Target a single person to avoid having to address the whole group, then dominate the individual

Quote from Ali Scarlett on April 19, 2023, 8:03 pm

See here:

https://youtu.be/XqJKAnN0-gM?t=96

Interviewer: "We've spoken to people very recently who were involved in moderation and they just say there's not enough people to police this stuff, particularly around hate speech in the company [Twitter] (power borrowing: uses this anonymous group of people to frame Twitter as doing a poor job of managing hate speech on its platform)."

Musk: "What hate speech are you talking about (asks for a specific example to avoid getting dragged down into a back and forth over vague ideas)?"

Musk: "I mean, you use Twitter."

Interviewer: "Right."

Musk: "Do you see a rise in hate speech?"

Interviewer: "I mean..."

Musk: "Just a personal anecdote...I don't [see a rise]."

Interviewer: "Personally, [on] my 'For You', I would get more of that kind of content, yeah. Personally..."

Musk:  "So, you've seen more hate speech personally."

Interviewer: "I would say, I would see more hateful content in that [page]."

Musk: "Content you don't like or hateful...what do you mean...describe a hateful thing."

Interviewer: "Yeah, I mean, you know, just content that will solicit a reaction. Something that may include something that is slightly racist or slightly sexist, those kinds of things."

Musk: "So, you think if something is slightly sexist it should be banned?"

Interviewer: "No."

Musk: "Is that what you're saying?"

Interviewer: "I'm not saying anything (realizes he's been positioned as the person to speak on behalf of all Twitter users and is now trying to back himself out of the trap he's fallen into)."

Musk: "Well, I'm just curious, I'm trying to understand what you mean by 'hateful content'. And I'm asking for specific examples and you just said that if something is slightly sexist that's hateful content. Does that mean that it should be banned?"

Interviewer: "Well, you've asked me whether my feed [specifically], whether it's got less or more (again, tries to back his way out of the corner, framing it as only his Twitter account), I'd say it's got slightly more."

Musk: "That's why I'm asking for examples."

Interviewer: "Right."

Musk: "Can you name one example?"

Interviewer: [Begins fumbling his words in an effort to tactfully say "no"]

Musk: "You can't name a single example?"

Interviewer: "I'll tell you why, 'cause I don't actually use that feed, 'For You,' feed anymore because I just don't particularly like it. A lot of people are quite similar (now tries to take the pressure off of himself again by redirecting to another group)..."

Musk: "Well, hang on a second, you said you've seen more hateful content, but you can't name a single example. Not even one."

Interviewer: "I'm not sure I've used that feed for the last three or four weeks (tries to remove himself as being qualified to continue this discussion)."

Musk: "Well then how could you see that hateful content (pushes back that one can't make personal claims about a feature they don't personally use)?"

Interviewer: "Because I've been using Twitter since you've taken it over for the last six months."

Musk: "OK, so then you must have at some point seen the 'For You' hateful content and I'm asking for one example."

Interviewer: "Right."

Musk: "You can't give a single one?"

Musk: "Then I say, sir, that you don't know what you're talking about."

Interviewer: "Really."

Musk: "Yes, because you can't give me a single example of hateful content. Not even one tweet. And yet, you claimed that hateful content was high. That's a false. You just lied."

Interviewer: "No. What I claim was there are many organizations that say that that kind of information is on the rise (tries to go back to power borrowing)..."

You can watch the rest, but all in all, I think this was very well handled by Musk with lots of mistakes from the interviewer.

Musk was tactful in his approach:

• Targeted the interviewer and positioned him to speak on behalf of all Twitter users: with a frame that "my Twitter algorithm that applies to you is the same algorithm used for everyone, so you can speak about it and you'd be speaking for everyone"
• Got the interviewer to share his personal opinion: by taking the pressure off, framing it as "just a personal anecdote" and saying he's "just curious"
• Used the interviewer's missteps against him: the interviewer said he's seen more hateful content, then later said he actually doesn't use the Twitter feature that would allow him to see that hateful content (blatant and suspicious backtracking). Then, backtracks further saying that he never said he saw a rise in hateful content at all (which anyone can rewind the video and see that he's lying, which gives Elon points when he jumps on that opportunity to call out the "untrustworthy reporter").

And, the interviewer made quite a few mistakes:

• Doing too much agreeing: saying "right" where it may have been better to take a more high-power approach.
• Continuing to dig himself further into the hole: by not stopping, apologizing, and moving the interview forward earlier on when he had a chance (and his reputation had taken less of a hit).
• Lying: the final nail in the coffin that also set the YouTube comments section ablaze.

And, you can see notable moments from the comments section here:

I put this under techniques because it's less of a strategy, and more of a quick, tactful approach one can take to avoid having to address the masses of people.

Shift the conversation from a 1-to-group convo to a 1-on-1, push for specifics (see some good Ben Shapiro examples here), and debate against the one opponent.

And, while I like this approach (I think it was a necessary move to defend his company's reputation), Musk could've also gone for the "Donald Trump approach" of simply dismantling the power borrowing:

Interviewer: "We've spoken to people very recently who were involved in moderation and they just say there's not enough people to police this stuff, particularly around hate speech in the company [Twitter] (power borrowing: uses this anonymous group of people to frame Twitter as doing a poor job of managing hate speech on its platform)."

Musk: "What people? I didn't hear anyone say that (asks for a specific example to avoid getting dragged down into a back and forth over vague ideas)?"

(...)

Musk: "Look, even if someone said that, I didn't hear it, but if someone did, I'd prefer to hear what they said within the context in which it was said before I comment on it."