Tag: Twitter

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Elon Musk gets embarrassed after stealing meme on Twitter, deletes post

Tesla CEO Elon Musk had a tough day on Twitter. After posting an image and headline from a Hard Drive article without giving credit, Musk received some obvious pushback. This led to a rather embarrassing exchange for the future owner of the social media platform.

In a tweet, Musk posted an image from Hard Drive reading, “Zodiac Killer Letter Solved by Opening It With VLC Media Player.” Musk posted the image with the caption, “Nichememe” without any visible credit given to the writer or the outlet.

It wasn’t long until the Hard Drive account chimed in, requesting Musk to stop “cropping our names off our articles.” Musk responded and claimed it wasn’t him who posted the cropped image first. The Tesla CEO also tried to bag on Hard Drive and state it is “only a 6/10 meme.”

This back and forth continued over a few more interactions. The boiling point was Musk claiming Hard Drive’s satirical articles about him are “less funny than SNL on a bad day.” While posting a meme without crediting the creator was his first mistake, bringing up Saturday Night Live was certainly the biggest in the instance. This tee’d Hard Drive up for what would be the killing blow.

“Well you’re the expert on SNL’s bad days,” Hard Drive responded while posting an image of Musk dressed as sad Wario from his appearance on SNL last year. This was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back as Musk later deleted his original post.

This should serve as a lesson for anyone stealing memes and content without crediting the creator. No one is exempt from the ubiquitous ‘mess around and find out’ rule on Twitter. Not even Musk, who is acquiring Twitter for $44 billion USD (roughly $56 billion CAD). Musk wishes to promote “free speech” on Twitter. Though, that doesn’t mean instances like this are free of consequences.

Image source: Saturday Night Live

Source: @adogondrugs

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Jack Dorsey’s tenure at Twitter comes to an end

Jack Dorsey resigned as Twitter’s CEO in November last year, though he retained his seat on the social media platform’s board of directors. That is, until today.

Jack Dorsey is officially stepping down from the Twitter board of directors today, first reported by Axios.

Dorsey had been an integral part of the platform since its inception in 2006. He served as CEO until 2008, before becoming the chairman of the board. He later took over CEO duties again in 2015, before ultimately resigning in 2021 and handing over the duties to Parag Agrawal.

He justified his decision by saying that he wants Twitter to work separately from its founders. While many find it important for companies to be led by their founders, Dorsey said this was “severely limiting and a single point of failure.”

“I want you all to know that this was my decision and I own it. It was a tough one for me, of course,” he said at the time. “There aren’t many companies that get to this level. And there aren’t many founders that choose their company over their own ego. I know we’ll prove this was the right move.”

Dorsey has made it clear that he thinks Tesla CEO and potential Twitter owner Elon Musk is the “singular solution” to transitioning the social media platform from a company to a public good, though now that he isn’t affiliated with the platform in any way, it’s unlikely that his suggestion would make a difference in the halted acquisition.

Dorsey will now focus his attention on Block (formerly Square), a digital payment company based in San Fransisco, California.

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Twitter acquisition ‘cannot move forward’ until company proves fake and spam account figures: Musk

Elon Musk says his deal to buy Twitter can’t proceed until the company proves that fake and spam accounts make up less than five percent of the platform’s users.

Musk says these accounts could represent at least 20 percent of users.

“My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate. Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%. This deal cannot move forward until he does,” Musk tweeted in the early hours of May 17th.

The billionaire is referencing pushback he received from Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal the day prior. He said Musk’s method to measure the fake and spam accounts couldn’t be completed in a lengthy thread. Musk responded with an emoji to one of Agrawal’s tweets.

“There are LOTS of details that are very important underneath this high-level description. We shared an overview of the estimation process with Elon a week ago and look forward to continuing the conversation with him, and all of you,” Agrawal tweeted on May 16th.

As The Verge reports, people have speculated that Musk is casting doubts on the number of bots to negotiate a lower buying price. The deal is currently worth $44 billion (about $56.4 billion CAD).

Source: Twitter via The Verge

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Elon Musk says Twitter’s legal reps told him he violated an NDA

Elon Musk is (allegedly) not on Twitter’s good side.

The social media giant’s legal team said he violated an NDA by revealing Twitter’s sample size for checks on automated users was 100, according to a tweet Musk made.

“Twitter legal just called to complain that I violated their NDA by revealing the bot check sample size is 100! This actually happened,” Musk tweeted on May 14th.

The alleged warning stems from a May 13th tweet Musk made saying the deal to purchase Twitter was “temporarily on hold” while his team looked into numbers on fake and spam accounts.

Musk revealed the figure after a Twitter user asked him to “elaborate on the process” his team was using. Musk also invited “others to repeat the same process and see what they discover.”

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Elon Musk puts Twitter bid on hold pending details on fake and spam accounts

Elon Musk has put a temporary hold on his deal to buy Twitter, requesting details on claims that spam and fake account represent less than five percent of users.

Musk tweeted the news in the early morning hours Friday, linking to a May 2nd Reuters article detailing a Twitter filing of the fake and spam accounts.

“We have performed an internal review of a sample of accounts and estimate that the average of false or spam accounts during the first quarter of 2022 represented fewer than 5% of our mDAU during the quarter,” Twitter’s filing notes.

“The false or spam accounts for a period represents the average of false or spam accounts in the samples during each monthly analysis period during the quarter. In making this determination, we applied significant judgment, so our estimation of false or spam accounts may not accurately represent the actual number of such accounts, and the actual number of false or spam accounts could be higher than we have estimated.”

Hours after his original tweet linking to the article, Musk tweeted to confirm he’s “still committed to acquisition.”

A day before, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal made several changes at the company, including firing Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter’s general manager of consumer products. Agrawal shared the news with staff in an internal email, The Verge reported.

It’s clear Twitter is preparing for the Musk take over, even though it has yet to be officially approved. Musk has plans to cut jobs and costs once the acquisition is complete. 

Source: The Verge 

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Musk aims to significantly increase Twitter’s revenue by 2028

We already know that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk plans to cut jobs and costs over at Twitter, if and when the acquisition is complete. Now, according to a new report from The New York Times, the world’s richest man aims to quintuple (5x) Twitter’s revenue by 2028.

According to the report, Musk recently had a word with Twitter investors where he outlined his plans for the social media company’s financial targets moving forward, with a target of $26.4 billion USD ($34.2 billion CAD) to be achieved by 2028, compared to the company’s $5 billion USD ($6.4 billion CAD) revenue in 2021.

Musk plans to achieve the targets primarily by cutting down the reliance on generating revenue through advertising. Up until now, 90 percent of Twitter revenue came through advertising, and Musk wants to bring this down to 45 percent. On the other hand, subscriptions would become an integral revenue driver, according to Musk. “In 2028, advertising would generate $12 billion in revenue and subscriptions nearly $10 billion, according to the document. Other revenue would come from businesses such as data licensing,” reads the report.

This adds credibility to a recent report that said commercial and government Twitter users might soon have to pay to tweet.

The report also suggests that in addition to Twitter Blue, the social media company will launch a new subscription tier, though nothing about it was mentioned. Musk said he’s aiming for the new tier to rack in nine million sign-ups in the first year, with a target of 104 million sign-ups by 2028.

Additionally, Twitter’s payment business, which includes tipping and shopping, will be expanded to generate an estimated revenue of $15 million USD (about $19.5 million CAD) by next year, and $1.3 billion USD (about $1.69 billion CAD) by 2028.

With all of the above changes, Musk expects to increase the average revenue per user from $24.83 USD (about $32.27 CAD) as of 2021 to $30.22 USD (about $39.26) by 2028.

These are big promises, though Musk’s commitments as CEO of his other two companies are already bearing major fruits, so it wouldn’t be prudent to doubt him. On the other hand, Musk has no prior experience running a social media company, and since the news came out about him taking over Twitter, and his stance about free speech on the platform, users have been flocking away from the social media service.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: The New York Times

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Twitter might get mix-media tweet support and a pronoun field

Despite being acquired by Elon Musk, Twitter is rumoured to be working on several new features.

The leak information includes Twitter for Android supporting the ability to add pictures and videos in the same tweet, tweet-related awards and a new field for pronouns.

Well-known developer Dylan Roussel spotted the new mixed media features within the Twitter for Android app. The feature allowed him to add a picture and one video in the same tweet.

Additionally, there will reportedly be an option to award tweets, according to 9to5Google. The feature appears as a gift icon below a tweet, next to the retweet and like/share buttons. It’s unclear what the feature is for. There’s a possibility it could be a new method of monetizing or functionality tied to the platform’s subscription service, Twitter Blue.

There’s also a new field for users to include their pronouns. Many people already have their pronouns included in their bio or their display name, so it’s unclear where the feature will officially appear on profiles.

9to5 goes on to say that it uncovered more information about the previously leaked Twitter Status feature. The ability to “discover” or “join” a status could be on the way, though it’s still unclear what this feature will actually do.

Source: @evowizz, 9to5Google

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Twitter begins testing its Circle feature, limiting tweets to a group of up to 150 people

Twitter is testing its new Circle feature, which enables users to tweet to a specific group of up to 150 people.

Twitter’s new feature is reportedly available to a “small group” of users across iOS, Android and the web. Once active, a user can select up to 150 other users who can see and interact with a tweet. This feature is close in relation to Instagram’s Close Friends feature, which enables users to share Stories with specific users.

As Twitter Saftey suggests, Circle support enables users to control “who can see your Tweets when you want to share with a smaller crowd.” Likewise, Twitter offers a feature to control who is able to reply to a public tweet. It appears as though Twitter wishes to give more ownership to the user on who is able to interact with their tweets.

However, as it’s been pointed out, there are some red flags regarding the social aspect of the feature. Users have been quick to note that this may incite echo chambers to form on the platform. The Twitter Circle feature could diminish some larger discussions. Although, it’s far too early to know the ramifications Twitter Circle may have on the platform.

Earlier this year, Twitter’s Circle feature was reported to be called ‘Flock.’ It appears as though Twitter has changed the name, dropping the association to birds in the process.

It’s not yet known when Twitter aims for a larger rollout of Twitter Circle. From the looks of it, testing is primarily within the U.S. Though, testing may migrate to Canada if it hasn’t begun already.

Source: Twitter Saftey Via: Engadget

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Commercial and government users might soon have to pay to tweet

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition hasn’t even been finalized yet, but that is not stopping the world’s richest man from tossing ideas up in the air about the social media platform’s future.

From what we already know, Musk has already floated the idea of cutting both jobs and company costs once he takes over, and to generate revenue, he might add new subscription tiers to the platform. In a now-deleted Tweet, he also floated the idea of adding a new profile checkmark for those who pay for Twitter Blue and a Tweet about converting the company’s San Francisco office to a homeless shelter.

Now, it appears as though Musk wants to charge corporations and governments around the world to use Twitter.

Comparing Twitter as a free service with Freemasons who gave away their expertise in stonecutting for free, which eventually led to their downfall,  Musk said, “Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users.”

Considering that Musk has already stated in talks with banks that he aims to find ways to drive recurring revenue from Twitter, the Tweet seems plausible. Though like with anything Musk Tweets, we’ll wait until something materializes to take it seriously.

Source: @elonmusk

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How to delete your Twitter account

The ongoing Twitter acquisition by Elon Musk has left many worried.

Musk’s adamancy about transforming the platform into a hub that supports free speech is a noble idea in theory, but comes with unforeseen consequences, with sudden follower fluctuations, the spread of misinformation and rampant abuse being a few main concerns.

Since the news about Musk’s acquisition came out, popular left-wing figures have experienced a relentless drop in followers, whereas those with right-wing ties are enjoying follower growth. For example, former President Barack Obama, the most followed user on Twitter, has lost more than 300,000 followers in recent days, whereas Jair Bolsonaro, a popular right-wing figure, gained about 100,000 followers. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis saw his Twitter follow increase by roughly 100,000 as well.

According to Twitter, the growth and shrinkage of followers are entirely organic and are owed to people leaving or joining the platform in abundance.

If you think its time for you to pull out of the platform, here are a few simple steps you can follow:

You can deactivate your Twitter account regardless of the device you’re using it on. This means that, unlike Instagram, you can deactivate your Twitter account either from the Android or iOS mobile app or on the web. The steps for all three devices are the same, though the example below has been illustrated on the web version of Twitter.

  • Click on ‘More’ on the left-aligned dashboard and head to ‘Settings and privacy.’
  • Navigate to ‘Your account’ and then ‘Deactivate your account.’
  • Read the parting message and click on ‘Deactivate’

You’ll then be asked to enter your password one last time and your account will be deactivated. Follow the screenshots below for visual reference.

It’s worth noting that deactivating your account doesn’t mean that it is entirely deleted. Your account will live in Twitter’s database for the next 30 days, within which you can reactivate your account simply by signing in as you normally would.

If you’re absolutely sure that you want to leave Twitter in the past, don’t attempt to login in during the 30-day window and your account will be permanently deleted.

Image credit: Shutterstock