Would the world be a better place if we switched off social media for a bit? It's a question I've asked myself a few times recently, with keyboard warriors bashing out bile from their bedrooms. The latest storm surrounding Twitter came when the world's richest man, Elon Musk, decided to rebrand his 44 billion dollar (£34.4 billion) purchase as "X".
He's long said he wants to turn the social media firm into a much bigger platform, along the lines of Chinese mega app WeChat. This apparently combines chat, social media, payments, and even dating. Musk posted that over the coming months "we will add comprehensive communications, and the ability to conduct your entire financial world".
It's been well documented that major advertisers have been spooked by the turmoil at the top of Twitter, and figures show the company has lost almost 50% of its advertising revenue since Mr Musk bought it. It's also got a rather sizeable debt mountain, and far fewer staff keeping the technical side of things going behind the scenes.
Integrating social media with digital payments seems to be working well in China, but will it work here? Time will tell, I guess. In the meantime, Elon Musk is facing the prospect of an investigation by the city of San Francisco into the installation of his new giant "X" on the roof of the downtown building formerly known as Twitter Headquarters. It's been pointed out on the app that it looks a little like a closed down branch of Debenhams. City officials have stated that replacing letters or symbols on buildings, or erecting a sign on top of one, requires a permit for safety or design reasons. This comes after workmen were stopped from removing the bird from the side of the building, due to the sidewalk not being taped off and the risk of falling debris. It was all a bit ramshackle.
Elon Musk has apparently long been fascinated with the letter X, and has even named one of his children "X" (their actual name is a collection of letters and symbols). I'm not convinced the rebrand will be enthusiastically adopted here in Britain, as it's largely been met by a wave of sarcasm. Bakery behemoths Greggs tweeted a fake version of the "X" logo starring one of their sausage rolls. ITVX jokingly said they are going to require a rebrand.
We get quite attached to brand names. Manchester Central will always be GMEX really. Opal Fruits remains a far better name than Starburst. Same goes for Dime, Marathon, and Oil Of Ulay. I wonder if new networks Blue Sky and Threads might steal some of the Twitter crowd too?
Reasons for me to stay on it are few and far between. I do enjoy the banter sometimes, and have recently been followed by one of my musical heroes, Mick Hucknall from Simply Red. On the downside, browsing the app frequently raises my blood pressure, and I often have to resist getting into political rants. I'm having some time off this week, and will do my best to limit the time I spend on it. It's good for the soul to have a break.
Whilst on holiday, I'm looking forward to visiting a few restaurants, which are usually something of a luxury in these belt-tightening times. The Observer recently published a fascinating piece showing that more than 90 of the top 100 restaurants in the UK now charge for "no-shows" (where a customer simply doesn't turn up), or for late cancellations. One restaurant in Leeds, The Man Behind The Curtain, states in its terms: "Late cancellations or no-shows are both damaging to the business and upsetting for other guests that really wanted a table".
I say absolutely fair play on this score. I wonder if stuff booked online (without speaking to a real person) feels like less of a commitment somehow? I panic if I'm even a few minutes late for an agreed booking time, which is probably the radio presenter in me, with everything we do timed to the second. But I have no time for people who booked several venues, and then decide which one they fancy on the day. It's dead money to venues that are already grappling with soaring ingredient prices, and how much of that to pass on to their cash-strapped punters. It's just not fair on them. Emergencies crop up in life, but a lot of the time it's just laziness.
Right, my phone is going off for my holiday now. See you next week!
