to Venezuela you FUCKING PIG if you want that commie shit you fucking loser.
FUCK YOU, Trump FOR LIFE.
GEOTUS, and LORD over everyone, even the seditious, treasonous traitorous motherfuckers like YOU.
I honestly think one of the main reasons Trump won was the media's refusal to call him out on obvious lies and his shady business record. And that refusal was fueled by a desire to see a horse race and to suck up all those ad buys. Trump should never have been a serious candidate. He refused to release his tax returns, has a string of failed businesses and a court case where he admitted under oath his net worth isn't near what he claims and a long history of extra-marital affairs of the sort that don't go down well with the base he was trying to appeal to. That baggage should have wrecked him. But the media continually went easy on him even as they piled on Hillary.
Of course if they'd buried Trump in his own bad press early on folks would have stopped paying attention and the guys bank rolling his campaign would stop; meaning no more free eyeballs and no more free ad money. Trump got something like a billion in free coverage most of it positive. But then again if the media was doing it's job we'd be calling Bernie Mr President.
Okay, just so I'm clear here.
You think the media *wasn't* incessantly harsh on Trump in the run-up to the election.
You think most of the media coverage was positive.
I am at a loss as to how, exactly, the media could have been more harsh...
Using Twitter is like playing Russian Roulette. Every time you tweet, you pull the trigger. Most of the time, nothing happens, but sooner or later you'll get unlucky and the Internet mob will destroy you for what you tweeted (latest case in point: James Gunn).
Maybe, just maybe, people are finally beginning to realize just how toxic Twitter really is. It only took a few thousand ruined lives and careers to get the point across.
What's interesting me about this news, also extended to Facebook, is the interplay between the corporate value that's actually based on network effects versus the delusional stock prices that drive the market cap. To review, the idea of network effects is that more users of the network increase the value of the network, often more than linearly. However, what happens when lots of the users become fake identities that are not actually contributing any real value? The tiny bit of the stock price that is related to actual value (rather than gambling machines battling to the death) is going to have to adjust when the network appears to shrink.
From a fundamental level (as if anyone cared anymore relative to technical speculation), I don't see any value in Twitter from the git go.
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
We would rather have lies of large numbers that look good on the surface than evidence of truthful and honest conduct to rehabilitate falsehoods.
Just interesting, half of the accounts were probably made from this. tweetattackspro.com
[($)]
It does nothing positive for society.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
> Using Twitter is like playing Russian Roulette. Every time you tweet, you pull the trigger.
> case in point: James Gunn
So what you're saying is every time you talk, things like this might spill out of your mouth?:
"I like when little boys touch me in my silly place."
-- James Gunn
"The best thing about being raped is when youâ(TM)re done being raped and itâ(TM)s like 'whew this feels great, not being raped!'"
-- James Gunn
"walked over a table to one of the kid actors on set, looked at the kid, and started masturbating right at him. ... A string of semen shot out of the mini-monkey-wood and splash-landed DIRECTLY ON THE KID.
Screaming and freaking out commenced.
I know it might be sick, but that story makes me extremely happy."
-- James Gunn
"Watching Trapped in the Closet, R Kellyâ(TM)s second best video after the one where he urinates on a child.â
-- James Gunn
If these are the kinds of things you might randomly say, your Russian roulette, please - get help.
everything you linked to is far left wing press that is almost completely ignored. When I say "media" I mean mainstream media. CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and local stations.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
and didn't do very much criticism. They reported on his refusal to release his taxes but never once got into _why_ it mattered. I didn't actually know but picked up the corruption angle from the left wing press. I never once saw an interview with the many, many businesses he screwed over and/or never paid. The same goes for the stories about how he would have made more money sticking his daddy's fortune in an index fund than on his failed business ventures. And the affairs. He's got decades of them. Where was the research into that? We didn't find out crap until _after_ the election. He did a cameo in a soft core porn movie for Pete's sake.
Oh, meanwhile Felix Ungur of the Young Turks broke the news of MSNBC burying Bernie Sanders in favor of the corporatists Hilary Clinton and that news barely registered.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
not as much as people think. They want things better for themselves, but they're afraid of real change. That's why pot's still illegal and minimum wage is the lowest it's been since the 50s.
And you're right about us not being a Democracy, we're an oligarchy.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
The thought of social media crumbling makes me very happy.
The average person the street is not smart enough to understand that "investors" have not a damn thing to do with real performance. They'll see this and think that somehow twitter is not a profitable or sustaining company, despite the fact that their profits are good.
What we have is irresponsible profit-driven reporters who want short clips rather than explaining what this actually means.
And in the mean time, we have a bunch of idiots who are so absorbed with another idiots that all they want to do is talk politics and trash talk eachother.
This easily could have been titled "Childish investors with no foresight have knee-jerk reaction to something that was already predicted." Or perhaps "Company does the right thing, angers investors."
Stock price no longer has any real tie in with the success or failure of companies. It's just a ticker number that people who participate in real-life gambling pay attention to.
Nitpick, it must be more than linear. But yes, exponential increases are usually considered. To those who wonder why Microsoft is still so valuable, it's network effects. And there, unlike social media, the costs to getting everyone to switch are almost impossible.
I could see some value in Twitter, but I couldn't (and still don't) see a way for them to retain any of that value.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
When I saw the massive $FB drop (which seemed unwarranted, IMO) it was clear a lot of future growth was baked in. Same with twitter. Tesla has their earnings call Wednesday. They're a $50-60 billion dollar company - bigger than Ford, sometimes bigger than GM. I don't know what's been baked in [1], but they look more like a $5 billion dollar company. And act like a $5 million dollar company. Expect them to pop big time.
1. Tesla hypesters insist they're also an energy company. Look at the P/E for Solar City (snicker) or XOM, CVX, etc. Who wants to spend $60,000 for a Tesla with build quality inferior to a $20,000 Kia?
Twitter had an exaggerated user base which inflated stock because more users = great company.
Twitter wipes out a significant amount of fake accounts and the stock plummets.
( Company not quite as amazing as they pretended it was )
Pretty sure that's how this is supposed to work ?
So, this news is about fake accounts.
Does that make it "real fake news?"
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
From what I've seen, a lot of the bots were way more valuable than most people on Twitter.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I have a Twitter account where I just post technical info, zero politics. I don't follow political people and even some technical people I follow I have to mute from time to time.
It is possible to run a Twitter account that is pure utility and friendly vibes, where there's really nothing that anyone can gain much traction on.
Mobs on Twitter are inherently a stupid thing anyway. You can just take a break from Twitter and most of the people will be gone, blocking the handful of losers that remain. Then just ignore what they say after that.
Now it is true it is VERY easy to let Twitter work you up to the point where you are not posting thoughtfully. So I agree you should be careful with Twitter, but that doesn't mean everyone should drop it just because it can be bad for you...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Censorship always fails.
Any 3rd world nation can report, ban, block, shadow ban, censor.
Bring back some US free speech and make the internet great again.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Iâ(TM)d be surprised if less than 10% of the accounts were fake. I live in Japan, which I *think* has one of the highest percent of users. The people I know who use it donâ(TM)t engage in any kind of social or political debate though. They post and look at pics of food and celebrity bs.
Is that the latest meme? Pretend Trump is a victim on the press?
The press reported the *truth*. It's been confirmed as true in revelation after revelation.
Stormey Daniels affair , true.
Karen McDougal affair, true.
Conspired with Russia, true.
His campaign was stuff full of Russian agents, true, true, true x 5 so far.
Received Russian money laundered through NRA, true.
Faked his medical report, true.
Faked his financial disclosure, true.
Coordinated with his Russian handlers, true.
Calls Russia once a week, true.
Lies about his weekly calls to Russia, true.
His 'people' turned on him and revealed these truths. Not 'Obama' or 'Clinton' or 'Deep state', his *own* people.
Those 'Ordinary Texas Housewives' who support Trump and are disgusted at the press reporting of him... turned out to be the St Petersberg troll factory.
If Stormey and Daniels were paid off for their silence, then the rape of the 13 year old is also true, because she withdrew her claim at the same time as the other two.
All his appointees, all vetted as friendly to Russia. The latest being the lawyer for Russia's Alfabank as the head of FBI criminal division. You were told he'd appoint Putin selected people, and he did.
You can pretend this is political, left vs right, but it isn't.
Trump agreed something with Putin in Helsinki, the "incredible offer" Trump referred to. GOP Congress and Senate have NOT been told.
US Military has NO idea, CIA chief has NO idea what was discussed. Putin knows, Putin's military know what was discussed.
It's the US government that's kept in the dark, not the Russian government. Collusion in plain sight.
Putin's Generals are saying Trump agreed to 'cooperation of forces in Syria', i.e. US soldiers taking orders from Russian Generals.
US bodybags coming back from fighting Russian enemies, to secure Russian interests in Syria.
Whitehouse isn't contracting that claim. They're silent on it.
GOP Congress put in the budget that Trump cannot use money to cooperate with Russian military. i.e. trying to stop him selling out the USA. That's Republicans' trying to protect USA from Trump using budgetary measures.
The press did their job of reporting the truth to their viewers. Fox News, as ever, lied to their viewers. Okian Warrior as ever trolling pro Trump, but the real press did their real job.
yandex.com
mail.ru
baidu.com
Personal RPI server
Personal file server (SSH/SCP)
USENET
YaCY
Apache
PHPBB
Personal Git Server
Alfresco.
Boycott the Billionaire Internet !
rt.COM
presstv.IR
TichysEinblick.de
"It is insane to not bomb helpless nations into a civil war !"
Instead:
Personal RPI server
Personal SSH/SCP server
Personal Web Server
Your own PHPBB forum
The Dollarnet is run by elite globalists who want to abolish democracy. All they care is their insane plans for their personal glory.
Whoever does not comply with their ideology is "Fake News".
Broke the internet and all the pushed all the borderline unstable people over the line.
Or maybe "company pisses off half the country, losing customers and making itself irrelevant, and investors want out now"
Twitter (and Facebook for that matter) have zero comprehension that most of the country is not as politically batshit crazy and off the deep end as most of their censor and ban-happy employees, and they're paying the financial price for that. Even most people who disagree with Trump's policies aren't absolute raving lunatics about it. Also, remember when everybody rioted and protested in the streets, vandalized everything, tried to get people banned from speaking in public, physically assaulted people they disagree with who hadn't even said a damned thing to them, and kept doing it for almost 2 years after Obama was elected twice? Yeah, neither do I. That's what I mean by batshit crazy.
I'm curious though: it was these "childish" investors that made Twitter a big thing in the first place--now that their opinions on the company have changed for good reasons they no longer seem to suit you.
From which I can guess you're either a raving lunatic Hillary supporter, or a millennial with an investment portfolio consisting solely of Google, Facebook, Netflix, Twitter, and Tesla. In either case, you're in for a bad time.
I got banned for calling a guy a faggot after he said his son was boring because he was white. I find what he said much more offensive than what I said but when the moderators are anti-white faggots what should I have expected the outcome to be?
You're free to hire him to run your projects, directing your people.
As for me, I won't be putting someone who constantly talks about the joy of child molestation in charge of *my* people. O care enough about the people in my sphere of influence that I wouldn't subject them to whatever this sicko may do next. You can, though. Do expect to be sued when he continues to be a sick bastard, because you knew about it when you hired him and put him in a position to hurt others.
Er... Just so, and thanks for pointing out my mistake. Would you believe that some of my best friends are real mathematicians.
However, as it applies to the story, the question is how much the stock price should fluctuate in response to shrinkage of the network when fake identities are removed. If the opinion of the correct stock price was based on the imagined value of a network of 100 million identities, and you remove 20 million fake identities, then what is the new imaginary stock price?
My main point should be that market cap has NO relation to real value. What happened to Twitter (and Facebook) does not reflect anything about the real world. No actual wealth has been lost or created just because opinions about stock prices have fluctuated.
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
I keep coming back with hope that Twitter has cleaned up its stinking cesspool of Internet misery. And I keep deleting my account when I see that it's as bad as ever.
Honestly, purging a ton of fake accounts is the only good thing Twitter's done in forever..