Linda Yaccarino Is Caught Between a Musk and a Hard Place ⇥ nytimes.com

Kate Conger, New York Times:

On May 11, Mr. [Elon] Musk posted that he had selected a chief executive [for Twitter]. It was Ms. [Linda] Yaccarino.

[…]

Many of her longtime peers in the advertising world were shocked that Ms. Yaccarino accepted the job — they feared she would tarnish her reputation by associating herself with Mr. Musk. But several colleagues who worked with her at X said she and Mr. Musk were more alike than their public personas might suggest. They share a fervent belief that their responsibilities range beyond running a viable business into rescuing the principle of free speech, a paranoia of sabotage from employees and associates, and a willingness to pursue legal action against critics.

Colin Kirkland, MediaPost:

As X owner Elon Musk continues to post about record high engagement on his social media hub, a new report by data intelligence platform Tracer shows “significant drops” in user engagement and “drastic drops” in advertising unlike competitors like YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest.

In June, X advertising saw drops month-over-month and year-over-year, the report shows, with click-through-rates (CTRs) declining 78% month-over-month, which the report suggests reflects a sharp downturn in user activity. In addition, cost-per-thousand (CPMs) decreased 17% from May to June, suggesting that advertisers are also leaving X.

I cannot imagine being Yaccarino in the position she finds herself: trying to build advertising partnerships for a platform owned by the world’s richest jackass. But, while X seems to have lost some clout — and, according to the Times article, over half its advertising revenue — compared to Twitter, I wonder how much it matters in the short term.

Do not get me wrong; it is revolting for a platform to expressly support and even boost conspiracy theories and regressive ideologies. Yet the continuing relevance of this platform indicates some portion of the public wants a light 4chan-like experience, which is an alarming but not surprising finding. The world has, unfortunately, become more comfortable with reactionary and previously extremist ideas. It is no longer poisonous for public figures to have odious beliefs.

We are not better for tolerating this shallow, unproductive, and repulsive interpretation of free expression — quite the opposite, in fact. If Yaccarino thinks this is what it looks like when one is, in the Times’ words, “rescuing the principle of free speech”, she is failing. She is helping her boss give morons a loudspeaker with barely any restrictions, while treating normal words as slurs because they are politically incorrect for the site’s regressive user base. Is this all Musk’s fault? How much of an active role does Yaccarino play? Perhaps blaming Yaccarino for any of this, even partially, is unfair of me. But she is a CEO who was placed — in part, at least — to legitimize this platform for advertisers.