Elon Musk has solely been answerable for Twitter since late October. However already, he’s turned the corporate and its platform the other way up.
Nearly instantly after he took over, Musk booted high executives, slashed rank-and-file headcount by 50 %, issued remaining workers an ultimatum to be “hardcore” of their work ethic or stop, and fast-tracked a hodgepodge of doubtless revenue-generating options, together with charging customers to get or maintain a verification verify mark. And that was all earlier than he allowed former president Donald Trump again on the app, reversing Trump’s former ban on the platform.
Musk’s mass layoffs and intense administration fashion have gutted Twitter’s employees, reportedly together with some key engineering features, inflicting considerations in regards to the web site’s technical potential to remain up and working.
And his new verify mark system — Musk’s first main product replace — prompted chaos within the hours after its launch, as newly checkmarked customers flooded the app with faux accounts, impersonating figures from Nintendo’s Mario character to former US President George W. Bush. Including to the chaos, by November 11, lower than per week for the reason that new paid checkmark system was launched, it appeared that the Twitter Blue subscription service that allow you to purchase a checkmark was not working for many individuals.
And whereas Musk didn’t instantly change any of Twitter’s insurance policies in opposition to offensive content material, within the hours after Musk took over there was a notable surge in hate speech on the app. A number of the customers posting felt emboldened by Musk’s “free speech absolutist” angle, and actively tried to check the boundaries of what they may say on Twitter beneath the corporate’s new management. Others have examined the boundaries of Musk’s free speech stance by making enjoyable of him personally.
Musk doesn’t wish to be CEO of Twitter without end — he’s repeatedly stated he desires to ultimately give that job to another person “over time.” Within the meantime, many present and former workers, social media lecturers, and human rights advocates are involved that Musk may change Twitter for the more serious, turning it into an much more intense cesspool of detrimental content material than it already is. However others hope Musk can breathe new life right into a platform that was already bleeding its most prolific customers and, for years, has struggled to show a revenue. In a employees assembly on November 10, Musk stated chapter was not out of the query if Twitter doesn’t determine a method to earn more money.
Listed below are a few of the most vital methods Musk has modified the corporate to this point.
Reinstating some high-profile suspended accounts
From the start, Musk took over Twitter with the acknowledged aim of constructing it a platform that allowed extra controversial speech. Whereas he hasn’t made any drastic modifications but to Twitter’s content material moderation insurance policies, he has began reinstating some suspended accounts.
On November 18, greater than two weeks since he took over the corporate, Musk tweeted that he had reinstated the accounts of comic Kathy Griffin (who was suspended after she impersonated Musk), controversial psychologist influencer Jordan Peterson, and conservative humor information web site Babylon Bee. Peterson and Babylon Bee have been each suspended after tweeting anti-trans feedback.
These reinstatements come although Musk stated he would wait to make any main selections about reinstating banned accounts till he kinds a “content material moderation council” to advise him. Musk stated he’s nonetheless deciding about what to with former President Donald Trump’s account, though up to now he has supported bringing again Trump’s account.
Gutting Twitter’s employees
Musk started his reign as Twitter’s chief by firing high executives. Inside hours of the deal closing, CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and head of authorized coverage, belief, and security Vijaya Gadde have been proven the door. On November 10, Twitter’s high privateness and safety executives resigned, together with Chief Info Safety Officer Lea Kissner, the corporate’s chief privateness officer, and chief compliance officer, in keeping with a number of reviews. On the identical day, Twitter’s head of belief and security, Yoel Roth, who in latest days had publicly reassured folks that Twitter was nonetheless following its content material moderation insurance policies, additionally left.
The week after he took over, Musk continued firing executives, together with Twitter’s advert chief, normal supervisor of core tech, and chief advertising officer Leslie Berland (who only a few days earlier despatched a cheery be aware saying that Musk was visiting the San Francisco workplaces). He additionally pulled in additional than 50 Tesla engineers to work for Twitter and assembled his personal circle of trusted advisers.
Quickly after, Musk began gutting Twitter’s rank-and-file employees. He laid off an estimated 50 % — upward of three,700 workers — from the corporate. Twitter knowledgeable its employees that layoffs would occur by 9 am PT on Friday in a company-wide electronic mail. By late Thursday night, a number of workers informed Recode or posted publicly on Twitter that they’d already been locked out of their work electronic mail and Slack accounts with none formal discover of whether or not they had been laid off.
These cuts are the biggest in Twitter’s historical past, and a number of other present and former workers Recode spoke with are involved that in consequence Twitter’s operations as a platform may very well be in danger. Musk has additionally reportedly deliberate to slash $1 billion from Twitter’s infrastructure prices, akin to server house, in keeping with a report from Reuters, furthering these considerations.
Including to the chaos, Twitter’s administration modified its thoughts about a few of its cost-cutting: the corporate reportedly requested dozens of not too long ago laid-off workers in the event that they wished to return again to work quickly after the layoffs, in keeping with a report from Bloomberg.
The day after the primary spherical of cuts, Musk tweeted in regards to the layoffs and mentioned them at an investor convention. He framed the layoffs as obligatory as a result of earlier than the deal, “Twitter was having fairly critical income challenges and price challenges,” in keeping with the New York Occasions.
Twitter’s contract staff have been hit closely by one other spherical of cuts that occurred a couple of week later. Platformer’s Casey Newton reported that round 4,400 out of 5,500 of Twitter’s contractors have been laid off, together with heavy cuts to Twitter’s content material moderation groups. Musk additionally fired at the very least twenty workers who posted important messages about him on Twitter’s inner Slack channels, or who publicly challenged Musk on Twitter.
Some workers are preventing again. Shortly after the preliminary layoffs, a bunch of 5 workers sued Twitter in a category motion lawsuit, alleging the corporate did not notify them of the approaching layoffs as required by the federal Employee Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN Act, that requires sure employers to present a 60-day discover for mass layoffs within the US. Twitter is giving many laid-off workers full pay and advantages by means of at the very least January, though it’s not clear if this utilized to all workers, notably these outdoors the US, sources stated.
Per week and a half after the primary wave of layoffs, the drama intensified when Musk issued an ultimatum to workers: Work tougher or stop. In a midnight electronic mail to employees, Musk wrote that, transferring ahead, Twitter will “have to be extraordinarily hardcore” and require workers to work “lengthy hours at excessive depth.” The e-mail linked to a kind asking workers to verify that they wish to work on the “new Twitter” by 5 pm ET the subsequent day; if not, they’d be laid off and obtain three months severance.
The ultimatum confirmed how Musk is attempting to pare down Twitter’s employees past the preliminary layoffs that gutted half the corporate.
However Musk could have gone too far along with his calls for. Within the hours earlier than the deadline, Musk reportedly tried to persuade important workers to remain on the firm.
To date, it’s been reported that 1,200 workers declined to comply with Musk’s phrases and basically mass resigned from the corporate.
As considerations grew from a few of Twitter’s present and former workers that the positioning may quickly break due to low ranges of engineering staffing, Musk requested all engineers who “can really write software program” to fulfill him in particular person on the tenth flooring of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters and present examples of latest code they have been liable for. He even inspired employees to fly to San Francisco the identical day if want be, in keeping with emails reported by Platformer’s Zoe Schiffer. Mockingly, Twitter workers had been locked out of the constructing till Monday for worry of sabotage, so there was confusion about how individuals would do that.
Shaking up Twitter’s inner tradition
Musk has been working Twitter in his personal method, much like how he runs his different corporations: in an advert hoc and intense style. Reasonably than speaking to his workers first, Musk usually tweets no matter he’s considering, together with his plans for the corporate.
Elon’s first message to his employees was in an electronic mail despatched on November 9 round midnight Pacific time, saying that he was ending Twitter’s remote-work-for-all coverage, efficient inside hours.
Musk’s intense administration fashion has been an adjustment for a lot of Twitter workers who’re used to a extra measured, communicative, and structured work tradition. One nameless Twitter worker informed the Washington Publish that the work environment beneath Elon was like “working in Trump’s White Home.”
Staff are turning to non-public or nameless communication platforms like Blind, Sign, and Discord to commiserate, a number of workers informed Recode, since they not really feel they are often candid on inner Slack or electronic mail.
One other main change Elon is making to Twitter’s inner tradition is to drastically ramp up the tempo at which new options are developed.
Usually, product modifications like those that Musk proposed — akin to charging customers for verification — would take months and even years to implement at Twitter. Now, workers are being requested to execute them nearly in a single day.
This might drive the type of innovation that Twitter, a money-losing enterprise, may want. However it may additionally depart employees demoralized, or worse, compromise the reliability and safety the app offers to its a whole lot of thousands and thousands of customers. Twitter already has present issues on this entrance: Former Twitter head of safety and inner whistleblower Peiter Zatko warned that the platform “was over a decade behind business safety requirements” in September.
Making individuals pay for blue verify marks
The primary official product change Musk confirmed after taking on Twitter was to begin charging $8 per 30 days for “blue verify marks,” the verification badges that Twitter at the moment offers to public figures like journalists, politicians, and celebrities. Musk wished to open up verify marks to extra individuals, so long as they’re prepared to pay that worth.
Twitter will even give your account extra precedence in replies, mentions, and search should you subscribe for the brand new service — which means that those that don’t pay up may lose visibility on the platform.
Twitter’s verification program was initially designed to ensure individuals actually are who they are saying they’re on-line. Earlier than you bought a verify mark, you needed to apply for one and present ID proving your actual identification matched your Twitter title. That helped Twitter’s person base make it possible for the account they have been taking a look at wasn’t an imposter.
Now, Musk has eliminated any type of ID verification from Twitter Blue. Which means anybody who pays $8 a month can fake to be another person, with a verify mark subsequent to their title. That’s prompted main trolling, with some Twitter Blue accounts impersonating well-known individuals like LeBron James, George W. Bush, and even Mario, the Nintendo character. Lots of the new faux accounts use lifelike profile images, names, and handles, and have a verify mark subsequent to their title, so it’s arduous to inform who’s actual or who’s faux.
Elon appears to seek out all this amusing, replying with crying-of-laughter emojis to a number of tweets declaring the faux accounts.
This modification additionally prompted main debate amongst notable figures who bought their verify mark without spending a dime — lots of whom stated they aren’t prepared to pay to maintain their verification. Fellow billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban criticized the brand new characteristic, saying Musk “killed essentially the most invaluable a part of Twitter” by making it tougher for him to seek out reliable details about breaking information occasions.
After a bunch of individuals together with comic Kathy Griffin started trolling Musk’s new coverage by altering their names to “Elon Musk” and making enjoyable of the tech CEO, Musk suspended their accounts and introduced new guidelines: Any Twitter accounts concerned in impersonation not clearly labeled as “parody” can be instantly suspended with out warning, and any verified person who modifications their Twitter title will quickly have their verify mark eliminated.
Musk additionally made one other sudden change when he axed a brand new “Official” grey verify mark (along with the blue one) rolled out on Thursday — meant to differentiate verified customers who’re additionally notable public figures. Inside hours of the discharge, Musk tweeted that he “killed” the characteristic, and the brand new verify marks left as shortly as they arrived.
Shortly after the characteristic was pulled again, Musk tweeted this clarification: “Please be aware that Twitter will do a lot of dumb issues in coming months. We are going to maintain what works & change what doesn’t.”
On November 11, Twitter suspended the subscription service for purchasing checkmarks — Twitter Blue. Musk stated that the characteristic will relaunch on November 29 as soon as it’s “rock stable.”
Emboldening the trolls
Musk has stated his major motive for purchasing Twitter was to make it a haven without spending a dime speech. He’s echoed conservatives’ longstanding considerations that Twitter is politically biased in opposition to right-wing speech regardless of the shortage of proof of that bias.
Conservative politicians like former president Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) have celebrated Elon Musk’s possession of Twitter as a serious win, with Trump saying he’s blissful that Twitter “will not be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs.”
However Musk’s extra laissez-faire philosophy on content material moderation has additionally prompted one other group of individuals to rejoice: trolls spreading racist, sexist, and in any other case hateful speech.
One instance: There was a 500 % improve in makes use of of the n-word on Twitter within the 12 hours after Musk’s deal was accomplished, in keeping with a research from the Community Contagion Analysis Institute, regardless that none of Twitter’s guidelines have modified on the matter.
Twitter has stated it’s engaged on lowering the visibility of those posts. However information factors like this have spooked a number of main advertisers that don’t need their model affiliated with offensive content material, together with Normal Motors, Volkswagen, Audi, and Pfizer — who’ve are ready to see extra about what path the corporate will take beneath Musk’s management earlier than they resume adverts.
Musk has tried to settle down advertiser considerations by tweeting a public be aware saying that he doesn’t need Twitter to show right into a “free-for-all hellscape.” On Thursday, Musk spoke with leaders of civil rights teams just like the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, and Shade of Change, promising them that Twitter takes hate speech severely, and that he gained’t make any main selections about reinstating banned accounts (e.g., Trump) till after he units up a content material moderation advisory council, which he stated will at the very least take a number of weeks.
Musk additionally informed civil rights leaders he would reverse his resolution to restrict the quantity of employees who can entry content material moderation techniques, one other one in every of their considerations.
However civil rights leaders organizing beneath the banner “#StopToxicTwitter Coalition” stated that Musk had failed to carry true to his guarantees — and ramped up their calls for for main advertisers to pause all adverts on the platform, Musk tweeted on Friday that Twitter had a “huge drop in income” resulting from “activist teams” who he accused of attempting to “destroy free speech in America.”
It’s not simply advertisers which might be leaving Twitter due to Elon; there are additionally early indicators that Elon’s takeover and the ensuing negativity are inflicting some customers to go away.
One report in MIT Expertise Overview estimated some 877,000 accounts have been deactivated within the week after Musk’s deal closed. That’s greater than double the same old quantity in that very same time interval, in keeping with information from the agency Bot Sentinel that MIT Tech Overview cited.
Since taking on, Musk has claimed that, on the contrary, Twitter’s every day lively customers have reached all-time highs.
In fact, these are all estimates, and solely from a brief window of time. Twitter has additionally been shedding its Most worthy “heavy tweeters” in droves for some time now, in keeping with a leaked inner report lined by Reuters, and that predates Musk’s takeover. However time will inform whether or not Musk reverses or exacerbates Twitter’s present drawback of customers fleeing the platform.
Throwing different concepts on the wall
Apart from charging for Twitter verification, Musk has been planning a complete new set of modifications to the platform. Whereas none of those are confirmed but, they’re reportedly within the works or being examined.
These modifications embody making individuals pay for sure forms of “excessive danger” video content material (many are speculating it will be grownup video content material), in keeping with the Washington Publish; bringing again Vine, the short-form video app Twitter acquired and later shuttered; altering the login web page to the discover web page; charging individuals for sending DMs to high-profile customers.
Twitter is contemplating coming into the funds enterprise — an space Musk has expertise in going again to his pre-PayPal days — in keeping with a New York Occasions report citing paperwork filed with the US Treasury Division. It may very well be a part of Musk’s acknowledged ambitions to make Twitter a “superapp” known as X, which may very well be much like WeChat in China that’s used not only for posting messages however for issues like making buying purchases or ordering meals supply.
In any other case, it appears as if Elon is throwing a bunch of concepts out to see which of them work. As one investor in Musk’s deal, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, stated on the Net Summit convention in November, he expects solely 10 % of Musk’s concepts “will stick.”
To date, lots of Musk’s concepts (like Vine and paid movies) are previous ones that Twitter has already tried — and failed at.
Over time, it would turn out to be clear if Musk will be capable of efficiently resurrect these previous concepts — and his new ones, like paying for a verify mark — with a really completely different work tradition and employees than Twitter had earlier than.
We’ll maintain updating this submit as Musk continues to form Twitter, for higher or worse.
Replace, November 19, 9:55 pm ET: This story, initially printed on November 4, has been up to date a number of instances, most not too long ago with particulars about Musk reinstating former president Donald Trump’s account.
