Elon Musk Twitter Takeover LIVE: 'Should Assange And Snowden Be Pardoned?', Asks Elon Musk In New Twitter Poll
Elon Musk is bringing in several changes to Twitter following his $44-billion takeover. Follow this live blog for the latest updates.
Background
Elon Musk took over Twitter on October 27 after months of negotiations and surprise u-turns. After Twitter accepted the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s $44-billion deal, Musk quickly moved to bring...More
"The more Twitter improves its signal to noise ratio, the less relevant conventional news becomes," Elon Musk tweeted.
'Should Assange and Snowden be pardoned?', asks Elon Musk in new Twitter poll
Micro-blogging platform Twitter is giving generous incentives to brands, in a bid to lure advertisers that it has lost after the chaotic takeover by tech billionaire Elon Musk, the media has reported. Big brands such as luxury automakers Audi and Ford, tech behemoths HP and Dell, Facebook parent Meta Coca-Cola, Verizon, AT&T, Wells Fargo, American Express and Chanel among other advertisers have either pulled ads from Twitter or have publicly confirmed they are stopping ads from the social media platform, says a report by Media Matters For America.
Click here to read the full report.
New Twitter boss and tech billionaire Elon Musk met with Apple CEO Tim Cook and tweeted that a misunderstanding regarding Twitter being removed from Apple App Store has been cleared. This comes within a week of Musk claiming that Apple has stopped most of its advertising on the micro-blogging platform and accused the company of threatening to withdraw the platform from its App Store.
Tesla co-founder and new Twitter CEO Elon Musk said that there was "probability of a severe recession" in 2023. In a reply to a tweet, Elon Musk said that the US Federal Bank needs to cut interest rates "immediately" to prevent a recession. According to Musk, increased interest rates by Fed are massively amplifying the "probability of a severe recession".
Twitter’s new boss Elon Musk may have said that the company will launch the revamped blue tick verification soon, but the Blue subscription may not become available as an in-app purchase for Apple devices, in an attempt to do away with Apple's 30 per cent cut of App Store purchases, the media has reported.
Twitter chief Elon Musk may soon increase the character limit of tweets from 280 characters to 1,000 characters, if his 'To-Do' list is to be believed. A user, in a tweet, gave an idea to Musk to expand the character limit of tweets to 1,000 to which Musk responded: "It’s on the todo list." With various tweets coming from the 'chief twit' over the last few chaotic weeks, it seems a hike in the character limit of tweets is imminent.
The White House is keeping a "close eye" on Twitter under Elon Musk and will not allow the platform to incite violence against individual communities, as the world's richest man again vouched for free speech. During a media briefing, a White House spokesperson said late on Monday that the relevant authorities are "keeping track of" what is going on Twitter at the moment.
Twitter CEO, Elon Musk on Tuesday came up with an announcement stating that ‘Twitter Files’ will be published soon which will reveal the company’s internal files on suspension of free speech on the microblogging site. “The Twitter Files on free speech suppression soon to be published on Twitter itself,” Musk tweeted, adding “the public deserves to know what really happened.”
Twitter chief Elon Musk on Monday said Apple has stopped most of its advertising on the social media platform and accused the company of threatening to withdraw the platform from its app store. In a tweet, Musk questioned if the iPhone maker hates free speech saying, "Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?"
The new Twitter CEO, Elon Musk does not like the concept of "work from home". He is trying to replicate the Tesla model of working at Twitter. Ever since Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, he has been pressing for work from the office, and not from home. Among the first few changes he introduced after taking over as the Twitter CEO was to call everyone to office.
He has clarified that working from home is a very rare and conditional option for Twitter employees. Recently, he even tweeted about eligibility for the work-from-home facility. Musk stated that the primary eligibility for working from home is "excellence".
After taking over Twitter, Elon Musk monetised the platform's blue-tick verification for $7.99 per month. This had led to several users coming out in support of the move, while some being vehemently opposed to it. On November 28, however, Musk took to Twitter to announce that he has been paying $8 as well.
Twitter faced a minor dip in service, Musk tweeted on November 28. He said that the issue was caused due to an "old" third-party tool that was used to block accounts that had no rate limit (which refers to limiting network traffic). The CEO confirmed that the issue has been fixed.
A new day and a new update on Elon Musk’s Twitter. This time about the character limit for tweets. Reacting to a suggestion on increasing the character limit to 420, the tech billionaire said it’s a “good idea”. It started when the Twitter CEO shared a series of slides that claims new user signups are at an "all-time high," user active minutes have increased and hate speech impersonations had dropped.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Sunday claimed that new user signups are at an "all-time high," as he dealt with a large migration of advertisers and users moving to alternative platforms due to concerns about verification and hate speech. As of November 16, signups were averaging over two million per day, up 66 percent from the same week in 2021, Musk stated in a tweet.
Simpsons predicted Twitter takeover in 2015: Elon Musk tweets
Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Saturday said that he had reinstated former US President Donald Trump back on the platform, as Trump did not violate any law and the micro-blogging "platform must be fair to all".
The saga started when a user tweeted, "It's been a week since @elonmusk brought Trump back... and without him even tweeting once..."
Musk replied: "I'm fine with Trump not tweeting. The important thing is that Twitter correct a grave mistake in banning his account, despite no violation of the law or terms of service."
"As a reminder, I was a significant supporter of the Obama-Biden presidency and (reluctantly) voted for Biden over Trump," he added.
"But Twitter as a platform must be fair to all," he said.
Several users expressed their thoughts on Musk's tweet.
While one commented, "I truly hope we have moderate candidates that don't go too far either direction," another said, "Why do you have to say it publicly? people will judge you for your choice and maybe they will stop liking twitter. Twitter must be neutral, without political opinion."
Based on a poll, Twitter CEO on November 20 had announced that former US President Trump was allowed to rejoin the micro-blogging platform.
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Elon Musk is still in the firing mode at Twitter amid the Thanksgiving festivities, as several coders who were brought back after a massive lay off as part of "knowledge transition", are being shown the door again in the name of "code review".
Ikuhiro Ihara, a highly-respected Twitter coder who made the transition from 140-character to 280-character happen, has been fired unceremoniously.
"One of the people fired Musk's latest purge was Ikuhiro Ihara, a highly-respected senior software engineer who helped lead the push to expand tweets to 280 characters," tweeted Casey Newton of Platformer.
"Ihara fought relentlessly for 280 in the face of strong scepticism from top executives. He co-authored the blog post explaining the value of 280 characters when it launched," Newton said.
Tech writer Gergely Orosz said that the night before Thanksgiving, Twitter fired more software engineers effective immediately because their "code is not satisfactory" following the recent code review.
"Dozens of other developers for performance warnings in their inboxes," Orosz tweeted.
"The stories get wilder. I cannot emphasise how these are real people in tech. And yet, Musk and management at Twitter treat them like cattle. Why fire someone, call them back telling them they are 'critical' then fire them again a few weeks later?" he posted.
A Twitter employee said that he was laid off from Twitter in early November and was told "I will receive 3 months of pay as severance."
"I was called back shortly after that because they think I am 'critical talent' and was asked to do documentation and provide 'code samples'. Last night, I was abruptly fired without any reason and was offered 4 weeks' severance for signing release of claims agreement. Any employment lawyers, please DM me if you can help. I am on H1B and only have 60 days to find a new job during the holidays," the employee posted on Twitter.
After sacking about 50 per cent of its workforce, Musk also fired employees who criticised his actions either on Twitter or on internal messaging platform Slack and some were sacked just for retweeting posts slamming the new Twitter CEO.
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George Hotz, a popular iPhone hacker, says he has been hired by Elon Musk as an intern to fix Twitter Search within 12 weeks.
On November 17, Hotz tweeted that he was "down" for a 12-week internship at the microblogging platform for cost of living at San Francisco (where Twitter is headquartered). To this, Musk replied, "Sure, let's talk."
In another tweet on November 22, Hotz said that he will also try to get rid of the login popup that appears on Twitter after your scroll a little.
It should be noted that Musk didn't confirm the internship from his end as of yet.
Twitter chief Elon Musk announced that the microblogging site will offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts from next week after 72.4 per cent of users who participated in the Twitter poll voted in favour of it.
Elon Musk on November 24 tweeted that some users might notice a boost in speeds while using the microblogging platform, " especially significant in countries far away from USA". The new CEO promised to increase overall speed on the platform, and it looks like he is finally delivering on the same.
Twitter has successfully cut down hate speech on the platform considerably, new chief Elon Musk claimed on Thursday. Under Musk’s strict revamp plans, Twitter claims to have come down hard on bots and abusive accounts, and now it appears that the new modus operandi is showing some results. Musk’s announcement comes after he shared a poll on Twitter, asking users if he should offer “general amnesty” to suspended accounts. Previously suspended accounts, like that of former US President Donald Trump and rapper Kanye West, have also returned to the platform recently.
Twitter chief Elon Musk on Wednesday once again proposed a poll on the microblogging site asking users whether the platform should offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts. The poll is in line with the strategy used last week ago for reinstating former US president Donald Trump.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk has suggested that the company may lock users in virtual jails for violating its policies. A Twitter follower shared a suggestion for Musk to improve the micro-blogging site by putting users in "Twitter jail". "Twit suggestion 2: Twitter Jail! Share both the reason for ban, number of violations, as well as when account will be freed," the user posted. Musk replied: "Agreed".
The Twitter user also suggested another change in order to improve the microblogging platform. "Twit suggestion: Add Reach statistic to the Tweet Activity button. Impressions stat is cool to look at but not very useful," the user posted. Musk said: "Good idea."
Elon Musk, in a tweet on Wednesday, took a swipe at Twitter critics who claimed that Twitter would soon shut down if it stays on the revamp path set by the company's new chief. He tweeted, "Wasn’t Twitter supposed to die by now or something … ?"
Watch this to find out what Twitter's new owner Elon Musk found in the closet at the headquarters of the micro-blogging site.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk reportedly said that the microblogging platform is done with laying off employees, and is looking to hire again. This development comes days after the company laid off nearly two-thirds of its nearly 7,500 employees across the globe. The recent firings have been a part of Musk’s plans to revamp Twitter, which he said was losing millions of dollars on a daily basis under the current economic meltdown owing to macroeconomic factors such as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the post-Covid bubble burst, which also affected several major tech players such as Amazon and Facebook-parent Meta.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday said that he is putting on hold the relaunch of Blue Verified until there is high confidence of stopping impersonation. He said that he might use different colour check for organizations and individuals.
Twitter alternative Hive Social has seen a boost in new sign-ups since users started switching to other social media platforms after Elon Musk's takeover of the micro-blogging platform. Due to the ongoing deterioration of the situation at Twitter, Hive is currently ranked among the top 20 in the US App Store, reports TechCrunch. Founded in 2019 by Kassandra Pop, Hive is not a Twitter clone but a Generation Z-focused social platform which combines ideas from many other social-media applications, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even MySpace.
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk who has remained firm in the eye of the storm, has made desi Twitter happy with his 'Namaste' tweet to his critics. The billionaire entrepreneur has posted about Indian connections quite often in his posts. The salutation gesture from Musk went on to garner hilarious reactions from Twitterati.
The US government is now looking into whether Elon Musk's foreign investment partners have access to users' private data on the micro-blogging platform, as he plans another round of layoffs. Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that the government is asking for more details about Musk's private agreements with global investors who hold stakes in the company. These investors include Saudi Arabia's Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud and the Qatar Investment Authority.
Micro-blogging site Twitter's Head of France, Damien Viel has announced he is leaving the company amid upcoming additional layoffs at the embattled platform under its new boss Elon Musk, the media has reported. In a tweet, Viel announced his departure from Twitter amid a staff exodus at the company and further expected job cuts.
Elon Musk’s hostile $44-billion takeover of Twitter has made the microblogging platform a strange place to be in, to say the least. For starters, former US President Donald Trump is back on Twitter after a 22-month-long suspension (he was removed for allegedly inciting the US Capitol riots in January 2021).
Kanye West, who was recently banned from Twitter on account of making anti-semitic comments, is back on the micro-blogging site. The rapper was welcomed by Elon Musk, who tweeted, "Don’t kill what ye hate Save what ye love."
Former United States president Donald Trump's Twitter account "reappeared" on the microblogging site on Saturday after Elon Musk announced lifting a 22-month suspension of the account. Trump's account was suspended over incitement of violence at the US Capitol Hill on January 6 last year. The reinstatement of Trump's account came after Twitter chief Elon Musk conducted a poll wherein votes in favour of revoking the ban won by a margin of 4 percent.
However, Trump said that he had no interest in returning to Twitter and added that he will continue with his new platform, Truth Social which he said was doing "phenomenally well" and has better user engagement than Twitter.
Billionaire Elon Musk is planning to fire more Twitter employees on Monday targeting the social media platform’s sales and partnership departments after it witnessed mass resignations from engineers last week. Those who left included employees in technical roles compared to those in sales, partnerships, and similar roles, according to the sources cited by Bloomberg. On Friday, Musk directed leaders in those organisations to look for firing more employees.
What do a cybersecurity researcher building a system to generate alerts for detecting security threats and vulnerabilities, a wildfire watcher who tracks the spread of forest fires, and public health professionals trying to predict enrollment in health insurance exchanges have in common? They all rely on analyzing data from Twitter. Whether it is people tweeting about their favourite sports teams, or organisations and public figures using Twitter to reach a mass audience, Twitter has been part of the collective record for over a decade.
Amid widespread layoffs and resignations, Twitter's new owner Elon Musk asked engineers to fly to Twitter headquarters for an in-person meeting on Friday, reported Reuters. Elon Musk emailed Twitter staff asking that any employees who write software code report to the 10th floor of Twitter’s office in San Francisco.
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