Billionaire Elon Musk sent a tidal wave of hurt into the cultural core of Twitter, locking out staff and sacking by email up to 3,750 of them, about half the social media platform's work force.
At the same time, an increasing number of advertisers paused spending as they tried to work out whether or not Twitter, for which Musk paid $US44 billion, is a safe place for brands under the control of the world’s richest man.
Musk, who now uses the Twitter handle of Chief Twit, appeared ready to retaliate, to back a public boycott against such advertisers.
He has blamed activists for the social media platform’s woes, tweeting: “Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.”
He told the Financial Times: “I’m not doing Twitter for the money. It’s not like I’m trying to buy some yacht and I can’t afford it. I don’t own any boats.
"But I think it’s important that people have a maximally trusted and inclusive means of exchanging ideas and that it should be as trusted and transparent as possible.”
Staff took to the social media platform with the hashtag #LoveWhereYouWorked.
One wrote: “End of an era. This is a brutal way to go after 10 years, but Twitter isn’t defined by last night. It’s defined by the culture *we* made, the lifelong friendships, how we supported each other, the damn good work we did along the way. You’re my people forever.”
Twitter in Australia was affected with some local staff going to LInkedIn to mark their departure. Other international sites reported layoffs of 70% to 90%.
Sydney-based Katherine Gallo, deputy curation lead: “Today, my entire team was laid off from Twitter. I’m heartbroken because when I left my previous job at SBS I thought I wasn’t going to find another place I loved so much so quickly. But I did. It’s the people that made Twitter so special. What’s next for me? I’m not sure.”
The first indication of the sackings came in an email to staff.
Twitter said offices would be temporarily closed "to help ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data”.
The email, according to staff:
Many then guessed they were on the layoff list because they couldn’t access internal systems.
Musk said he had little choice, with the platform losing $US4 million a day, but to cut staff numbers.
More advertisers have paused their ad spend at Twitter. They include GM, General Mills, Audi.
And media agencies, including Havas and IPG, are advising clients to be cautious.
Musk appeared ready to retaliate. A supporter suggested Musk: “Name and shame the advertisers who are succumbing to the advertiser boycott. So we can counter-boycott them.”
The billionaire replied: "A thermonuclear name & shame is exactly what will happen if this continues."
Media Matters, a not-for-profit monitoring misinformation in the US media and part of a coalition concerned by Musk’s takeover, has targeted Twitter’s top 20 advertisers:
“We, the undersigned organisations, call on you to notify Musk and publicly commit that you will cease all advertising on Twitter globally if he follows through on his plans to undermine brand safety and community standards including gutting content moderation.
“This means that Musk must not roll back the basic moderation practices Twitter already has on the books now and must commit to actually enforcing those rules.”
Jack Dorsey, who founded Twitter in 2006, took some responsibility for the state of the business: “Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realise many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologise for that.”
Research at Montclair State University In the US shows the use of hate speech terms increased in the hours following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter.
The study suggests that certain users were celebrating a reduction in perceived speech constraints.
“The idea of reducing moderation on social media has always led to the spread of hate and conspiracies. This is particularly dangerous to young people on platforms,” said Bond Benton, a Montclair professor who contributed to the study.
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