The last few weeks have been nothing short of dramatic over at Twitter headquarters. But before we get into that, I just want to thank dark-paul gosselaar for our cover image inspiration.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I sympathize with all of the employees who have been let go, by choice or not. Thousands of people losing their jobs isn’t a laughing matter and in no way am I making light of it.
How we got here
Elon Musk posted eight tweets today, which is surprising for someone who should be busy running a company (into the ground).
But his latest round of changes is an undoing of one of his earliest acts as new CEO, which was to ban Kathy Griffin and others for poking fun at his leadership.
Kathie Griffin, Jorden Peterson & Babylon Bee have been reinstated.
Trump decision has not yet been made.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
But the week started with Musk sending out an (encrypted?) email to all staffers informing them that they will be fired unless they work at an “extremely hardcore” rate to build “Twitter 2.0”.
The result?
What I’m hearing from Twitter employees; It looks like roughly 75% of the remaining 3,700ish Twitter employees have not opted to stay after the “hardcore” email.
Even though the deadline has passed, everyone still has access to their systems.
— Kylie Robison (@kyliebytes) November 17, 2022
Shortly after the email went out, Twitter announced that they were locking their doors (some say they’ll reopen on November 21). All remaining employees were informed that their badge access had been revoked.
We're hearing this is because Elon Musk and his team are terrified employees are going to sabotage the company. Also, they're still trying to figure out which Twitter workers they need to cut access for.
— Zoë Schiffer (@ZoeSchiffer) November 17, 2022
This was the scene at Twitter HQ last night:
Twitter's San Francisco headquarters has gone hardcore tonight. #TwitterTakeover pic.twitter.com/DoG5pDD4AD
— Muskrat McRatfu*ker needs to resign as CEO (@christoq) November 18, 2022
And Musk tweeted:
And … we just hit another all-time high in Twitter usage lol
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
He does know people love watching a train wreck, right?
Either way it seems like conversations are flowing, opinions are flying, and engagement is through the roof.
It’s no wonder that so many people think this is the end for Twitter. Even Musk is joining in on the …er, fun?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
Let this sink in. Musk started his first day on the job by firing top executives, including the CEO, Parag Agrawal. Soon after, several others followed suit. Let’s look at who’s gone:
CEO Parag AgrawalChief Financial Officer Ned SegalHead of legal policy, trust and safety, Vijaya GaddeGeneral Counsel Sean EdgettChief Information Security Officer Rinki SethiHead of Security Peiter ZatkoChief customer officer, Sarah PersonetteChief people and diversity officer, Dalana BrandChief marketing officer, Leslie BerlandGeneral manager of consumer and revenue product, Jay SullivanGeneral manager for core technologies, Nick CaldwellChief accounting officer, Robert KaidenVP of global client solutions, Jean-Philippe MaheuHead of International Communications, Julie SteeleHead of Trust and Safety, Yoel RothThe global head of social and editorialThe director of ML ethics, transparency, and accountabilityChief information security officerManaging director of Twitter StudioHead of location strategy
Those who haven’t been fired are choosing to quit on their own terms. The reasons? Peter Clowes helps explain why some are choosing not to follow Musk:
Why I left @twitter or rather why I did not sign up for “extremely hardcore” Twitter 2.0
— Peter Clowes (@peterclowes) November 18, 2022
So is Twitter done?
Maybe? One of its remaining employees hastold Newsweek reporter Travis Akersthe website “has about a week left before it’s dead.”
Some people aren’t convinced.
loving how clear it is none of us understand what it takes for a website to actually break
— steph mccann (@steph_mcca) November 18, 2022
It is difficult to believe that Musk would spend $44 billion on the platform just to watch it all burn in a matter of weeks. But I also think he underestimated how much the staff would endure. With all of the conflicting information out there, it’s hard to know what to believe. We’ll try to keep this page updated with the latest information as it’s coming out. Stay tuned!
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