Monday in response to the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk, some of the company’s staff are struggling to cope with the situation. When announcing the takeover, Musk vowed that free speech was a crucial part of his mission in the first place.
A source of Twitter employees contacted The New York Times journalist Talmon Smith to express how unsure they are about the future of the company and their role in it.
The employee continued about Elon: 3/”I feel like he’s a petulant little boy and he’s doing this to troll… he doesn’t know anything about our policies and what we’re doing …his statement on our algo was completely crazy…
“We were just going to let everyone go wild?… nobody knows”— talmon joseph smith (@talmonsmith) April 25, 2022
The person added that she works for the platform’s “toxicity and health” department, so she doesn’t know what her future job prospects are (the reporter deleted that particular tweet, but Jack Posobiec checked in a copy).
Source complained about the lack of notice, before the CEO of Twitter and the company’s board of directors announced the takeover of Elon.
It was at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time that Twitter held a company-wide meeting.
Here is the note from the CEO of Twitter @paraga just sent employees. The company’s general meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. PT to discuss Elon Musk’s purchase of the company pic.twitter.com/3WobiWovt5
—Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8) April 25, 2022
The note that Parag Agrawal sent to staff reads:
“Team, Twitter’s Board of Directors announced that it has reached an agreement for Twitter to be acquired by a private entity wholly owned and controlled by Elon Musk. I know this is a significant change and you’re probably figuring out what this means for you and the future of Twitter. I’ll be bringing the company together at 2:00 p.m. to speak to you directly and answer your questions. I’ve also invited our Chairman of the Board, Bret Taylor, to join us. See you soon. Always #OneTeam, Parag.”
Earlier, Agrawal said Musk’s takeover bid would not hold the company hostage. There was some resistance from Twitter’s board against Musk, before they finally accepted his takeover proposal on Monday.
“Has anyone tried to slip into tech reporters’ DMs and ask THEM to leak information to the US about what’s happening on Twitter?”
Has anyone tried to slip into tech reporters’ DMs and ask them to leak information in the US about what’s happening on Twitter?
— el*nm*sk is bad (@corpAltAddison) April 25, 2022
“I’ve never been so stressed in my entire life.#TwitterTakeover”
I have never been so stressed in my entire life. #TwitterTakeover
— Debpriya Seal (@debpriyaSeal) April 25, 2022
“I don’t know what Twitter the platform or Twitter the workplace will look like in the future, but right now I feel like some things may be too good, too magical to last. Only time will tell.”
I don’t know what Twitter the platform or Twitter the workplace will look like in the future, but right now I feel like some things may be too good, too magical to last. Only time will tell.
— Kristian Lum (@KLdivergence) April 25, 2022
“one of my favorite projects was helping twitter go public, so i guess it’s only fair to be here as we go private”
one of my favorite projects was helping twitter go public, so i guess it’s only fair to be here as we go private? pic.twitter.com/i3vmqY79ZK
“Menotti Minutilo?” (@44) April 25, 2022
“A lot of freedom of expression happens in our Slack rn”
Lots of free speech happening in our Slack rn
“Michael Jarjour?” (@derjarjour) April 25, 2022
“Can someone just tell me if I’m rich or fired please”
Can someone just tell me if I’m rich or fired please
—Ned Miles (@nedmiles) April 25, 2022
This isn’t the first time Twitter staffers have reacted strongly to Elon Musk in the past month. An engineer responsible for the platform said it had “radicalized” him that Musk would have potentially had a seat on the board. At some point, many employees embraced and welcomed a day off amidst all the high profile changes.
In today’s news fallout, Bloomberg reports that Twitter management has locked down further “product updates unless they are business critical.”
Twitter has locked down product changes on the site, preventing employees who may be unhappy with the Elon Musk deal from ‘going rogue’ https://t.co/wKiYWyXGPq Going through @KurtWagner8 @EdLudlow
— Nick Turner (@NewsyNick) April 25, 2022
“Now is not the time to request verification”
now is not the time to request verification
— Megan Daly (@mdaly) April 25, 2022
“Remember how you feel right now the next time they tell you you’re more important than their profits.”
Remember how you are feeling right now the next time they tell you that you are more important than their profits. ?
—Garrett Cockayne (@GLC086) April 25, 2022
Elon Musk’s takeover of Tesla began after The bees of Babylon suspended in March. This inspired the billionaire’s interest in taking a serious look at the platform and the importance of free speech. This led Musk to buy the majority of the company’s stock.
After Musk realized he couldn’t make the platform changes he wanted from a position on the company’s board, he then announced his decision to buy Twitter outright. .
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