Elon Musk Twitter Takeover Updates: Frantic Workers, Chaotic Demands
Elon Musk was bought out within 96 hours san francisco Technology giant Twitter has triggered large aftershocks on the platform and elsewhere.
But with all of Musk’s tweets and whiplash-inducing decisions, it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on in the Twitterverse. Here’s an ongoing liveblog of everything the Tesla CEO does as a “chief twit.”
Elon Musk allegedly snaps Tesla employees for Twitter
Oct 31 at 3:15 p.m
Tesla software engineers are not interchangeable with Twitter software engineers as their respective jobs require them to navigate different skillsets and programming languages. But for Musk, it reportedly makes no difference.
Musk, according to a CNBC report Monday, grabs around 50 software engineers from Tesla and two other Musk-owned companies for his grand plans to revive Vine and change the verification process on Twitter. (CNBC famously fell for a prank on Friday while interviewing seemingly fired Twitter employees; one of the employees gave an NSFW name.) While most Tesla engineers have limited knowledge of the inner workings of Twitter, CNBC notes tight apparently, they’re pulling through for Musk in hopes of putting themselves in favor with the Chief Twit. It’s not just low-level employees. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s director of software development, is among the workers reportedly recruited to the Twitter appearance.
CNBC also noted that some Twitter employees who stayed were ordered to work 84-hour weeks — 12 hours a day, seven days a week — with no promises of job stability or even overtime.
Celebs are dropping Twitter left and right
October 31, 1:45 p.m
At least a few well-known celebrities are Escape from Twitter in an apparent boycott by its new owner. Among them, according to a CBS News list: legendary “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunner Shonda Rhimes, singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles and actress Téa Leoni.
It appears that LeBron James is also on the run after a report stating that use of the N-word has increased fivefold after news of Musk’s ownership broke. “…if that’s true,” James wrote in a tweet on Saturday, “I hope he and his people take this very seriously because this is scary AF.” So many bloody inept people say hate speech is free speech.”
Elon Musk wants to revive Vine
Oct 31, 1:30 p.m
It looks like Elon Musk and his army of VC cronies are researching and developing Twitter based on polls and his responses. After a poll Musk tweeted Sunday it looks like he has plans to revive Vine, the Twitter-owned short-form video service that met its demise in 2016. In many ways, the 6-second video service was a precursor to the now ubiquitous TikTok. But it would have to compete in a marketplace where every app, from YouTube to Instagram, has a short-form video feature, all primarily ripped off from TikTok.
On Monday morning, Axios reports that Musk is hiring engineers to examine Vine’s codebase, seemingly in hopes of reviving the failed video app. The code hasn’t been updated in six years, the outlet reported.
At least Musk has a high-profile internet celebrity intrigued: YouTuber MrBeast, who said“If you did that and actually competed with Tik Tok, that would be hilarious.” Musk replied, “What could we do to make it better than TikTok?”
Elon Musk wants blue checks paid
Oct 31, 12 p.m
Musk seems to be loudly spitting out ideas to generate revenue from his billion-dollar impulse purchase. On Sunday when the edge First reported, Musk announced plans to charge anyone who wants Twitter verification — or a blue check — $20 a month. That’s a healthy part of the change to compute a previously free function that most people don’t think twice about. That’s more than Netflix and (ad-supported) Hulu combined for a feature that 81% of Twitter users wouldn’t pay for At least according to a poll Jason Calacanis tweeted on Sunday. (Musk simply replied, “Interesting.”)
To make things even weirder, The Verge reported that Musk is moving forward full steam ahead and is reportedly ordering engineers to develop the feature by next Monday, November 7th or be fired.
The San Francisco VCs advise Elon Musk on Twitter
Oct 31, 12 p.m
Two of the most prominent figures in Musk-era Twitter aren’t Twitter executives or even other social media bigwigs. They are venture capitalists from San Francisco – one of them is also a conservative political heavyweight.
San Francisco-based venture capitalists Jason Calacanis and David Sacks, the The latter put money into it the recalls of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Unified School Board are both key players in this new era for the social media giant.
“For those asking, yes I’m hanging out on Twitter a bit just trying to be as helpful as possible during the transition.” Calacanis tweeted Sunday afternoon.
But the The Washington Post reported on Monday that both Calacanis and Sacks are listed as “Staff Software Engineers” in Twitter’s internal directory and have official company emails, suggesting that they have a formal role to play in the new age of Twitter.
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