Twitter changes under Elon Musk

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Twitter changes under Elon Musk is the summation of the controversial alterations made to the prominent social media company Twitter, Inc. and its user interface after billionaire businessman Elon Musk acquired it in October 2022.

Twitter before Musk

User Experience

Twitter is a social media platform that allows users to send and receive short messages called tweets. It was launched in 2006 and has since become one of the most popular social networks in the world, with over 368 million monthly active users. [1] Twitter allows users to share text, images, and videos, and also supports livestreaming. The platform also has a feature called "trending topics" which highlights popular keywords or hashtags that many users are tweeting about. The tweets are short and limited to 280 characters, which makes it easy for users to consume and share large amounts of information quickly. [2] Twitter has been used for a wide range of purposes, including sharing news, promoting businesses, and connecting with friends and family. It has also played a role in political and social movements, as it allows individuals and organizations to quickly share information with a large audience.

Early Years

Twitter was founded in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams (Noah Glass is also sometimes credited as a co-founder). The original concept behind Twitter was to create a platform that would allow people to send short, text-based updates, known as tweets, to a network of contacts. [3] In 2007, Twitter received its first investment from venture capitalist firm, Union Square Ventures. [4] The following year, in 2008, the company received additional funding from other venture capital firms and angel investors, which allowed them to expand the platform and hire more employees. In 2009, Twitter was incorporated and moved its headquarters to San Francisco. [5] The company continued to grow and expand its user base, and in 2010, it received a significant investment from digital media company, Digital Sky Technologies. [6] This investment helped Twitter to expand its international presence and develop new features, such as the ability to include photos and videos in tweets.

Initial Public Offering

Twitter's initial public offering (IPO) took place on November 7, 2013. The company offered 70 million shares at $26 per share, which raised $1.8 billion. [7] The shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "TWTR." The offering was one of the most highly anticipated technology IPOs in recent years, and the stock opened 73% above the offer price. However, the stock price quickly fell and never reached the initial price again. In the following months and years, Twitter struggled to maintain its growth and user engagement, leading to a decline in its stock price and calls for change in leadership. [8]

Leadership Changes

Jack Dorsey served as CEO from the company's launch until 2008. During his initial tenure, Dorsey oversaw Twitter's growth from a small startup to a publicly traded company. However, he was criticized for his management style and was eventually forced to step down. [9] He then returned to the company as CEO in 2015, taking on the role of trying to turn around the company's fortunes after a period of slow growth and declining stock prices following its 2013 IPO. [10] Dorsey set out to revamp the company's strategy, focusing on improving user engagement and expanding the platform's capabilities. He also worked to make the platform more accessible to new users and to increase revenue through advertising and data licensing. [11]

Under Dorsey's leadership, Twitter launched new features like live streaming, expanded its advertising capabilities and introduced a 280 character limit to tweets. He also sought to improve the company's relationship with developers, and worked to improve the company's transparency and accountability. Despite these efforts, Dorsey faced criticism for Twitter's slow growth and inability to address issues of harassment and misinformation on the platform. [12]

In 2021, it was announced that Dorsey would be stepping down as CEO of Twitter, and that Parag Agrawal would succeed him. [13] Agrawal served as CEO from November 2021 until October 27, 2022, when he was fired by Elon Musk. [14]

Acquisition by Musk

Background

Elon Musk officially acquired twitter in a $44 billion deal on October 27, 2022. He had previously been the platform's largest shareholder, owning 9.2% of the company from share purchases totaling approximately $3 billion that he began in April 2022. [15] He initially declined an offer to join Twitter's board after accumulating such a large ownership stake, but later changed his mind and made an offer to buy the company at $54.20 per share. His publicly stated plans for the company included loosening its content moderation rules and open sourcing its recommendation algorithms. [16] He also planned to purge bots and scammers from the platform after growing frustrated with Twitter's leadership, accusing them of lying about bot prevalence. [17] Despite disagreement between himself and Twitter's Board of Directors, Musk agreed to buy the company. He tweeted "the bird is freed" after finalizing the acquisition. The tweet received over 2 million likes, and even more reactions. [18]

Mass Layoffs

Immediately after taking over the company, numerous top executives were fired by Musk "for cause" in a move that would avoid severance payments and unvested stock options. [19] This included Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, who was in line for a payday of $38.7 million. [20] Other notable executives fired along with Agrawal included Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, legal chief Vijaya Gadde, and general counsel Sean Edgett. Executives who resigned included, but were not limited to, Sarah Personette, Chief Customer Officer; Dalana Brand, Chief People and Diversity Officer; Leslie Berland, Chief Marketing Officer; Jay Sullivan, General Manager of Consumer and Revenue Product; Nick Caldwell, General Manager for Core Technologies; and Robert Kaiden, Chief Accounting Officer. [21]

Besides the executives, Twitter also laid off thousands across all company departments. Twitter had about 7,500 workers prior to Musk’s takeover, and roughly 3,700 were laid off in cost-cutting measures. [22] According to employee posts, many had already been locked out of their company email accounts hours ahead of the planned layoff notification.

Reactions

Musk's purchase immediately fueled waves of support, along with backlash, from many celebrities and political figures.

Notable companies stopped advertising on the platform.

Timeline

Ethical Controversies

Treatment of Ex-Employees

Some ex-employees filed a class action lawsuit alleging violation of the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act). However, U.S. District Judge James Donato ruled that the claims must be pursued individually, siding in Twitter's favor. Still, there remain allegations sex and disability discrimination, as well as claims that full severance packages were not fulfilled. The lawyer representing the class action plaintiffs stated that over 300 arbitration demands have been filed on behalf of ex-employees, with hundreds more in the works. [23]

Content Moderation Policies

Allowing Donald Trump to return to the platform

User Experience Changes

Ability to purchase the blue check.

Views on tweets.

References

  1. ↑ Lebow, S. (2022, December 13). Twitter to lose more than 30 million users in the next two years. Insider Intelligence. Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/twitter-lose-more-than-30-million-users-next-two-years
  2. ↑ Perez, S. (2018, October 30). Twitter's doubling of character count from 140 to 280 had little impact on length of Tweets. TechCrunch. Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/30/twitters-doubling-of-character-count-from-140-to-280-had-little-impact-on-length-of-tweets/
  3. ↑ Moore, C. (2021, November 30). The history of twitter: How the Social Media Platform has grown. Fox Business. Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/twitter-history-social-media-growth
  4. ↑ Wilson, F. (2007, July 25). Twitter. Union Square Ventures. Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://www.usv.com/writing/2007/07/twitter/
  5. ↑ History.com Editors. (2019, June 28). Twitter launches. History.com. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/twitter-launches
  6. ↑ Evangelista, B. (2011, December 1). Twitter gets funding from Digital Sky Technologies. SFGATE. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Twitter-gets-funding-from-Digital-Sky-Technologies-2336764.php
  7. ↑ Pepitone, J. (2013, November 7). #WOW! Twitter soars 73% in IPO. CNNMoney. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://money.cnn.com/2013/11/07/technology/social/twitter-ipo-stock/index.html
  8. ↑ Griffith, E. (2015, May 18). The tale of two ipos: Facebook and Twitter. Fortune. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://fortune.com/2015/02/19/the-tale-of-two-ipos-facebook-and-twitter/
  9. ↑ McCarthy, C. (2008, October 17). Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Steps down. CNET. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.cnet.com/culture/twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-steps-down/
  10. ↑ Newcomb, A. (2015, October 6). Jack Dorsey Will Return As Twitter CEO. ABC News. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/jack-dorsey-return-twitter-ceo/story?id=33535778
  11. ↑ Flynn, K. (2016, April 6). Twitter Data Business Is Growing As Jack Dorsey Courts Developers. International Business Times. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.ibtimes.com/twitter-data-business-growing-jack-dorsey-courts-developers-2348193
  12. ↑ Bond, S. (2021, March 25). Facebook, Twitter, Google CEOS testify before Congress: 4 things to know. NPR. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.npr.org/2021/03/25/980510388/facebook-twitter-google-ceos-testify-before-congress-4-things-to-know
  13. ↑ SOURCE Twitter, Inc. (2021, November 29). Jack Dorsey Steps Down as Twitter CEO, Board unanimously appoints CTO Parag Agrawal as successor. Cision PR Newswire. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jack-dorsey-steps-down-as-twitter-ceo-board-unanimously-appoints-cto-parag-agrawal-as-successor-301432989.html
  14. ↑ Heath, A. (2022, May 12). Here's The memo twitter CEO Parag Agrawal sent about firing execs and a hiring freeze. The Verge. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/12/23068985/twitter-memo-parag-agrawal-firing-execs-hiring-freeze
  15. ↑ Bell, K. (2022, November 1). How Elon Musk bought Twitter. Yahoo! News. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://news.yahoo.com/elon-musk-bought-twitter-011050455.html
  16. ↑ King, R. (2023, January 14). Musk vows to disclose censorship practices and make Twitter code open to public. Washington Examiner. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/technology/elon-musk-vows-twitter-recommendation-code-open-source-by-next-month
  17. ↑ Picchi, A. (2022, May 17). What are Twitter bots, and why is Elon Musk obsessed with them? CBS News. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-twitter-bots-cbs-explains/
  18. ↑ Ray, S. (2022, November 8). 'bird is freed': Elon Musk is reportedly planning to take over as Twitter CEO. Forbes. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/10/28/bird-is-freed-elon-musk-reportedly-takes-over-as-twitter-ceo/?sh=4e1dc4275ab8
  19. ↑ Peers, M. (2022, December 4). Musk fired executives for 'cause,' in apparent attempt to avoid payouts. The Information. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from https://www.theinformation.com/articles/musk-fired-executives-for-cause-in-apparent-attempt-to-avoid-payouts?irclickid=32Tw38zEixyNRTVQiY0Eh0ZsUkA1rcV5RW19w80&irgwc=1
  20. ↑ TWITTER, INC. (2022, April 12). 2022 Proxy Statement. Sec.gov. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000114036122014049/ny20001921x3_def14a.htm#tCT
  21. ↑ Dean, G., Tabahriti, S., & Lee, L. (2022, November 25). From CEO Parag Agrawal to Robin Wheeler and Yoel Roth, these top Twitter execs have been fired, laid off, or quit since Elon Musk's takeover. Business Insider. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-executives-fired-quit-takeover-agrawal-segal-edgett-2022-11?op=1#head-of-trust-and-safety-yoel-roth-15
  22. ↑ O'Sullivan, D., & Duffy, C. (2022, November 9). Elon Musk's Twitter lays off employees across the company. CNN. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/03/tech/twitter-layoffs/index.html
  23. ↑ Reuters. (2023, January 15). Twitter's laid-off workers cannot pursue claims via class-action lawsuit, judge says. CNN Business. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/15/business/twitter-workers-class-action-lawsuit-judge/index.html
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