Twitter is dead, long live Twitter!: this seems to be the message sent by Elon Musk to his detractors on November 17.
The billionaire and new social media boss was crucified and mocked on the platform after a large wave of employees decided to leave the company following the ultimatum given to them on November 16.
"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," the billionaire wrote in an email to employees.
"If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below," he continued. "Anyone who has not done so by 5pm ET tomorrow (Thursday) will receive three months of severance."
HQ Closed
But while Musk had hoped the number of employees choosing to leave would be manageable, he found himself with a significant surge, which may pose risks to Twitter's business and the entire platform. All of this caused confusion because the company no longer knew who was going to have access to the premises and its assets.
As a result, Musk has decided to close its offices until Monday, November 21.
"Effective immediately, we are temporarily closing our office buildings and all badge access will be suspended," the company wrote in a memo sent to employees. "Offices will reopen on Monday, November 21st."
"Thank you for your flexibility. Please continue to comply with company policy by refraining from discussing confidential company information on social media, with the press or elsewhere. We look forward to working with you on Twitter’s exciting future."
The billionaire's detractors were quick to mock him because he had already cut half the workforce, or 3,700 people, a few days ago. With these additional departures, there aren't many people left at a time when the firm is facing several challenges. For example, Twitter needs to find new sources of revenue. However, many advertisers are currently pausing their ads because they want the direction he is giving to his content management policy.
#RipTwitter
The hashtag #RipTwitter was thus trending on the social network. Many users seem convinced that the platform will struggle to survive due to a bleeding of talent.
"It’s been a pleasure tweeting with y’all for the past 13 years. #RIPTwitter," tweeted one user.
"Musk turned one of the biggest sites on the internet into a crater within a month. I never want to hear anyone call him other than a dipshit ever again.Twitter HQ RIP Twitter," commented another user.
"Well, if this is it, see you guys over here. #RIPTwitter," another user quipped.
The billionaire did not hesitate to join in this torrent of condolences. He posted a photo of a funeral that just ended. If we believe the image it is the funeral of Twitter whose grave can be seen.
He added another tweet or rather a pirate flag emoji -- a skull and crossbones displayed on a black flag.
On a more serious note, Musk had hinted earlier that Twitter would survive because the employees who stay are the best.
"Don’t wanna jinx it, but there’s a chance we can keep Twitter alive …" Musk posted.
"The best people are staying, so I’m not super worried," he wrote on Twitter despite media headlines describing a chaotic situation.
After Musk took the company private last month, he immediately fired the CEO, the CFO, and other high level executives. He also fired half of its staff by sending emails or revoking privileges from Slack or their laptops while contractors were laid off this week also without any notice.
His latest efforts to slash costs at the company have been widely publicized since he fired engineers who had long tenures at Twitter due to their disagreements with him either on the site or in the company's Slack channels, a messaging service used by employees.
His brash leadership style has also led to hasty decisions such as adding and pausing Twitter Blue, an $7.99 a month service for users to receive the once hailed blue check mark. But after many public companies such as pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (LLY) were impersonated and lost millions of dollars in market capitalization overnight, several ad and media buying agencies told their clients to stop advertising on the microblogging website.
Musk said on November 15 that a revamped Twitter Blue will be launched on Nov. 29.
