I feel like the advertising issue is sort of a giant game of Chicken. I’m not an expert but I can’t help but feel like Musk still has the upper hand here. According to a standard Google search X has around 550 million monthly users and around a quarter of them are Americans. To me that sounds like a goldmine for advertisers, regardless of how they signal threats of leaving permanently. In my opinion all Musk need do is call their bluff for real. He seemed willing with his comments aimed at Iger.
A related issue that I think supports this is the seeming failure of the “Twitter Killer” Threads from Meta. It seems to be the liberal/establishment version of Parler, that had some fanfare at the beginning but quickly fizzled out. Even some notable liberals/celebrities that vowed to migrate over to Threads have come crawling back in the months since its launch, and those that haven’t have largely been forgotten and are unable to influence the conversation anyways.
It’s a delicate subject for sure. Who knows what the right approach is; whether ripping off the band-aid and amnestying every account or the slow drip strategy that Musk seems to have adopted. The only real threat I can see is X being banned from the App/Google Play Stores.
But in the end I think Musk still has the strongest hand. X is where the conversation is happening and by extension where a lot of eyeballs are. That’s a lot of leverage in the attention economy. I think advertisers would come crawling back after throwing their temper tantrums.
Thank you Keith for the great work you have done this past year.Bringing Elon Musk into the conversation on Ireland Hate Speech Laws was a Master stroke and has captapulted you into the top influencers Internationally.
You fought a David v Goliath fight agains the vicious ADL and put them on the run. Never been done before, as most were too afraid.
There is an advantage to being dirt poor ,the ADL depends on impoverishing its detractors. But the old legal saw 'never take a poor man to Court' applies.
Only your good name,reputation, credibility and integrity are your treasure. THis is what the ADL will attempt to undermine, by defamation and lies.
Keep up the momentum, the worm has turned and 2024 may be some more gains.
A much bigger lesson than any 'lessons from 2023' (in my view anyway) is the need to attack the bogus PSYCHOLOGY that underpins a Leftist mentality..... "In order for any fight-back to have any realistic chance of popular support political leaders need to radically up their game in challenging - and unpicking - some philosophical fallacies that have taken root even amongst many of their own voters. Left wing politics has been a fraud – a posh person’s mind game - for decades now but the Left = moral & caring / Right = venal & hard-hearted fallacy remains the bogus intellectual matrix framing all of Western liberalism’s moral philosophy. Many instinctive conservatives (including politicians) still reflexively allow this fallacy to confuse their thinking." https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/invasion-of-the-virtue-signallers
Without challenging this feel-good psychology (that makes holding 'Progressive' opinions so seductive) neither facts nor reasoned argument will make much inroad.
Great summary but I think there’s a notable mention that should have been included, but wasn’t. In 2023 we saw massive popular backlash against corporate wokeism. At least, we saw it in the US, and the cost was staggering, running well into the billions for companies that were targeted. The poster child was Anheuser-Busch’s mainstay light beer brand, Bud Light, suffer a buyer boycott after pushing tranny advertising. The brand’s revenues and value suffered billions in losses, the situation ended up being unsalvageable, and Bud Light had to be sold to a small Canadian liquor company for a pittance. Another example is Disney, which tried to push woke messaging in a variety of films and ended up suffering an estimated $1.5 billion in losses. The stock market is at all time highs but Disney stock is down 25%+ over the past year. There are probably other examples but they escape me now.
This was the first time we’ve seen consumers actively punish corporations for their politics and the size of the pain inflicted was very impressive.
We are indeed winning, lets pray the "Samson option" doesn't get deployed as the tables turn.. If the tides turn gradually enough their hubris will hopefully mitigate that potentiality; put their frog in the rising boil for once perhaps
This Keith Woods character is shaping up to be a David Ben-Gurion figure for White people
Looking forward to another 'Year of Keef'.
Best wishes and thank you for everything you do.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
Whitepills for everyone.
I feel like the advertising issue is sort of a giant game of Chicken. I’m not an expert but I can’t help but feel like Musk still has the upper hand here. According to a standard Google search X has around 550 million monthly users and around a quarter of them are Americans. To me that sounds like a goldmine for advertisers, regardless of how they signal threats of leaving permanently. In my opinion all Musk need do is call their bluff for real. He seemed willing with his comments aimed at Iger.
A related issue that I think supports this is the seeming failure of the “Twitter Killer” Threads from Meta. It seems to be the liberal/establishment version of Parler, that had some fanfare at the beginning but quickly fizzled out. Even some notable liberals/celebrities that vowed to migrate over to Threads have come crawling back in the months since its launch, and those that haven’t have largely been forgotten and are unable to influence the conversation anyways.
It’s a delicate subject for sure. Who knows what the right approach is; whether ripping off the band-aid and amnestying every account or the slow drip strategy that Musk seems to have adopted. The only real threat I can see is X being banned from the App/Google Play Stores.
But in the end I think Musk still has the strongest hand. X is where the conversation is happening and by extension where a lot of eyeballs are. That’s a lot of leverage in the attention economy. I think advertisers would come crawling back after throwing their temper tantrums.
Parler didn't fizzle out. It was murdered by Big Tech. Denied basic infrastructure by Amazon Web Services among others.
Thank you Keith for the great work you have done this past year.Bringing Elon Musk into the conversation on Ireland Hate Speech Laws was a Master stroke and has captapulted you into the top influencers Internationally.
You fought a David v Goliath fight agains the vicious ADL and put them on the run. Never been done before, as most were too afraid.
There is an advantage to being dirt poor ,the ADL depends on impoverishing its detractors. But the old legal saw 'never take a poor man to Court' applies.
Only your good name,reputation, credibility and integrity are your treasure. THis is what the ADL will attempt to undermine, by defamation and lies.
Keep up the momentum, the worm has turned and 2024 may be some more gains.
Appreciate it, thank you!
God bless you Keith! So grateful for you this new year!
Thanks keith
A much bigger lesson than any 'lessons from 2023' (in my view anyway) is the need to attack the bogus PSYCHOLOGY that underpins a Leftist mentality..... "In order for any fight-back to have any realistic chance of popular support political leaders need to radically up their game in challenging - and unpicking - some philosophical fallacies that have taken root even amongst many of their own voters. Left wing politics has been a fraud – a posh person’s mind game - for decades now but the Left = moral & caring / Right = venal & hard-hearted fallacy remains the bogus intellectual matrix framing all of Western liberalism’s moral philosophy. Many instinctive conservatives (including politicians) still reflexively allow this fallacy to confuse their thinking." https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/invasion-of-the-virtue-signallers
Without challenging this feel-good psychology (that makes holding 'Progressive' opinions so seductive) neither facts nor reasoned argument will make much inroad.
"Scum of the earth" & " worse than normies" gave me a righteous kick up the hole. So I subscribed. Keep it up Kieth.
Great summary but I think there’s a notable mention that should have been included, but wasn’t. In 2023 we saw massive popular backlash against corporate wokeism. At least, we saw it in the US, and the cost was staggering, running well into the billions for companies that were targeted. The poster child was Anheuser-Busch’s mainstay light beer brand, Bud Light, suffer a buyer boycott after pushing tranny advertising. The brand’s revenues and value suffered billions in losses, the situation ended up being unsalvageable, and Bud Light had to be sold to a small Canadian liquor company for a pittance. Another example is Disney, which tried to push woke messaging in a variety of films and ended up suffering an estimated $1.5 billion in losses. The stock market is at all time highs but Disney stock is down 25%+ over the past year. There are probably other examples but they escape me now.
This was the first time we’ve seen consumers actively punish corporations for their politics and the size of the pain inflicted was very impressive.
Loving your work Keith. Thankyou. Heres to 2024
nothing happens. it's over
We are indeed winning, lets pray the "Samson option" doesn't get deployed as the tables turn.. If the tides turn gradually enough their hubris will hopefully mitigate that potentiality; put their frog in the rising boil for once perhaps
We are winning Indeed! Let us wish for a blessed 2024 Keith!