They have passed just over two weeks since Twitter got a new owner and CEO. Yet, for those who follow the story closely, it seems centuries have passed. Between tweet announcements, mass layoffs and rushed hires, blue ticks and fake accounts: the start of Elon Musk’s management seems to have pushed Twitter into chaos. To do a little order here is one historya timeline of Musk’s announcements and the effect they had on Twitter employees and users.
Elon Musk and Twitter: timeline of a social in chaos
Until a few months ago, the relationship between Musk and Twitter was one-way. The billionaire patron of Tesla and SpaceX used social media to do marketing to their companies. And for express their opinionsi on everything from Bitcoin to accusations of pedophilia to users guilty only of disagreeing with him.
The confusion begins even before the acquisition
Everything changes when the April 4 Musk announces that he has acquired 9.2% stake in Twitter, becoming the majority shareholder. Musk immediately begins to treat social media as if it had become his own, for example by asking users if they want a tweet edit button.
But on April 11 we discover that the billionaire does not want to join the board of directors of the social. Because his ambitions are higher: on April 14, Musk offers to buy Twitter for 44 billion dollars. Although it appears that the Board initially opposes it, the April 25 Musk and Twitter reach an agreement for the acquisition. A choice that even appreciates the Twitter founder Jack Dorsey: “Elon is the single solution I trust”.
Agreement skipped
Amid disgruntled collaborators and antitrust investigations, the operation continues. But everything stops when on May 17 Elon Musk accuses Twitter of having reported false numbers on the number of bots: the first change of course among the many that presage the chaos of these days. Everything freezes, to the point where on June 6, 2022, Musk’s lawyers reach out to Twitter to blow up the deal. On July 8, Musk officially gives up on Twitter, which he promptly sues.
Amid various clashes and discussions, the trial seems ready to begin in October. With most experts arguing that Musk doesn’t have the basis to win and is likely to expose information he should keep hidden. So on October 4th Musk again offers to buy Twitter, first trying to pay less, then introducing the $ 44 billion promised months earlier. This pauses the process.
Elon Musk buys Twitter: between sinks, layoffs and chaos
On October 27, Elon Musk officially buys Twitter. The new owner enters the headquarters of Twitter with a sink in butno: in English it translates as ‘sink’, as in the way of saying “let that sink in”, ie “let the consequences enter your head”. But the fact that sink also means ‘sink’ sounds like a warning to the chaos Elon Musk will bring with him to Twitter.
Musk, who names himself in his bio on the social “Chief twit”, limmediately fires CEO Parag Agrawal, the CFO and also the heads of policy, security, as well as dismantling the entire board of directors.one. And he begins to propose the news of his new social network. We will distinguish below between the chaos generated by the “blue check” issue and problems with employees for clarity.
The chaos of blue ticks
Il October 30 Musk proposes to change the Blue Twitter subscription, che the company had long since launched to reduce ads and bring exclusive features. The service before Musk cost $ 4.99 a month, giving you the ability to remove tweets, personalize social media, and more. Musk proposes to increase the price at 20 dollars, providing the famous blue ticks. Which are an account verification reserved for well-known personalities in the world of entertainment, information, as well as political, health and public utility institutions: they are about 300 thousand accounts on 237.8 million users.
With Musk, however, the blue ticks come for all those who pay. And when the 31 ottobre Stephen King tweets his disappointment for the paid blue ticks, Musk proposes a price of 8 dollars iinstead of 20 dollars. For this price, the new Twitter Blue also offers the Edit button and longer videos (which users will be able to monetize tomorrow “at better rates than YouTube,” according to Musk).
Several commentators point out that this will prevent recognition of important figures, official business accounts, and political and public institutions. This causes Twitter to block the new Twitter Blue until after the US election. But in the meantime, Musk announces via tweet on November 7 a permanent ban for those who impersonate someone else on the social network. A tweet that seems like a response to all users who changed their name to “Elon Musk” to make fun of the chaos brought on Twitter. Among these, even personalities such as comedian Kathy Griffin and more.
The “Official” label and the suspension
To highlight official accounts, the November 9 Twitter announces the “Officialand ”, in gray next to the name, to visually identify who had the blue ticks even before the possibility of purchasing them with Twitter Blue.
But already on the same day Musk announces under a tweet by YouTuber Marques Brownlee to have “Killed” this second checkper then “resurrect it” on 11 December under some (but not all) official accounts. Also because in the meantime several fake accounts with blue ticks have ‘trolled’ Elon Musk and his chaotic choice to manage Twitter. A fake Nintendo account showed Super Mario mean to all of the social media.
But it is not the only one: the company Lockheed Martin announced that he would stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia from an official account, but it was that of a satirist. While a fake account of Eli Lilly promised he would give insulin to diabetics for free, then forcing the company to apologize (without saying, however, what he was apologizing for, to avoid bad publicity).
As a result, several users are now using web extensions to figure out who is really verified and who has only paid for the blue ticks. While on November 11, Twitter suspended subscriptions to Twitter Blue.
The layoffs and the new plans
While the chaos of blue ticks distracted all of his social networks, Elon Musk the November 4 began the layoffs on Twitter. Up to 3,700 people lost their jobs, over half of Twitter employees. To which are added several executives who have resigned because of the decisions that Musk has made without consulting them.
Some of these employees are however, they were recalled starting from 7 Novemberand, when several essential departments found themselves without sufficient staff to work.
Elon Musk meanwhile wrote to employees to explain the chaos of the past few days, and then called a meeting with just an hour’s notice for all the remaining workers on Twitter. Therefore, on 11 November Musk explained to employees that he wants to end smart working, fI go back to the office. She also explained that she wanted to turn Twitter into a “digital bank“, Allowing you to associate an account with your account with which to pay the creators on the platform. And tomorrow also issue credit cards and checks, as well as allow contacless payments.
At the same meeting, however, Musk also pointed out that does not exclude the possibility of declaring bankruptcy if Twitter doesn’t start generating more revenue. Also allowing users to monetize with videos (such as YouTube and TikTok) as well as increasing the number of subscribers. This is although Twitter still owes most of its revenue to advertising.
This is the story of Elon Musk and Twitter’s chaos, which, however, still seems to be in its infancy: we will keep you updated.