Category: Social Media

Twitter offices shut down as hundreds of employees resign

What started as one of the most interesting developments in the world of social media has quickly evolved into a dumpster fire! It was only yesterday when we reported that Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to Twitter employees to either commit long hours at high intensity to the company or leave. Employees were asked to sign a pledge by 5 PM ET on Thursday and anyone who did not do so would reportedly receive three months of severance pay. It looks like the majority of Twitter employees have decided to walk away from the company. Following the mass resignation, Twitter has now shut down their office buildings and disabled employee badge access until Monday.

Doors shut on Twitter!

The new ‘hardcore’ approach to Twitter was called ‘Twitter 2.0’ by Elon Musk. However, The Verge has reported that one departing employee of the company wrote that their watch ends with Twitter 1.0 and they do not want to be a part of Twitter 2.0. Twitter reportedly had 2,900 employees before the deadline on Thursday and the number has gone down marginally now. The remaining and departing employees reportedly expect the platform to start breaking soon. One Twitter staffer told The Verge that all the people who made Twitter incredible are leaving and it will be extremely difficult for Twitter to recover from here, no matter how ‘hardcore’ the people who remain try to be.

To add insult to injury, Twitter boss Elon Musk as of now can be seen sharing memes about the platform going up in flames. Check it out below –

As per reports, multiple critical engineering teams inside Twitter have either completely or near-completely resigned. Musk’s Twitter takeover was surely a developing story with new details popping up every day. It was only a few days back when Musk was seen publically firing employees criticizing him on the platform for his lack of management. Twitter users, on the other hand, seem to have accepted the fate that the lights will be shutting down on the platform as soon as tonight. However, Musk also tweeted that the platform has hit an all-time high in usage. Could this be the final straw in Twitter’s history before it shuts down? We’ll see!

Elon Musk tells Twitter staff to commit long hours or leave the company

Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has fueled an avalanche of headlines in the past few weeks. It was only a few days back when Musk had warned his Twitter staff that bankruptcy is not off the cards for the company in a mail meant for internal circulation. Remote work was also revoked from almost all employees along with free meals. Now, it looks like the Twitter team is gearing up to either work long hours or leave the company following an ultimatum from Musk himself.

Work ‘long hours at high intensity or leave’ says Musk

Twitter boss Elon told his employees in an email that they’ll have to decide whether they want to stay in the company and work long hours at high intensity or get axed! The ultimatum comes after Musk fired half of Twitter’s workforce and most of the company’s senior executives leaving the company. The email meant for Twitter’s internal distribution was obtained by The Washington Post. Check out the entire email below –

” A Fork in the Road

Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore. This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.

Twitter will also be much more engineering-driven. Design and product management will still be very important and report to me, but those writing great code will constitute the majority of our team and have the greatest sway. At its heart, Twitter is a software and servers company, so it makes sense.

If you are sure that you want to be a part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below:

forms.gle

Anyone who has not done so by 5pm ET tomorrow (Thursday) will receive three months of severance.

Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful.

Elon”

 

Elon Musk rehires Ligma and Johnson, two pranksters who never worked at Twitter

If you were around the internet when Twitter announced mass layoffs then I am sure you are aware of the pranksters Ligma and Johnson. Two pranksters fooled the mainstream media by simply walking out of the Twitter headquarters with cardboard boxes in their hands posing as Twitter employees who were brutally laid off. Without realizing it’s a prank, various media portals in the states reported that ‘Ligma’ and ‘Johnson’ were laid off from Twitter without realizing it was just a ‘Ligma Balls’ joke. It’s not like mainstream media journalists are aware of the ever-evolving meme lore on the internet and these pranksters took the opportunity where they could find it. Now, it looks like Elon Musk has welcomed Rahul Ligma and Johnson back to the Twitter headquarters and rehired them.

Ligma and Johnson rehired

Twitter’s new boss Elon Musk recently rehired two popular pranksters – Daniel Johnson and Rahul Ligma while facing massive backlash amid mass layoffs in the company. While sharing the update on Twitter, Musk wrote ‘Welcoming back Ligma & Johnson!’ The billionaire also added that its ‘Important to admit when I’m wrong & firing them was truly one of my biggest mistakes’. Check out the tweet below –

Back then, the duo was successful in making fools out of the majority of the US media circle at a time when news about Elon Musk axing the Twitter workforce was a trending topic. Musk was quick to react to the whole prank by tweeting ‘Ligma johnson has it coming’. He later also regarded the whole prank as ‘One of the best trolls ever’. Whereas, Rahul Ligma has continued his streak of pranks as he recently said that he worked for Web 2.0 and FTX – the two tech companies have also laid off thousands of staff in recent times. However, according to recent reports, Ligma has not worked in any of those companies.

it looks like Musk is resorting to humor in order to hit back at the criticism of his laying off employees from the company. The Twitter boss is facing a lot of backlash online for firing employees who publically criticize him. Some of the Twitter employees have come forward revealing that they were fired from the company via an email that said their ‘behavior has violated company policy’. With massive layoffs and dipping revenue, it will be interesting to see how Elon Musk steers the Twitter ship!

 

Now Tumblr is selling $8 blue check marks that do nothing!

Tumblr is currently basking in all its glory! It is experiencing a resurgence due to its policy changes that allowed nudity on the platform and also the ongoing chaos unfolding on Twitter. A few known celebrities like Ryan Reynolds and Lynda Carter also made their way to Tumblr to escape the Twitter drama. However, like almost all other social media platforms Tumblr does not verify high-profile accounts of celebrities and politicians. To keep up with the ongoing trend of Elon Musk charging $8 for a verified check on Twitter, now Tumblr has launched a subscription of the check mark at $7.99!

Tumblr blue check mark

Before you start accusing Tumblr of hopping on a trend to make a few bucks and exploit users, let me tell you that it is actually just a parody. While Tumblr is definitely selling the blue check mark at $7.99 it’s more of a joke item presented by the company and does not give users any other benefits! It is a one-time payment and not an actual monthly subscription. Users can buy the blue check mark from Tumblr’s web store and basically get what they’d expect in return, a blue check. That’s all! Well, two blue checks to be precise. Tumblr is actually providing its users with not one, but two blue check marks just to have an edge over other social media platforms.

While introducing this new feature, Tumblr’s official post read – “Hi! We’re introducing Important Blue Internet Checkmarks here on Tumblr. They’re a steal at $7.99—that’s cheaper than some other places, when you consider that you get not one but TWO checkmarks for your blog on web only (for now). Why, you ask? Why not? Nothing matters! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”

While all fun and games, Tumblr was also specific that the blue check marks do not really mean identity verification. While sharing the properties of the important checkmarks Tumblr mentioned – “This is not a verification status, it’s an important Blue Internet Checkmark, which in 2022 is just as legit. Also the Important Blue Internet Checkmark may turn into a bunch of crabs at any time”

It is quite evident that Tumblr is poking fun at Twitter’s latest $8 subscription model that allows users to get verified on the platform. It will be interesting to see if Tumblr’s ‘shitposting’ business model allows it to float its boat!

 

 

Twitter may face bankruptcy soon

We could be watching Twitter go from a prominent social media platform to a thing of the past in real-time! Elon Musk recently took charge of Twitter after a 44 billion acquisition and quickly started making radical changes to the platform ranging from the $8 verified check and suspending accounts left and right. These decisions made by Musk have surely changed people’s perception of the platform as it is facing a considerable backlash. Now, it looks like Twitter is facing a threat of bankruptcy, as Elon himself has raised this concern.

Twitter to face bankruptcy?

Bloomberg was one of the first portals to report that Twitter is facing a bankruptcy threat. Twitter’s new CEO Elon Musk has raised concerns about the social media platform going bankrupt on the same day Twitter received a warning from a United States regulator. Musk told Twitter employees that he could not rule out bankruptcy just two weeks after buying the company. As per reports, Musk held the first meeting with his Twitter employees recently where he warned that the company may end up losing billions of dollars in 2023.

According to Musk, the company was losing more than $4 million on a daily basis as more and more advertisers started fleeing the platform once he took over. Reports suggest that the massive 44 billion deal to buy Twitter has reportedly put Twitter’s finances in a precarious position. Reports suggest that Twitter was brought by Musk with $13 billion in debt, on which it faces interest payments of $1.2 billion in the next 12 months. These payments exceed Twitter’s disclosed cash flow of $1.1 billion.

If the bankruptcy threat is actually looming over Twitter then Elon’s $8 Twitter Blue subscription could become the shining light in the dark. However, with easy access to a verified mark, more and more parody accounts are popping up on the platform which is exactly the opposite of what Musk promised. Twitter’s boss now has to figure out how to manage the parody accounts menace while also dealing with the bankruptcy threat.

 

Tech companies cut jobs as revenues plummet

Many employees working in tech companies will have to face a cold winter as the industry is cutting down jobs left and right. Job layoffs in the tech industry are piling up as more and more companies adjust to the new reality of plummeting revenues. While Meta and Twitter’s layoffs led to a number of headlines around the internet, there are many other tech players who have downsized their workforce. Broadly, the tech industry has experienced a string of layoffs in 2022 due to volatile economic conditions. Here is a look at the tech giants who ordered mass layoffs in 2022 –

Meta

It was only a few days back when we reported that Meta is planning its biggest layoff since its inception. Facebook parent company Meta revealed that the fourth quarter of the year pushed back its market cap and stocks to their lowest since 2016. Whereas, due to Zuckerberg’s commitment to the Metaverse, its Reality Labs division has reportedly lost $9.4 billion. Meta has slashed 13% of its staff which is more than 11,000 employees. As advertisers cut back on spending due to rising inflation, Meta’s revenue has taken a hit. However, Zuckerberg has stated that employees losing their jobs will receive 16 weeks of pay and two additional weeks for every year of service. Meta will also cover health insurance for six months for the fired employees.

Coinbase

Back in June, Coinbase announced that it will cut down 18% of its employee strength translating to a reduction of 1100 people. As the crypto market takes a nose dive, Coinbase too has lost over 80% of its value in 2022 itself. Those laid off received a minimum of 14 weeks of severance pay. The company’s announcement also revealed that it provided four months of mental health support to laid-off employees globally.

 Microsoft

It was only back in October when Microsoft confirmed that they have let go less than 1% of its employees. The layoffs affected less than 1,000 employees according to reports going around on the web. The announcement by Microsoft came after the company witnessed its slowest revenue growth in more than half a decade in the third quarter of 2022.

Netflix

Netflix announced two rounds of layoffs in 2022. Back in May, the streaming giant eliminated 150 jobs after it witnessed the first subscriber loss in a decade. Then in June 2022, Netflix announced another layoff of 300 employees. Netflix’s stock has dropped below 50% in 2022.

Twitter

Shortly after Twitter was brought by billionaire Elon Musk, he cut around 3700 employees from the company. Musk stated that the company did not have any choice but to lay off a considerable chunk of employees as Twitter is losing over $4 million per day. Twitter has offered three months of severance pay to its laid-off employees.

 

Facebook-parent Meta planning mass layoffs

It looks like the tech industry cannot seem to catch a break. It was only a few days back when reports about Twitter laying a big chunk of its global employees after Elon Musk took command of the platform. The layoffs have also affected Twitter employees based in India. Now, it looks like Facebook-parent Meta is also gearing up to scale down on its workforce. As per reports doing the rounds on the internet, Meta is planning to begin large-scale layoffs as early as this week!

Meta mass layoffs

Wall Street Journal was one of the first portals to report on this shocking development. As of September 2022, Meta reported a total of over 87,000 employees worldwide across multiple platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and messaging platform WhatsApp. This number will witness a considerable nosedive after the mass layoffs start happening. As per reports, company officials have already notified employees to cancel any nonessential travel from the start of this week.

This planned layoff would mark the first-ever downscale by Meta in the company’s 18-year history. The layoffs in percentage are considerably smaller than the job cuts at Twitter inc. which Thanos snapped almost half of its workforce. However, this could be the largest layoff to date in a major tech corporation. WSJ reached out to Meta for a comment but a spokesperson declined to do so.

The layoff news comes just two weeks after Meta reported that its profits halved to $4.4 billion in the third quarter of 2022. This is a significant drop from $9.2 billion a year earlier. Meta has also revealed that its revenue slipped to US 27.7 billion from USD 29 billion a year earlier. Meta shares at USD 105 now cost less than a third of what they did at the start of the year. The tech corporation is undoubtedly in a difficult position right now facing issues like stagnating user numbers and cuts in advertising budgets. It will be interesting to see whether Meta’s comeback is stronger than its setback!

 

 

Impersonators on Twitter will be banned permanently, says Musk

If you haven’t been under the rocks for the past few weeks then I am sure you know Elon Musk is now the new Twitter boss. After an expensive acquisition, Elon Musk bought the micro-blogging app and is bringing upon several changes to the platform. One of his most controversial changes to Twitter (besides mass layoffs) has been the $8 Twitter Blue fee which allows users to get a verified check. Many on the platform have argued that allowing people to pay a certain monthly payment for a verified status on Twitter could lead to an epitome of impersonators of famous celebrities and politicians on the platform. Musk himself is not safe as a slew of Elon impersonators were seen popping up like mushrooms on Twitter. It looks like the Twitter boss finally has a crackdown on this menace.

Impersonators to be banned from Twitter

Elon recently Tweeted – ‘Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended’ This news comes just a few days after Twitter suspended several users who had changed their usernames to Elon Musk to impersonate the billionaire. Some high-profile celebrities also hopped on the trend and face consequences including comedian Kath Griffin whose account has now been suspended.

Musk also shared that previously a warning was issued before account suspension on the platform. However, the new rules do not give users such a luxury as their accounts will be discarded swiftly. Accepting that users won’t impersonate any known face is also a condition they would have to agree to while signing up on Twitter Blue. Musk wrote – ‘Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning. This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue.’

This won’t be all as any changes to a Twitter Blue username will temporarily lose the verified checkmark! This decision by Elon has yet again sparked the debate of whether the billionaire is actually the champion of free speech that he has vocally advertised himself and Twitter to be.

Instagram has no plans to build an iPad app

Being an iPad user and operating Instagram has always been a frustrating experience. Once you’ve bought the iPad you expect it to be compatible with all the applications present in the iPhone with an even better experience. While that is indeed true for most applications out there, the same cannot be said for Instagram. Being an iPad user myself, it gets frustrating to operate Instagram on a small vertical screen without proper integration of the iPad’s widescreen. Well, it looks like the pains of iPad users are not going to be fixed by Instagram, but there’s a silver lining to this cloud!

iPad Instagram web interface gets better

Our friendly neighborhood tech enthusiasts at The Verge were one of the first people to notice the changes in the web interface of Instagram on the iPad. While there is no specific app design for Instagram on the iPad, a slightly redesigned version of Instagram on the web can be seen. This new design includes a navigation sidebar with links to options like search, explore, notifications, and messages. These options were previously placed unlabelled at the top of the screen.

The Verge received a statement from Meta spokesperson Christine Pai where it was revealed that the company is working on improving the instagram.com web experience for users. The recent changes have been described as updates to ‘modernize’ Instagram web with the inclusion of improved navigation, optimization of video experience, and the introduction of a more ‘immersive’ way to DM.

This surely does not fill the shoes of having a dedicated application designed for the tablet experience but it’s a step in the right direction nonetheless. It was only back in February when Adam Mosseri, the Head of Instagram had written that creating an iPad-specific Instagram app was not on their priority list. It looks like nothing has changed since then!

Elon Musk proposes $8 per month for Twitter blue tick

The new owner of Twitter is ready to shake up how the app works from the ground above. Elon Musk recently took control of Twitter after completing his $44 billion acquisition the past week. A lot has happened ever since Musk took command of Twitter, be it him walking into the headquarters with a sink in his hands or key staff members and the board of directors being shown the front door. While it was expected that Musk will make radical changes to the platform, people were not expecting that there will be a change in how accounts are verified with the blue tick. It looks like users will now have to pay a monthly fee in order to keep their verified status on Twitter!

$8 for blue tick on Twitter

Musk had some strong views to share on Twitter’s verification policy. He described the current system as a ‘lords & peasants system calling it ‘bullshit’. Elon wants to bring a change in the Twitter verification system with it being available only to Twitter Blue subscribers at the price of $8 per month.

A verified tick is not the only feature as Blue members will also get more benefits with the $8 price tag. Twitter won’t be an entirely ad-free experience for Blue users but they will see ‘Half as many ads’. Additionally, Blue members will also get priority in tweet replies, mentions, and search. Another feature catering to creators on the internet is the ability to be able to post longer video and audio content. Twitter Blue will also come with a paywall bypass feature that will directly work with publishers that collab with the platform. According to the Twitter boss, Blue subscription will be differently adjusted by country. Twitter Blue has not been introduced yet in India and it will be interesting to see at what price the subscription is introduced here.

Naturally, the decision has faced a lot of backlash on the platform. Many blue tick verified users have expressed their disappointment over the new rule. However, Elon Musk won’t be backing down from his decision.

 

 

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