Twitter is turning into a nightmare cruise ship

Plus: Nike's sneaker bubble, asthma's climate entanglement and more. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a not-so-infinite-scroll of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Twitter]( is a mess. - [Nike]( is in distress. - [Our lungs]( are under duress. - [Earth’s]( rapid progress. The Twitter Cruise Theory I have a theory about Twitter, and it’s that Elon Musk — purposefully or not — is slowly turning the bird app into a [giant cruise ship](. First off, you can’t tell me that being stuck on a boat full of socially awkward strangers isn’t dissimilar from Twitter. [Cruise ships]( have something for everyone — much like the app: There’s entertainment. Shopping. Games. Fitness. But those aren’t the only parallels. Cruise ships often have VIP offerings, much like Twitter Blue: And although a 15-drink daily maximum is absolutely not the same as a tweet limit, both Twitter and Carnival now put restraints on how much a person can consume — even when the VIPs are supposed to have “[unlimited](” and “all-you-can-eat” packages: The similarities are uncanny! While Musk says the move to cap the number of posts users can see each day is “temporary,” and meant to alleviate Twitter’s servers, Dave Lee says there’s [no telling of how long the scroll limits could stay in place](. Certain highly respected individuals were [delighted]( by the change: Musk “has taken the burden of Twitter addiction from millions of users and put it all on himself. Thanks!” Matt Levine quipped [in his newsletter today](. But others weren’t as pleased with their not-so-infinite-scroll. “As with other times when Twitter has flailed, some users began exploring one of the several new Twitter alternatives,” Dave writes. None of the new options are perfect, Dave says, but they’re slowly gaining momentum. Apps like [Mastodon](, [BlueSky](, [T2]( and [Spill]( saw record amounts of new users join their networks this weekend. But one of the most promising Twitter replacements has yet to be launched: [Meta’s Threads](, which Dave says “could immediately upend this competitive landscape.” Mark Zuckerberg’s social company is looking to market its new platform as a “sanely run” Twitter clone. So, sure, it might still feel like a cruise ship, but it won’t be run by [a captain]( who allows far-right fantasies to be spewed over the intercom. [What Are Those](? Nike hasn’t been doing so hot lately. Shares — which hit an all-time high in the pandemic — have fallen 37% from their peak. More and more analysts appear to be itching to sell. And its earnings last week revealed a $8.5 billion pile of unsold goods. When Air Jordan 1 Highs are selling on the resale market at a 2% discount, that’s when you know things have gotten dire. “Is the $152 billion global ‘sneaker bubble’ bursting? [The answer, at least for Nike, may be yes](,” Leticia Miranda writes. It doesn’t take a sneakerhead to see the apparent shift away from Nike — and other normcore brands — toward shoes that are almost otherworldly in appearance. Ever since the rise of the [Dad Sneaker](, the [global footwear industry]( has been experiencing a Croc-ification of sorts. Each year, [shoes become uglier and uglier](, but certifiably more comfortable — and, if I were a betting woman, I’d say they’re getting more flammable, too: Signs of this evolution are all around us: Lily-Rose Depp enjoys galavanting around New York City in $70 [orthopedic sandals]( that were once reserved for geriatrics. Then there’s the world’s coolest “ugly” shoe brand, which I’m sure you’ve had the pleasure of witnessing at your local gym: [Hokas](. And let’s not forget the [Big Red Boots](, which every celebrity known to man wore last winter. Now we have [Big Yellow Boots]( for the summer, apparently. Only mankind could be capable of creating such monstrosities: Nike’s business model is oh-so-reliant on [the resale market](, which is only compounding its problems. Previously, the swoosh company could sell its shoes at a hefty premium, having all the faith in the world that [resellers]( would [gobble them up]( in an instant. Now, that pricing method is no sure thing. “In some ways, it’s not unlike the concert ticket industry,” Leticia writes. But with everyone and their mother going to [actual concerts](, sneakers are falling lower and lower on the totem pole, now that our post-pandemic shopping needs have shifted. Nike is doing everything within its power to try and stop the bleeding with several new initiatives, including the release of its holistic fitness offering [Nike Well Collective](, [a new signature shoe]( with Sabrina Ionescu, and a plan to [relaunch]( [Kobe Bryant](’s brand. Its corporate ladder is also getting a relaunch of sorts, with the scrambling of [several executive seats]( last month. But whether these moves are enough to stomp out the ugliest of ugly shoe competitors is questionable, Leticia concludes. Read [the whole thing](. Telltale Charts If you live in an area that’s been impacted by [Canadian wildfire smoke](, maybe you’ve seen an air quality alert on your weather app that says, “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.” Lara Williams says the smog, which is loaded with particulate matter, hazardous air pollutants and nitrogen dioxide, can be [life-threatening for people with asthma](. “But asthma isn’t just an air-pollution problem, it’s also tied to the climate crisis in several ways,” she writes, pointing to the the irony that “many of the inhalers asthmatics rely on emit substantial greenhouses gases.” Niall Ferguson’s [bone-chilling observation]( that “today’s geopolitics and economics have more in common with the 17th century than the 20th” is perhaps not the light reading you’re looking for on the eve of Independence Day. In fact, he’s saying our biggest problems today predate the original Independence Day by about 150 years. The early 17th century was “a time of troubles” throughout the world: Europe had the Thirty Years’ War, the British Isles had the Great Rebellion, and China saw the fall of the Ming dynasty — with the last Ming emperor hanging himself. All of this crisis and calamity was happening in an “era of plagues, of famines and of inflation,” but Niall notes that the root of it, really, was a technological sea change that gave birth to everything from the printing press to new weaponry. Further Reading Biden’s [student-loan forgiveness plan]( was a disaster from the start. — Bloomberg’s editorial board There are already too few doctors of color. [The end of affirmative action]( will exacerbate the shortage. — Lisa Jarvis [Grad school is a terrible idea]( if you’re using it as an escape method. — Erin Lowry The Supreme Court’s [conservative revolution]( is taking shape. — Noah Feldman Queer communities across Asia have [something to celebrate](. — Ruth Pollard Sure, more people are buying Teslas — but [at what price](? — Liam Denning [Macron is running out of time]( to avoid another spasm of urban violence. — Lionel Laurent ICYMI A Russian general [went missing](. Younger workers are [all talk, no sex](. “[Dementia villages](” are the future of senior living. Lazard fired a banker for [inappropriate behavior](. The Mar-a-Lago [dining room patio]( is now in question. Kickers Does [ketchup]( belong [in the fridge](? When does water stop being [just water](? Who is Olivia Rodrigo’s [mystery vampire](? Why are monkeys being enslaved by [coconut farmers](? How is [purple weed]( fighting plant pathogens? Notes: Please send chilled ketchup and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](