#RIPTwitter: Twitter Is 'Dying', But Elon Musk Says He's 'Not Super Worried'

As users are growingly getting dissatisfied with Twitter’s current state — as is apparent from the trending #RIPTwitter and #GoodbyeTwitter — Musk seems unfazed.

Twitter is not the same anymore. Since new chief Elon Musk introduced a monetised blue tick verification experience, the platform is chock-a-block with ‘verified’ accounts that are posting random facts about employee layoffs at the company. Of course, they are parody accounts, but until and unless that’s specified in a profile name, it’s very hard to separate facts from jokes. Additionally, Musk’s new ‘hardcore’ employee policies have apparently led to an exodus of employees from the platform. All this has led to #RIPTwitter to start trending, and incredulously, Musk maintains that he’s “not super worried”.

‘Comedy is now legal on Twitter’, but not really

Musk’s sudden monetisation of blue-tick verification on the platform, which allows anyone to get a blue-tick badge as long as they pay $7.99 per month, has led to a spate of ‘verified’ accounts posting random facts about Twitter’s state on the platform. 

Earlier, verification on Twitter was a free-of-cost process that allowed users with valid govt IDs (and official company URLs in some cases) to get the much-coveted blue tick next to their profile name following a rigid vetting process. Now, under the leadership of Musk, Twitter is giving away any paying user a blue tick, as long as they subscribe to the revamped Blue Tick service.

This has led to a surprising number of accounts that claim that they are ‘verified’, ranging from personalities such as NBA star LeBron James to Jesus Christ (you read that right). 

Now, while the blue ticks earlier helped researchers and journalists verify an account and the facts that they posted, it’s anyone’s ballgame now as there is an abundance of blue ticks and there is no way to really know who is real and who is not.

Take this post for example, by a verified user named Nick Huber, who simply said: “Musk is now running Twitter with less than 50 key employees, down for 7,500 at its peak.”

At one glance, this could seem like an insider tip, as was found earlier on the platform. However, when you check out the full Twitter thread, Huber mentions that “This thread is a joke”. 

Here’s one more instance: verified user Alex Cohen posted that he was laid off from Twitter and that he was in charge of managing badge access to Twitter offices. “Elon just called me and asked if I could come back to help them regain access to HQ as they shut off all badges and accidentally locked themselves out,” Cohen said. 

To this, Musk responded:

Now, at first glance, there is no way to figure out if this was indeed a parody account. It’s only after you visit Cohen’s profile that the bio clarifies, “Mostly parody account”.

Now, Twitter policies clearly state that a profile must clarify that it’s a parody account or it would get suspended.

After all, Twitter did suspend Emmy my-winning comedian Kathy Griffin’s account when she changed her profile name to “Elon Musk”.

But in Cohen’s case, the account was not suspended but ended up garnering a response from Musk himself. 

Musk did tweet “Comedy is now legal on Twitter”, but it appears that it’s not really the case for all.

In order to help flag verified accounts, Twitter started rolling out ‘Official’ tags, which will appear below profile names. However, a quick scan of Twitter will show you that it’s not rolled out uniformly. For now, it is only appearing on some organisations or some public profiles (like Xbox, McDonald’s, etc.), but not appearing on all public personalities such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, or even Elon Musk himself for that matter. 

Now, a video is going viral on the platform, showing a scrolling projection purportedly outside the Twitter headquarters, displaying some choice words to describe Musk, including the likes of 'petulant pimple', 'bankruptcy baby', 'supreme parasite', and more. This is being shared by verified Twitter handles and given the current Twitter hygiene, believe this at your own risk.

‘Need to be extremely hardcore’

Since taking over Twitter in late October, Musk has taken some drastic cost-cutting steps, as he said that the platform was losing $4 million on a daily basis. This includes mass layoffs. 

By the end of 2021, Twitter’s global workforce stood at around 7,500. However, in November this year, Twitter laid off nearly 50 per cent of its employees, reportedly numbering around 3,800. 

Musk also dissolved Twitter’s board of directors, leading to the exit of CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and Twitter’s head of legal, trust, and safety Vijaya Gadde.

Musk didn’t stop there. He would reportedly go on to fire at least 20 employees who criticised his actions either on Twitter or on the internal messaging platform Slack. Some employees were reportedly sacked just for retweeting posts slamming the new head.

Apparently bringing his ‘Tesla’ style of work — where he pushes employees to go all in — to Twitter, Musk has given employees an ultimatum that they have to be “extremely hardcore” at work or leave the company with three months’ severance. 

"This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade," he said. 

Remote working benefits were also killed off by Musk. 

In internal emails, Musk reportedly said managers must meet with employees in person once a week or at least monthly. He added that managers themselves could be sacked for allowing those employees to work remotely who, in his view, do not prove to be “excellent” or “exceptional”.

As per media reports, Musk’s new work policy has led to even more resignations from employees across the board. 

‘I’m not super worried’

As users are growingly getting dissatisfied with Twitter’s current state — as is apparent from the trending #RIPTwitter — Musk seems unfazed. He posted only a couple hours ago, “We just hit another all-time high in Twitter usage lol”.

When user Dave Portnoy asked Musk if Twitter would shut down, Musk simply replied, “The best people are staying, so I’m not super worried”.

Crypto enthusiasts aren’t a stranger to this behaviour of Musk. After all, his admittedly witty promotion of Dogecoin (DOGE) has sent prices of the cryptocurrency soaring on occasions, eventually leading to worrying lows. 

Does a similar fate await Twitter? Only time will tell.