Monday, November 29, 2021

See ya!

Jack Dorsey is stepping down as CEO of Twitter, presumably to spend more time with his beard.

Update  Speaking of Twitter makes me think about the tech giants, in general, which reminds me of something I first learned about from Paco, Jr. recently; seems like a good analogy to describe Dorsey, Zuckerberg, et al: introducing the rat king.

Update II  It's official: Dorsey's replacement is even worse.

8 comments:

RebeccaH said...

Unfortunately, the guy taking his place is probably worse. But since I don't have a Twitter account, I don't care.

Paco said...

Twitter's like a giant daycare center run on the honor system (think Lord of the Flies). I'm sure you're right: the replacement will probably be even worse.

bruce said...

Parag Agrawal - surname means 'guy from Agra' where the Taj Mahal is. North Indian bania like India's PM Modi. Agrawals are also known as Marwaris.

Agrawal is a Hindu or Jain surname. North Indians lived under Muslim rule for a thousand years and prospered, and tend to see our focus on Islam after 9/11 as extreme. That explains his old tweets about Muslims. Expect him to be motivated by profit, not ideology.

Here's a history of Marwaris:
https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/economy/story/19830715-nearly-every-theory-of-entrepreneurship-has-been-proved-wrong-by-the-marwaris-770837-2013-07-19

JeffS said...

Yep, Parag is worse.

bruce said...

I was taught by Indians to interpret everything a Marwari says as being about money.

So when he says 'Don't focus on free speech' I automatically heard 'Focus on profit!'.

Or he laments the American Dream - because he's not as rich as he wants to be, yet!

The book-banning and Muslim tweets must refer to India where many books get banned. He doesn't regard all Muslims as extremists, just as all white people aren't either, is how I read it.

He's replacing woke activists with machines. Saves heaps of money!

'genius of our marketing combined with the stupidity of our people' is the Marwari motto, read their history above. They got rich growing and selling opium to China, letting the British take the blame. Oh, and their Hindu temples are dedicated to the Goddess of Fortune! These doubled as banks, where deals were settled with oaths before the 'deity', in places like Hong Kong.

JeffS said...

That's an interesting read, Bruce. It strikes me that the Marwari's are basically shrewd opprotunists who understand the value of families controlling an enterprise.

Having said that, permit me to point out that (a) Parag clearly does not accept American values (for all that he lives and works in America), and (b) is clearly drawn to money and power (as underscored by the linked article above).

Which makes him compatible with many of the native born elites screwing up our country. This is not a good thing, all things considered.

So, yeah, Parag is worse.

bruce said...

Speculation that he's on an EB-1 visa and hasn't taken citizenship. That's from an Indian forum, who also say he probably won't last long as CEO:

"Posted on Monday, November 29, 2021 - 07:03 pm:
with all the bad comments he made in the past as CTO of Twitter...i think Paraag will be the CEO for a very short term...i think it is a stop-gap arrangement made by jack to buy more time until they find a good replacement...
paraag doesnt have it in him to take Twitter forward with all his baggage..."
http://www.chalanachithram.com/discus/messages/115/456085.html?1638209544

(The word is rag with a long 'a', so 'raag' but Indians spell their names variously).

Indians on that forum also link to this, pretty damming stuff:
https://nationalfile.com/new-twitter-ceo-parag-agrawal-follows-soros-funded-anti-free-speech-group-supported-bail-fund-for-blm-rioters/

Maybe not American at all, just Jack's loyal toadie techie. More hostility emerging than I felt at first. If his fellow tech Indians think he's not up to it that's interesting.

JeffS said...

Not long as CEO? That works for me.

And I am not even on Twitter.