Fully centralised, but the best counter example I have in my mind is Reddit; here you have largely community moderated content under a general umbrella of quite loose policies. Reddit is I think pretty successful in that even though some subreddits are totally overrun with moronic content, the ones I care about are high quality. So even though it's centralised I don't think any of the fundamentals that make it work can't be decentralised. If Mastodon can follow these rough guides for how to make community moderation work, I think there's a chance it can be successful without falling into the cavern that email did.
Twitter could have done what Reddit did. Dorsey just didn't get it and Musk gets it even less. Reddit has been growing slowly, making some very public mistakes along the way but never getting ahead of their skis. I think it's definitely true that Twitter was bloated, but firing half the company on a lark was a pretty stupid plan. They need to cull features, pay down technical debt and reduce costs. They also need to strongly affirm that their moderation policy is to create a platform that is free of abuse and amenable to the most people possible. Not "free speech".
The two smartest people in this business are Yishan Wong and Ellen Pao.
The fact of mass layoffs immediately after the takeover just baffles me. I understand the pressure to reduce costs, and I understand that in some sense Twitter might be overstaffed for the features it offers. But the blunt of instrument of firing over half the company with a week's preparation feels extraordinarily inept. It's a wonder they've been able to keep the lights on -- losing access to their official Twitter handle was a nice touch. The money they saved over a more reasonable, long-term solution can't be that much in the scheme of things.
Just spitballing ... offer a generous severance for voluntary layoffs now along with a hiring freeze, and give a mandate to simplify the offering and reduce infrastructure costs. Take the time to learn the business and identify which areas can be profitably wound down. Only then reorganize the company and make targeted layoffs. (Bonus idea: don't rush features like Twitter Blue that no one asked for, are ripe for abuse, and might even lose money overall if reports are correct.)
I've never been a huge Musk fan, but any respect I had for him as an effective business leader has evaporated.
