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Elon Musk has been criticized for urging “independent voters” to support Republican candidates in this week’s midterm elections. The Tesla and SpaceX boss, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last month, told his 115 million followers that “shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties” and that voters should therefore curb a Democrat president by voting for a Republican Congress. It comes after comedian Kathy Griffin and several others were fired from Twitter for impersonating Elon Musk. Ms. Griffin, while impersonating Mr. Musk, urged Americans to vote Democratic in the midterm elections. It’s the latest episode in a week of chaos as the San Francisco-based social network reportedly has to rehire some of the staff it laid off last week because it needs their expertise. Musk decided to lay off nearly 50% of Twitter staff, with employees being notified of their job status by email after barring entry to offices and cutting off access to internal systems overnight. Twitter apparently loses $4 million a day.
Basic points
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ICYMI: Musk tells Twitter to vote Republican months after saying platform should be ‘politically neutral’
Twitter’s new boss Elon Musk has urged voters to support Republican candidates ahead of the US midterm elections, months after he said the social media platform should remain “politically neutral”. “For Twitter to be worthy of public trust, it must be politically neutral, which essentially means upsetting the far right and the far left equally,” the multi-billionaire tweeted in April, months before he took over the company in October. On Monday, he tweeted, urging “independent voters” to vote for Republican candidates. “Shared power limits the worst excesses of both parties, so I suggest we vote for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is a Democrat,” Musk said. Vishwam Sankaran November 8, 2022 6:45 am 1667888718
Twitter suspended the account of the director of US political organizations hours before the midterms
Twitter suspended the account of Stephanie Doute, the executive director of the California League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan voter education organization, hours before the US midterm elections with “no explanation.” “On the eve of the election, Twitter suspended @sdoute, the executive director of the League of Women Voters of California @LWVC on the eve of the midterm elections,” the League of Women Voters of San Francisco tweeted. “No warning. No explanation. There is no recourse. What’s next?”, he said. Vishwam Sankaran November 8, 2022 6:25 am 1667887338
Some Twitter staff are reportedly working “20-hour days” on Musk’s “pet projects.”
Twitter staff working on the platform’s revamped Twitter Blue subscription service – a project in which new chief Elon Musk is deeply involved – are reportedly working “20-hour days”. “The two teams involved in his pet projects are working 20-hour days,” an employee told Platformer. One of the company’s staff had earlier tweeted that she was sleeping in her office to meet deadlines. “When your team is pushing around the clock to meet deadlines, sometimes you’re sleeping where you’re working,” Esther Crawford, who is in charge of early-stage products at the company, said last week. Vishwam Sankaran November 8, 2022 6:02 am 1667886015
Elon Musk faces ‘bigger problems’ with Twitter Blue launch – report
Twitter Blue, one of Elon Musk’s pet projects since he took over Twitter to revamp the platform’s subscription service, is reportedly facing several “bigger problems” ahead. Twitter Blue currently has over 100,000 active subscribers, and it will be a tall order to scale the revamped version of the service for widespread availability, according to Platformer. The new version is reportedly 37.5 percent more expensive, and it’s unclear how the social media company would convince users to pay and sign up for the service. Twitter could “lose money” on this service if current plans to cut its ad load in half for its subscribers are implemented, the report notes. Mr. Musk also reportedly largely controls the teams working on the launch of Twitter Blue. “There is one decision maker and that’s me,” Musk told employees, according to Platformer. Vishwam Sankaran November 8, 2022 5:40 am 1667884532
Some verified users are reporting that they cannot change their Twitter names
Twitter’s policy states that account names must indicate a parody account. Banned impersonation of profiles from the platform unless they specifically stated they were parody accounts. “Going forward, anyone operating Twitter who engages in impersonation without clearly identifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” Musk tweeted yesterday. However, The Verge reported that many of its staff with verified accounts were unable to change their Twitter screen names to be flagged as a parody. Vishwam Sankaran November 8, 2022 5:15 am 1667883032
Many Remaining Employees Didn’t Know Who Their New Bosses Were Days After Massive Redundancies – Report
After thousands of Twitter employees were laid off last week, many of the remaining employees reportedly did not know who their managers were for days. The remaining directors are also preparing for a heavier workload, Platformer reported, citing sources close to the matter. Some of the remaining employees are reportedly “just sitting around.” “No chain of command, no priorities, no organizational chart, and in many cases, no idea who your manager or team is,” one employee told Platformer. Vishwam Sankaran November 8, 2022 4:50 am 1667881832
Mastadon chief calls Elon Musk ‘not completely understandable’ – report
Eugen Rochko, founder and head of Twitter rival Mastodon, said in an interview on Sunday that Elon Musk was “not completely clear” about the acquisition of the microblogging platform. Mr Rochko called the Tesla titan’s purchase of the platform an “impulsive decision that he soon regretted”, adding that the multi-billionaire must now “deal with the consequences”. The Mastodon chief also criticized Musk’s stance on free speech on Twitter. “So to allow free speech by simply allowing all speech doesn’t actually lead to free speech, it just leads to a cesspool of hate,” he told Time magazine. Vishwam Sankaran November 8, 2022 4:30 am 1667880632
Elon Musk Discusses Putting All of Twitter Behind Paywall — Report
Twitter’s new boss Elon Musk has reportedly discussed the possibility of eventually putting all of Twitter behind a paywall. Platformer reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Tesla chief and investor David Sachs discussed the idea of charging most or all users a subscription to use Twitter. Under one such plan that has reportedly been discussed, Twitter may allow everyone to use the microblogging platform for a limited time each month, but require a subscription for continued browsing. Vishwam Sankaran November 8, 2022 4:10 am 1667879621
Revealed: Elon Musk’s ability at magic tricks
A surprising nugget from early Twitter investor Chris Sacca: Elon Musk is a skilled magician. While criticizing Mr Musk’s decisions so far and arguing that the Tesla and SpaceX mogul needs people around him who are willing to tell him the truth, Mr Saka paused to express his overall admiration for Mr Musk . “I’ve known Elon for a long time… I’ve spent fun evenings with him (did you know he’s a skilled magician up close?), and I’ve learned a lot from him. He has given me solid advice many times and has personally accelerated my ambitions to overcome the planet.” A skilled mage up close? I’m not sure why, but somehow that makes perfect sense. Io Dodds8 November 2022 03:53 1667877884
Don’t believe everything you read on Twitter
Multiple Twitter users and some news outlets shared claims on Monday that the 33-year-old actor was among celebrities who had their accounts suspended for impersonating Mr Musk. The rumor appeared to have started with a tweet from ‘Weird’ Al Yankovic, the music parody artist played by Radcliffe in a new Hollywood biopic, who said: ‘Oh no, @danielradcliffe’s Twitter account has been suspended. ! Wasn’t it obvious he was PARODING???” Io Dodds8 November 2022 03:24
