Elon Musk's X ad revenue reportedly fell $1.5B this year amid boycotts

[cratermoon]

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/stop-comparing-xs-dismal-ad-sales-to-twitters-past-success-x-exec-says/

[nabla9]

They are not boycotts. Buying ads in X would be bad business decision.

Companies advertise to increase sales, brand awareness, etc. Companies don't pay for reputational risk. They pay to not get it.

[cratermoon]

Disclaimer: I hate when headlines use "amid". Too often it suggests cause and effect that isn't there. Even when it doesn't, it's flabby writing. https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2014/ja...

[ggm → cratermoon]

But in this case, I do think the revenue drop and boycott are not just correlated.

[cratermoon → ggm]

Almost certainly. Thus, using "amid" is flabby, and is a weasel word[1]. Either the story should present evidence the two are correlated so the headline can include causation without qualification, or the headline should stop after the initial statement, then leave off everything starting with "amid".

1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weasel%20word

[karmakaze]

I can't recall (and not good at reading reports) but Twitter's 2021 operating expenses were maybe around 4B to 5.5B.

Eggs broken, time to make omelettes.