Say what you will about Elon Musk‘s tenure as the head of Twitter — and there is a lot to say — but it has been, at the very least, eventful. So eventful, in fact, that’s it’s been tough to keep track of all that’s happened.
Here’s a walkthrough of the entire saga thus far, with coverage from Mashable should you want to dig deeper.
Musk started things off with a bad pun
Before things were even official, Musk carried a literal sink into Twitter HQ, posting, « let that sink in. » Get it? It’s a big time cornball joke.
People didn’t quit Twitter en masse
Sure, some people actually got off Twitter in protest of Musk’s takeover, but not in any real number.
Elon made a plea to advertisers
Musk seems to quickly realize that, as the head of Twitter, he was going to need advertisers. It’s where the lion’s share of the company’s revenue comes from. In a note on Twitter, he even promised some form of content moderation in an attempt to calm advertisers.
« Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences! » Musk wrote in his tweet. « In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences, just as you can choose, for example, to see movies or play video games ranging from all ages to mature. »
Musk takes over. Top executives fired.
Musk fired a number of top execs the second he officially took over Twitter. Former CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal got the boot right way, with others to follow.
Twitter users want to tank the platform
In reaction to Musk getting control of Twitter, people floated the idea of doing to the platform what users did to Tumblr when Yahoo! acquired the microblogging site in 2013. In other words, make it wildly unprofitable after a major corporate takeover.
If you’d rather leave, well then we have you covered on that too.
Musk starts courting right-wingers
Musk took the time to personally respond to an anonymous, popular right-wing troll with the username @catturd2. Cat Turd thought they were getting shadow-banned, despite being wildly popular on Twitter. Musk assured Cat Turd that he was looking into Cat Turd’s complaints.
Pranksters get some of the media
A couple of pranksters pretended to have just been fired outside of Twitter HQ shortly after Musk’s takeover. One person said their name was Rahul Ligma…and ligma is a common internet joke involving testicles. So, yeah, not a great moment for the media who got fooled.
Musk, who has that exact kind of sense of humor, of course loved the joke.
Things got real
Twitter probably seemed like a fine idea until Musk had to actually, you know, own Twitter. We’re barely into the Musk era, and he’s already had to dodge regulators and questions of content moderation.
Twitter got less safe
There was an almost immediate rise in hateful language when Musk took over Twitter. People began to test Musk, who has repeatedly complained about the app’s lack of freedom of speech. Mashable put together some tips for dealing with safety concerns, should that arise for users.
Layoffs might be coming
Musk fired top execs immediately, and reports have since surfaced that he’s looking to make other cuts. Before the takeover, Musk told investors he could cut up to three-quarters of Twitter staff. He reportedly asked managers for a list of employees to be fired.
Musk teases a return of Vine
The Chief Twit posted a poll asking folks if they should bring back Vine, the short-form video app that was a sort of predecessor to TikTok. For what it’s worth, yes has wildly outpaced no thus far.
Verification could cost $20
Musk has floated the idea of paywalling verification using Twitter Blue. But he would also increase the cost of Blue to $20 per month, meaning verification would cost $240 per year. The internet scoffed at the idea and promised to not pay up.
