• NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de
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        4 months ago

        He might, but that’s the whole point of federation - there’s hundreds of other instances (including the one you’re using) that he can’t buy all at once. If one instance gets taken over, Lemmy as a whole is still strong.

        Even if he buys the organization developing Lemmy, I have faith the community will fork it and everyone will stop using Musk’s version.

        • daltotron@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          I think the best option would actually be to see how many times we can pull the scam on him, before he realizes what’s happening. Oops, oh no Elon, people are using a different instance! Look at how many users they have (they are different users we swear)! Looks like you’re gonna have to buy that one now! and so on.

        • towerful@programming.dev
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          4 months ago

          Yeh, if he bought twitter for 44B, and there are 400 instances then that is still 110M per instance if he were to do that again.
          Even 10% of that amount is more than an instance is worth.
          Sales can be made pretty quickly when they are massively overvalued.

        • oce 🐆@jlai.lu
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          4 months ago

          I doubt the devs of Lemmy would accept that considering their political opinions.

          • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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            4 months ago

            Oh my sweet summer child.

            Most people would sell their own grandmother into slavery for a few million. I mean they’d feel terrible about it but still.

            • oce 🐆@jlai.lu
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              4 months ago

              These dev with their technical level could work at top tech companies and gain that in a couple of years. Yet they dedicated their time to building Lemmy instead.

                • oce 🐆@jlai.lu
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                  4 months ago

                  Before the Reddit migration, our income was almost exclusively made up of generous donations from the NLnet foundation. This funding was based on getting paid for implementing new features, specified in advance.

                  We’ve known that this funding could not last indefinitely, and that after several years of funding, NLnet’s resources are better spent getting other projects up and running. Additionally, much of our time is spent on other equally important work: reviewing changes from community contributors, fixing bugs, doing support, and various organizational tasks.

                  That is why we are launching our first annual funding drive. The goal is to increase monthly, recurring donations from currently €4.000 to at least €12.000. With this amount @dessalines and @nutomic can each receive a yearly salary of €50.000 which is in line with median developer salaries. It will also allow one additional developer to work fulltime on Lemmy and speed up development. https://join-lemmy.org/news/2023-10-31_-_Join-Lemmy_Redesign_and_Funding_Drive

      • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Then I hop to another instance or create one of my own (running 19 or later so I can block his) and problem solved, lol.

        Federation means Musk can buy a single instance, or even a hundred instances, but cannot prevent anyone else from simply opening another somewhere else and making their own portal to the same content he wants to collect behind a paywall (if he even could).

  • CrayonRosary@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    A “burner” account? Never heard it called that before. “Sock puppet” or just “puppet” makes much more sense.

    • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      It’s pretty common for people to refer to these types of accounts as burners on Twitter. I recall the GM of the 76ers getting in trouble about 5-10 years ago for having sock puppet accounts on Twitter and all the reporting referred to them as burners.

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      4 months ago

      It’s like a burner phone, you use it for a short time, then throw it away. Like throwaway accounts on reddit. A sockpuppet is specifically to make it look like multiple people have a certain opinion (see also: astroturfing).

    • Beefy-Tootz@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Burner feels like such an old school term. I’ve more often heard “alt”, “Smurf”, or “finsta”. The last being a portmanteau of fake Instagram account

      • catloaf
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        An alt account is one for a different purpose. For example, work and personal, not necessarily for espousing an opinion. A smurf account is one of many designed to overwhelm a system. A finsta is for satirizing yourself or shitposting.

        And in World of Warcraft they called accounts “toons”. I’ve never understood that one.

        • FloMo@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          I always remember “toons” referring to your character, rather than your account. Kind of like the “cartoon character” you’re playing is how I understood it.

          • catloaf
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            Does it let you have multiple characters under one account? I never played it, so I don’t know.

            Either way, that name never really made sense to me.

            • Apathy Tree@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              4 months ago

              Last I played years ago I think you could have 10? And that was per server, there were tons of servers to choose from, so if you wanted more, you could.

            • FloMo@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              Yes, up to 10 per server, and you could have characters on multiple servers.

              I remember seeing the term even while playing pre-WoW MMO’s

        • moody@lemmings.world
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          4 months ago

          Isn’t a smurf supposed to be an account from an experienced user/player that’s meant to make them look new or lower ranked?

          Smurfing is when a high-level player trolls the lower ranks below their skill level.

          Lots of players have smurf accounts for games where high- and low-ranked players don’t get paired together, so they can play on the same team as their lower-ranked friends.

          • Instigate@aussie.zone
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            4 months ago

            This is absolutely what a ‘Smurf’ account is - someone who is very experienced or has a significant backing behind them accrued from other account(s) creating a newer account to pose as an inexperienced player in order to be matched with them. In World of Warcraft, a ‘Smurf’ is a character that you intentionally don’t let past a certain level and throw a tonne of gold and gear at so that when they come up against regular players that level they have an insane advantage.

    • SinningStromgald@lemmy.world
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      Guess they don’t think their readership is smart enough to know what a “sock puppet” or “puppet” account is.

      • Instigate@aussie.zone
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        4 months ago

        I never understood why Americans call a ‘#’ a ‘pound sign’ but then if you put words in front of it, it suddenly becomes a ‘hashtag’. Shouldn’t it be a ‘poundtag’? I mean the rest of the Anglosphere refers to a ‘#’ as a ‘hash’ so it makes sense to us, but why do Americans call it a hashtag? Seems weird to me.

        • GiantRobotTRex@lemmy.sdf.org
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          4 months ago

          It’s contextual. If it’s used in a phone number, it’s a pound sign. If it’s placed before a number, it’s a number sign. If it’s placed before a tag, it’s a hash/hashmark/hashtag.

          No one would pronounce “#foo” as “pound foo” any more than they’d call a #2 pencil a “pound two pencil”. Because “pound” is clearly not the right name in either context.

          Americans have been comfortable using different names for the symbol in different contexts since long before hashtags even existed. So when websites started using them and referred to them as “hashtags”, that was fine. It was a new context so it could use whichever name it wanted. (Well, “octothorpe-tag” is probably far too unwieldy to catch on.)

          Of course if we’re talking about the symbol without a specific context, then we have to pick one of the names. For most Americans, that “default” name is probably still “pound”. Twenty years ago I’d definitely say that, but even then it wasn’t ubiquitous. It wasn’t uncommon to hear it referred to as a hash. And it seems like the use of “pound” has declined and the use of hash has increased as people now spend more time online and less time dialing phone numbers. There’s also a generational divide with older people more likely to say “pound” and younger people more likely to say “hash”.

        • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Others have already answered better than I, but it’s basically just a symbol to signify a weight, pound.

          It was already repurposed to be a symbol for numbers, when they are part of a sentence, and now it’s being repurposed even more so for the Internet.

  • darkmatternoodlecow@programming.dev
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    4 months ago

    Whether or not anyone found him out, think about the fact that he himself knows that he created a fake account so he could tell himself he’s a great father. Imagine knowing that about yourself. I shudder to think of the absolute disgust he must feel when he looks at himself in the mirror. At least there’s comfort and joy to be found for the rest of us in thinking about that. What a fucking loser. I dream of the day I don’t have to hear about this pathetic waste of space on a daily basis.

    • Strider@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      I don’t think he has feelings about anything you mentioned (those are valid points though).

      It’s just image maintenance to him.

      • kandoh@reddthat.com
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        4 months ago

        I don’t know, there are thousands of replies to all his posts, who’d even see it below all the more popular responses? Strikes me more like he’s writing himself words of affirmation.

    • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Instead of pretending to be someone else to compliment him about his parenting, he could try just being a dad. I doubt this fucker raised any of his kids for a single second, I doubt he’s changed a single diaper, or attended a single recital or game.

    • Alborlin@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      At that level of money and wealth and living, you dont feel bad at all, cause everything is okay. He felt great just saying it and 1000 of people read it . Anybody who does no agreww with him is just small fraction of people who did not say anything, so its a win for him. You see this in most of the rich people, if there is strike going outside and of one of the operation manager just close the door of factory and contains it outside , its a win for them , unless something is not touching their money directly and helping them blind side problem its a SOLID win in their books .its like they can’t/don’t think that far. It’s side effect of ingot mine , so you can go away mentality, they become highly myopic

  • xantoxis@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    How. Fucking. Pathetic. Do you have to be. To have an entire army of sycophants. And that’s still not enough for your ego.

    • PilferJynx@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      It honestly makes me genuinely sad. He definitely has complexes and holes in his soul to conduct this behavior. Doesn’t excuse him from being a complete asshole though.

      • mriormro@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Why are you sad about this piece of shit? He’d never pay you the same mind.

        I revel in the insecurities and smallness of these exploitative, parasitic wastes of air.

        • SmokumJoe@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          You can always feel empathy. The more you try the better person you’ll become.

          Don’t be like sad rich guy, be better.

          • msage@programming.dev
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            4 months ago

            No, just… eat them.

            It’s not like there’s any positive change waiting to happen from that thing. You can’t be tolerant of the intolerant. We joke a lot about Twixxer and how insecure Muxx is, but the truth remains - he is a real and direct threat to a lot of people.

            Let’s not forget the beast behind the human behind the image.

          • mriormro@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            Billionaire’s aren’t people and do not deserve our empathy. I am better. I don’t exploit thousands to hundreds of thousands of people’s lives for my own personal, shortsighted gain.

  • vsis@feddit.cl
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    4 months ago

    Rich stupid guy doing things is not technology. Why is this community flooded with this guy doing or saying things?

  • z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml
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    4 months ago

    Oh Elon. You’re gonna need a whole lot more Ketamine to convince yourself you’re a good father.

  • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    X has two rules. Don’t talk shit about Elon, and don’t talk shit about the dictators he wants to get cozy to.

  • Bobmighty@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    All that money and power and no added happiness or joy. So unloved he has to fake it. I always knew absurd wealth doesn’t actually improve a person, but thanks for constantly proving it over and over again anyway Elon. Glad to know you’ll die unhappy.

    • jkrtn@lemmy.ml
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      4 months ago

      This is some “John Barron” energy. Imagine having fucktons of money and still being a whiny crybaby like these fellows.

    • Cyclist@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Have you seen his mom (Maye Musk)? I don’t think she ever loved Elon, or anyone. Maybe Dalmatians.

    • Zink@programming.dev
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      4 months ago

      Very well put. He and many others create a lot of misery chasing what they think will make them happy rather than what actually will. Figuring out the difference is a personal process that you have to want, though.

      I always figured he was some kind of workaholic that can never have enough. That is sometimes good for your bank balance but it is often not good for YOU.

      • hperrin@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I wouldn’t exactly call him a workaholic. He spends quite a few hours a day browsing Twitter.

        • Zink@programming.dev
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          4 months ago

          I did wonder if I’d get a reply like this since it has the word “work” in it, lol.

          I’m sure he tweets from the office a lot.

    • FaceDeer@kbin.social
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      4 months ago

      Indeed, the level of obsession some people have with Elon Musk is kind of ridiculous.

      • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        I think it’s because he’s clearly a villain like Trump, and there is clearly a different legal system for him, like Trump.

        Nobody who has lived like him and wasn’t a billionaire would get security clearance. People focus on him because he’s out here Saying The Quiet Parts Out Loud, and so he’s a really good one to focus on if you’re trying to make a point about corporations and their love of fascism and hate of actual capitalism and competition.

        What can I say? Everyone hates a hypocrite, especially one who uses his power to shove his hypocrite-ass in everyone’s face. Like all hypocrites with power, he does it to show everyone he has power to get away with what you can’t. People do tire of that, and they would like to see this fucking prick strung up by his fucking neck by people who have actually faced real suffering in their lives, who finally got sick of his fat whiny baby bitch ass.

        Ignoring him certainly wouldn’t make him go away, and it’s a good thing to have more and more people waking up to the fact that the rich aren’t any smarter or more capable than us, and Musk is a perfect example. They have created a media ecosystem which praises the rich as somehow better than the average person, but the reality is they just had money, power, and connections. They aren’t smart, they aren’t capable, they aren’t brilliant, they are just as shortsighted and stupid as the fucking rest of us, and it’s helpful to be able to point at people who really exemplify that, like Musk.

        What can I say, it’s helpful to have a Free Speech Warrior who clearly only cares about his speech. It makes it easier to open people’s eyes to how fucked our entire society is for handing the keys to the kingdom to these fucking idiots to begin with.

        Further, almost nobody would say the same thing about people bitching about, say, Rupert Murdoch, but there’s plenty of people who watch Murdoch’s moves as well, because he also owns right-wing media companies that intend to massage the narrative to the right-wing “reality.” I heard the names like Murdoch, Bill O’Reilly, and Tucker Carlson thrown around and complained about for years before Musk became a target because of his shenanigans. Nobody says “people are obsessed with Carlson!”

        • ChicoSuave@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          which praises the rich as somehow better than the average person, but the reality is they just had money, power, and connections. They aren’t smart, they aren’t capable, they aren’t brilliant, they are just as shortsighted and stupid as the fucking rest of us

          Dumb idea: Any Rand was secretly a lefty who wanted the oligarchs to fuck around and find out.

  • Flumpkin@slrpnk.net
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    4 months ago

    Huh? Doesn’t everyone assume he has a whole PR team that probably runs hundreds of sock puppet accounts? Like human bots? I mean isn’t a PR team basically a given for a billionaire or any special interest group?

    • Clent@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Celebrities do use PR agencies but Musk is known for not having PR teams at any of his companies.

      He is the stupidest billionaire.

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        PR people? They’re an unnecessary expense.

        He literally cut twitter staff by 80%, twitter is on life support and running on fumes, has crazy technical issues and breaking features, and he refuses to invest in it.

        • Clent@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Yes the company is dying because he cut all their staff but that’s not the point.

          None of his companies have PR departments.

          Any request for comment to these companies is responded to with a poop emoji or ignored. He’s a child.

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        Oh thanks! Right, I guess when he fired them and that is when he became unpopular lol

  • ChaoticD@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    How exactly was it proven? Not defending Elon, I’m genuinely curious. The article mentions an audio recording sounding similar to Elon and some weird praises on Twitter. How does that connect the Dittmann account to Elon though?

    • MrZee
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      Agreed. I strongly dislike Elon and think he is a thin skinned trust fund baby who is destroying Tesla and already destroyed Twitter. I wouldn’t be surprised in the least to find out he is using sock accounts to praise himself… but in this article all I see are people making accusations without solid evidence. Yes, it appears he banned the guy accusing him but we already know that Elon will ban his critics whether or not those critics’ accusations are real. There is nothing here showing that the account is anything but one of his braindead fanboys.

      It’s one thing to take these accusations and try to find solid evidence. It’s another to treat the accusations as solid evidence itself. Let’s be better than the conspiracy theorists.

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      I mean he has a history of doing this… Also, it’s not an audio recording. He joined a live audio chat and everyone on the chat (Alex Jones and some other weirdo) thought it was Elon.

  • Corngood@lemmy.ml
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    4 months ago

    This is some late 90s web forum admin tyrant drama. Wait until he finds out he can use phpmyadmin to edit other peoples posts.

    • kingthrillgore@lemmy.ml
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      He probably merits a 200 page Kiwi Farms thread, if they also didn’t suck him off for being “one of us.”

      I used to know this guy on a forum who had a serious mental disorder, would get banned for attention removed, and would come back months later either as a woman or someone else and get attention until we realized its the same fucking dude. He did actually have a forum of his own, and I am convinced at least three of the most active accounts were him, talking to himself. I don’t know what disorder he had, but he needed help.

  • De_Narm@lemmy.world
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    You know, I always thought money would make me happy. But he seems so much more insecure and miserable than I ever was.

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      I’ve unfortunately worked for multiple multi-millionaires. The richer they were, the more insanely insecure in ways that would blow your mind. The richest would often leave his bank account open on his computer for his staff to see, among so many other examples.