The strange 'Twitter 2.0' planet
The social network has had bizarre moments since Elon Musk took over...
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that Elon Musk (finally) acquired Twitter on October 27 after a long legal battle. The start of his reign as CEO (or “Chief Twit” as he called himself) hasn’t been without controversies.
Here is a compilation of the weirdest “Twitter 2.0” moments thus far:
As soon as the deal closed, Musk abruptly fired the company’s then CEO (Parag Agrawal), and CFO (Ned Segal) as well as other key executives. On October 31, Musk clarified his CEO status.
Between October 27-29, a number of anonymous accounts tested the limits of the platform’s moderation framework under new ownership by posting thousands of racist slurs. Musk is known to have dubbed himself a “free-speech absolutist”, yet doesn’t see Twitter as a “free-for-all hellscape” in the future.
On October 30, Musk hinted that defunct short-form video platform Vine could be revived. Twitter previously shut it down in 2016.
On October 31, the company’s board got dissolved. A securities filing identifies Musk as Twitter’s sole director.
On November 1, Musk suggested charging $8 per month for a verified blue check mark.
On November 5, 50% of Twitter’s workforce is laid off through a drastic cost-cutting process. The company later called back several employees who were deemed “too essential” or “fired in error”.
A pay-for-verification plan is clearly visible in some users’ iOS update on November 5. Sources later confirmed such would be pushed back after the U.S. midterm elections occurring on November 8.
On November 6, Musk specifies that Twitter accounts that impersonate persons without a “parody” mention would be banned. Some users then changed their names to "Elon Musk,"; they were suspended soon after (including comedian Kathy Griffin).
That’s all for know… but given Elon Musk’s affinity for grandiosity, rest assured more strange moments will come…