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Twitter is asking some of its fired employees to come back

After laying off roughly half of its workforce last week, it appears that Twitter’s ‘Complaint Hotline Operator,’ Elon Musk, is scrambling to get some of the fired employees back, as reported by Bloomberg.

Reportedly, some employees were laid off “by mistake,” while others are being recalled because it turns out they’re needed to build Musk’s vision for Twitter.

Platformer‘s Casey Newton also reported that an internal Twitter Slack chat message (reportedly from Musk) asked remaining Twitter employees to put together a list of former employees who would like to join back.

Prior to the layoffs, several Twitter employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the company over Musk’s plan to cut roughly half of the company’s workforce, arguing that it violates U.S. federal and California state law.

Musk said that Twitter is losing over $4 million USD (about $5.4 million CAD) per day and that reducing the company’s workforce was the only way to go. “Everyone [that] exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required,” he wrote in a tweet.

According to sources close to Twitter, the company now has roughly 3,700 employees, most of whom have been asked to show technical documentation to justify the work they do at Twitter and to prove their value to the company. Employees have also reportedly been working unsustainably long shifts since Musk’s takeover to meet deadlines and ship new features.

The company aims to add new features to Twitter Blue, charge $8/month for a blue checkmark, and introduce a new paywalled video feature, amid other updates. Musk is also looking to revive Vine, the OG short-form video hosting service that Twitter acquired for $30 million USD (about $40 million CAD) in 2012, only to shut it down in 2016. Read more about it here.

The latest news on Twitter and Musk can be found here.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Bloomberg

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Musk threatens permanent Twitter bans for impersonating accounts

It seems Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk is starting to realize the downsides of handing out verification to anyone who pays for it. After going live with the new Twitter Blue subscription that gives subscribers the blue checkmark verification symbol over the weekend, several users quickly made parody accounts making fun of Musk.

Despite declaring that comedy was “now legal on Twitter” after taking control of the company, Musk was not amused by the parody accounts. In a series of tweets Sunday evening, Musk said that Twitter would now permanently suspend “any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody.’” Moreover, Musk warned that changing your name on Twitter will cause a “temporary loss of verified checkmark.”

However, it seems that specifying your account is a parody account doesn’t help dodge bans when you impersonate Musk himself:

The thing is, Twitter has rules about impersonation, which don’t seem to have changed yet (Musk even acknowledges these rules in a tweet). According to Twitter’s policies, the company may take the following actions against accounts violating its impersonation rules:

Profile modifications

If your account is potentially confusing in terms of its affiliation, we may require you to edit the content on your profile. If you violate this policy again after your first warning, your account will be permanently suspended.

Temporary account suspension

If we believe you may be in violation of this policy, we may require you to provide government issued identification (such as a driver’s license or passport) in order to reinstate your account.

Permanent suspension

If you are engaged in impersonation or are using a misleading or deceptive fake identity, we may permanently suspend your account.

However, Musk’s tweets say the company will now skip straight to permanent suspensions — so far, it seems to be the case, with The Verge noting comedians Kathy Griffin and Sarah Silverman both had their accounts locked or suspended after impersonating Musk. The move even appears to have bothered some Musk fans, who thought Twitter would stop doing permanent suspensions.

The Verge also reported that there don’t appear to be any changes to the Twitter terms of service, suggesting Musk rashly tweeted the new rules and had employees start enforcing them. Moreover, Musk previously promised not to make any major content decision before putting together a content moderation council — as far as we know, this moderation council has not yet been formed.

Anyway, the whole debacle is yet more evidence that offering verification to anyone willing to pay was a bad idea. The point of verification was to lend authenticity to certain high-profile accounts so that users could easily tell if an account is who claims to be. By handing out blue checkmarks to anyone who pays for them, it’s much easier to make impersonations of high-profile accounts that look legitimate.

You can read more about Musk x Twitter here.

Source: @elonmusk Via: The Verge

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Elon Musk officially launches $8/month Twitter sub with blue checkmark

Twitter has officially launched its $8/month subscription service that includes an overhaul to the verification process.

Elon Musk, who officially acquired the social media giant last week, quickly got to work on a way to monetize how people obtain the blue checkmarks.

Now, those who pay the $8 monthly fee can receive the same checks that were previously given to public figures, including celebrities, businesses and journalists.

However, the check is simply available for purchase through the new subscription. As part of a new update, iOS users are told they can sign up now to receive the blue checkmark next to their names, “just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow.” (It’s unclear when it’s rolling out on Android.)

Critics have previously expressed concern that such a system would dilute the intended meaning of verification, which was to combat impersonations and fake news. It remains to be seen what will happen now that anyone can get a check.

Musk’s first week as head of Twitter has been met with significant controversy, including his sharing of a conspiracy theory related to the assault of Paul Pelosi and the layoffs of half of Twitter’s staff.

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Elon Musk has been fact-checked by Twitter

Twitter is in a state of chaos thanks to widespread layoffs and edicts from its new owner surrounding outlandish money-making efforts like paid verification and DMs.

As Elon Musk often does, the recently crowned “chief twit” turned to the social media platform he now owns to blame “activist groups” for the “massive” drop in revenue the social media platform has experienced since his takeover.

Right on queue, this tweet was flagged by users with three fact-checking links, including coverage from the Wall Street Journal, MSN and the Daily Mail. The articles outline that major brands have pulled out from advertising on the platform because there’s widespread uncertainty surrounding the free speech-focused direction Musk plans to take Twitter.

While the fact-checked portion of Musk’s tweet isn’t visible to everyone, several Twitter users snapped screenshots.

All of MobileSyrup’s Musk x Twitter coverage can be found here.

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Twitter’s latest money-making idea: paid DMs

Elon Musk is desperately trying to spin up new revenue streams for Twitter, with the latest idea being paid direct messages (DMs).

According to a report from the New York Times, a Twitter product team is working on paid DMs with a focus on “Very Important Tweeters, or V.I.T.s.” The information came from two people with knowledge of the work, who also shared internal documents with the Times.

The internal documents included mockups of the feature, which would allow Twitter users to DM their favourite celebrities for a fee. Twitter hasn’t settled on a fee structure, but it could be just a few dollars per DM.

A prototype shown to the Times depicted someone asking musician Post Malone about his favourite records. The paid DMs could appear in a special area of the message inbox, and celebrities could choose to receive them. The Times notes that Twitter likely would take a cut of the fee.

However, the people who shared details with the Times said that plans remain fluid and the feature might not even launch.

Paid DMs are just the latest idea to try and squeeze profit out of the company. Musk’s acquisition saddled the company with $13 billion USD (about $17.6 billion CAD) in debt, with annual interest payments expected to total $1 billion USD (roughly $1.4 billion CAD).

Musk also acknowledged that Twitter had “a massive drop in revenue” after advertisers pulled out, although he blamed it on pressure from “activist groups” despite causing turmoil on Twitter with mass layoffs and rapid feature changes. Plus, there was a surge in hate speed on the platform following Musk’s takeover.

All of that has combined to make Twitter less favourable to brands, which according to The Wall Street Journal, pulled ads over concerns Musk would scale back content moderation.

For the latest Musk x Twitter news, check out MobileSyrup’s coverage here.

Header image credit: Shutterstock

Source: New York Times

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Twitter employees sue over mass layoffs

Twitter employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the company over new owner Elon Musk’s plan to cut roughly half of the company’s workforce starting Friday, arguing it violates U.S. federal and California state law.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in a San Francisco federal court, asks the court to issue an order requiring Twitter to obey the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The act restricts companies from performing mass layoffs without at least 60 days of advanced notice. It also seeks to restrict Twitter from soliciting employees to sign documents that could give up their right to participate in litigation.

Since Musk took over Twitter, the company has been in turmoil. Workers were assigned to Musk projects and forced to work long hours and weekends under threat of being fired if they didn’t meet tight deadlines. At the same time, team leaders were asked to draw up lists of employees that could be cut. A letter sent to employees on November 3rd warned them that they would receive an email by 9am PST/12pm ET on November 4th about their future at the company.

However, some employees have already started losing access to internal systems like email and Slack channels. That includes some of those assigned to Musk projects. Other employees took to Twitter to share updates about their status or post support under the hashtag ‘#OneTeam.’

“We filed this lawsuit tonight in an attempt the make sure that employees are aware that they should not sign away their rights and that they have an avenue for pursuing their rights,” attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan told Bloomberg. Liss-Riordan filed the lawsuit against Twitter, but was also behind a lawsuit against Tesla, another Musk company, for laying off about 10 percent of its workforce in June.

However, Tesla won a ruling from a federal judge in Austin, Texas, that forced the workers to pursue their claims in closed-door arbitration rather than in open court. Musk called the lawsuit “trivial” during an interview.

“We will now see if he is going to continue to thumb his nose at the laws of this country that protect employees. It appears that he’s repeating the same playbook of what he did at Tesla,” Liss-Riordan said.

Musk’s Twitter cuts are part of an ongoing effort to reduce costs and squeeze profit from the social network after his acquisition saddled the company with some $13 billion USD (about $17.6 billion CAD) of debt. Musk’s other plans include increasing the cost of Twitter Blue to $8/mo USD, making verification a paid feature, and adding paywalled video.

The latest news on Twitter and Musk can be found here.

Source: Bloomberg

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Musk to cut half of Twitter’s workforce on Friday: report

Twitter layoffs are coming. While there’s been some debate about how many Twitter employees stand to lose their jobs — some reports went as high as 75 percent — it looks like about half the company’s employees could get let go.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Twitter’s new CEO and dude who desperately wants you to think he’s cool, Elon Musk, plans to cut 3,700 Twitter jobs. Currently, the Twitter workforce stands at roughly 7,500 people. The information comes from people with knowledge of the matter, who said Musk plans to inform affected staffers on Friday. Moreover, Musk plans to reverse the company’s work-from-anywhere policy and force employees to return to the office, although there may be some exceptions.

Musk and a team of advisors reportedly considered a variety of layoff scenarios and policy changes at Twitter, and the people who spoke to Bloomberg noted plans could still change. One scenario reportedly included offering laid-off workers 60 days’ worth of severance pay.

Once the layoffs were sorted, Twitter’s chief accounting officer, Robert Kaiden, left the company. Kaiden marks one of the last pre-Musk executives to depart the company, according to Bloomberg.

Layoffs were an expected part of Musk’s Twitter takeover. Musk made it clear from the start that he intended to fire people, with the only real question being how many people would lose their jobs. Since taking over, Twitter staff have reportedly worked long hours and over the weekend on various projects for Musk, under threat of being fired if they missed the deadline.

Meanwhile, leaders were tasked with drawing up lists of employees who could be cut, and senior personnel were told to target a 50 percent reduction in headcount, Bloomberg reported. Musk reportedly had engineers and director-level staff from Tesla review the lists, which were drawn up and ranked based on individuals’ contributions to Twitter’s code. Musk previously tweeted about focusing on Twitter’s core product, noting that “Software engineering, server operations & design will rule the roost.”

All these cuts come as Twitter contends with massive debt from the Musk acquisition. The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk’s purchase saddled Twitter with $13 billion USD (about $17.95 billion CAD) in debt, with interest payments expected to total $1 billion USD (roughly $1.4 billion CAD) annually. That debt appears to be driving much of Musk’s decision-making as he rushes to make cuts and introduce changes to squeeze a profit from Twitter. Along with cutting staff, plans include increasing the cost of Twitter Blue to $8/mo, adding verification to Blue, and introducing a paywalled video feature.

For the latest on the Musk x Twitter news, check out MobileSyrup’s coverage here.

Header image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Bloomberg

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Twitter might give everyone the ability to edit tweets

There’s been much debate over Musk’s plan to jack up the cost of Twitter Blue and make it a requirement for verification on Twitter. However, new details suggest Twitter could make one of the best Blue features available to everyone: the edit button.

As reported by Casey Newton in his Platformer newsletter (paywalled), internal company discussions detail a plan to give all users the ability to edit tweets. After years of jokes, memes, and desperate requests, Twitter finally added an edit button but locked it behind the ‘Blue’ subscription service.

Alongside a free edit button, Newton reported that Twitter is considering a $99 USD annual plan for Twitter Blue to go alongside the proposed $8/mo USD price increase proposed by Musk.

Initially, reports indicated Twitter would increase the cost of Blue to $20/mo USD and make verified users (designated with a blue checkmark) sign up for Blue to keep their verification. However, after much backlash, Musk suggested the $8/mo price instead.

Musk has also gone on to tweet additional details of the new Blue program, although seemingly without any thought to the work involved in building the proposed features. The list includes priority for replies, mentions, and search, the ability to post long videos and audio, and “half as many ads.” Moreover, Musk mentioned a “paywall bypass” for publishers willing to work with Twitter, which notably was already a feature of Blue that apparently the company is shutting down.

On the one hand, it’ll be great to have editable tweets available for the masses (anyone can make a typo, after all). On the other, editable tweets is one of the few worthwhile features of Twitter Blue, which is about to see a big price hike. It seems strange to me that Twitter would give away the edit button while trying to force people to pay for verification.

For the latest on Musk x Twitter, check out all the MobileSyrup coverage here.

Source: Platformer, @CaseyNewton

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Twitter reportedly working on paywalled video feature

Unsurprisingly, things continue to change at Twitter under Elon Musk at a breakneck pace. One of the latest developments is a plan to paywall video content on the social platform.

The details come from The Washington Post (via The Verge), which obtained an internal company email. According to the email, users would be able to enable a ‘Paywalled Video’ feature after adding a video to a tweet and could select from preset prices, such as $1, $2, $5, or $10. Moreover, other users would still be able to retweet the video without paying to view it.

The Post also noted it’s unclear if the video plan predates Musk’s acquisition. It certainly sounds like it could — as The Verge notes, Twitter has long been exploring ways to increase revenue outside of advertising. Alternate revenue sources include things like Super Follows, which let users pay for subscriber-only content, and the Twitter Blue subscription.

Regardless of whether the paywalled video idea predated Musk, his Twitter acquisition appears to have accelerated the feature — Twitter employees reportedly have just one or two weeks to launch the video paywall feature.

However, the tight deadline may lead to other problems for Twitter. It reportedly would leave the company’s internal review team as little as three days to evaluate the risks of charging for video content, such as what happens if a user uploads copyrighted content and charges for it.

The Verge also highlights potential issues with Twitter’s porn community. Twitter remains one of the few major social media platforms to allow adult content, and while the community might benefit from a paywalled video feature, it could also cause problems with advertisers and payment providers (as a reminder, payment providers have caused problems for other adult content platforms like OnlyFans).

Source: The Washington Post Via: The Verge

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Musk pulled 50 Tesla employees to work on Twitter code

After completing his $44 billion USD (roughly $60 billion CAD) acquisition of Twitter on October 28th, Elon Musk has reportedly brought in 50 of his trusted Tesla Autopilot software engineers to review Twitter’s code, as reported by CNBC News. 

According to internal records reviewed by CNBC News, employees from Musk’s other companies are now allowed to work at Twitter, with 50 from Tesla, two from the Boring Company and one from Neuralink already switching.

It is currently unclear whether Tesla employees are expected to split their schedules between working at Twitter and Tesla, or if they are expected to dedicate their full time to the social media company. Added to that, these employees are reported to have little to no experience in the field of social media coding, and use a different programing language from the one used at Twitter.

Tesla software engineers use Python programing language, while Twitter runs on the Scala programing language.

Further, Twitter employees have been asked to show technical documentation to justify the work they do at Twitter to prove their value to the company. Employees have also reportedly been working unsustainably long shifts since Musk’s takeover to meet deadlines, with the news that Musk intends to trim Twitter’s headcount significantly looming over them.

“The employees said they are worried about being fired without cause or warning, rather than laid off with severance,” reads the CNBC News report.

In addition to ‘fixing’ Twitter, Musk has also asked software engineers at Twitter to look at Vine’s code in an attempt to revive the app. Twitter acquired Vine for $30 million USD (about $40 million CAD) in 2012, only to shut it down in 2016. Read more about it here.

For the latest on the Musk x Twitter happenings, check out all our coverage here.

Source: CNBC News