# Now that Musk bought Twitter -- Breaking News only **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** breaking-news, elon-musk\ **Created:** [November 29, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737 "2022-11-29T13:10:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/181 "2023-02-15T19:07:15Z")
I dare you to level up against the Final Boss! ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/182 "2023-02-27T04:00:45Z")
> Twitter laid off at least 200 of its employees on Saturday night, three people familiar with the matter said, or about 10 percent of the roughly 2,000 who were still working for the company. Elon Musk, who acquired the social media platform in October, has steadily pared back its work force from about 7,500 employees as he has sought to reduce costs. > **[In Latest Round of Job Cuts, Twitter Is Said to Lay Off at Least 200 Employees](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/26/technology/twitter-layoffs.html)** > > The social media platform now has a work force of less than 2,000, down from 7,500 when Elon Musk took it over in October. Well, I was wrong: I had thought he would realize that he had cut too deeply with the initial cuts and would be hiring some back. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/183 "2023-02-28T21:57:45Z")
Rumors swirl that Musk is following through on his promise to step down as CEO, by appointing someone he already works with and trusts to follow his agenda. > **[The Boring Company CEO who slept at Twitter's headquarters with his newborn...](https://www.businessinsider.com/boring-co-steve-davis-rumored-elon-musk-twitter-ceo-report-2023-2)** > > Steve Davis helped orchestrate a recent round of layoffs at the social media company, Platformer reported. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/184 "2023-03-01T19:13:22Z")
It seems that outages at Twitter are on the rise, as those with the knowledge to diagnose problems get laid off. There were four widespread outages in February as compared to 9 in all of last year. Gift link: > **[‘Sometimes Things Break’: Twitter Outages Are on the Rise](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/28/technology/twitter-outages-elon-musk.html?unlocked_article_code=VU0No4sM-iI5CPnf8jg5--oXev6U1PQVxDro2AlOKRo5t_wPLYSZjBnXlrfyRDOaMKmHGbsGGp7QAq5hF79EDtimE_bQpA2dj-uCTHbLQ4sZnDzIKTGGov2Tz9eE65aihe34rZMOaCzEpH822HMrdpyPzE516VS6fbawXRbaRLeuaOftaETc0Uyj-IY3-H5GbWPQOM25y-lGeNMhQrVPYc1Sg-4BKBoMRPgRmpunkud8xcViO6Te3_gtUMUhu1jM13td4W6sY9r8nvDqDQ1OVUmkqFDhhEPgkjLldM8h0FT8cphtOdwHRI3qXN5o-PWMidncPug_KTKl3fHIVSOsKUjUA9_bKg&smid=url-share)** > > Elon Musk’s repeated job cuts are stoking new fears that there aren’t enough people to triage Twitter’s problems. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/185 "2023-03-07T16:23:58Z")
More rumors of chaos inside Twitter. > An engineer at Twitter, who was granted anonymity by the BBC because he’s still working there, described conditions at the company. > > “For someone on the inside, it’s like a building where all the pieces are on fire,” he said. > > "When you look at it from the outside the façade looks fine, but I can see that nothing is working, he continued. “All the plumbing is broken, all the faucets, everything.” [https://www.thestreet.com/personalities/twitter-engineer-reveals-just-how-deep-elon-musks-desperation-goes](https://www.thestreet.com/personalities/twitter-engineer-reveals-just-how-deep-elon-musks-desperation-goes) ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/186 "2023-03-07T19:45:37Z")
More on the recent outage: > **[After Musk’s mass layoffs, one engineer’s mistake “broke the Twitter API”](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/03/after-musks-mass-layoffs-one-engineers-mistake-broke-the-twitter-api/)** > > Twitter's paid-API project had "only one site reliability engineer," report says. > before Musk bought Twitter, “the company had a risk evaluation team that vetted product changes for anticipated problems.” But that “team was laid off after Musk’s takeover… leading to product rollouts that were riddled with bugs.” Brian ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/187 "2023-03-07T22:00:31Z")
[https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/07/tech/elon-musk-twitter-employee-disability/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/07/tech/elon-musk-twitter-employee-disability/index.html) I won’t editorialize as that would violate the breaking rules, but I’ll quote: > But, Thorleifsson said in his tweet, “your head of HR is not able to confirm if I am an employee or not.” > > Musk responded in a tweet asking, “what work have you been doing?” When Thorleifsson provided a list of his tasks in response, Musk appeared to cast doubt on several points. “Pics or it didn’t happen,” he tweeted. In a separate tweet, the billionaire said Thorleifsson “did no actual work, claimed as an excuse that he had a disability that prevented him from typing.” The person in question has muscular dystrophy. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/188 "2023-03-21T16:30:23Z")
Twitter’s press email account now auto responds to every inquiry with a poop emoji. 🙄 > **[Got a question for Twitter's press team? The answer will be a poop emoji](https://www.npr.org/2023/03/20/1164654551/twitter-poop-emoji-elon-musk)** > > Twitter's communications email went dark after mass layoffs late last year. CEO Elon Musk announced this weekend (and NPR confirmed) that it now responds to press inquiries with a single poop emoji. Although I admit, part of me wants to hear an NPR reporter say “We reached out to Twitter for comment, and we got the following response: poop emoji.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2023, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/189 "2023-03-21T17:20:30Z")
I suppose that means anyone wanting Twitter’s official response is just shit out of luck. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/190 "2023-03-26T15:13:36Z")
> **[Twitter to un-verify people who don’t pay $8/month starting on April Fools’ Day](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/03/twitter-to-un-verify-people-who-dont-pay-8-month-starting-on-april-fools-day/)** > > Despite impersonation chaos, Musk sticks to plan of un-verifying notable accounts. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/191 "2023-03-26T16:59:18Z")
Why do I have the hunch that one of the laid-off techies implemented that as his last act before being ushered out, and now nobody’s left who knows how to reverse it? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/192 "2023-03-26T17:41:54Z")
Nonsense. Elon knows just about there is to know about software engineering so he could easily reverse it if he wished! [https://www.analyticsinsight.net/how-good-is-the-ultra-legend-elon-musk-at-coding/](https://www.analyticsinsight.net/how-good-is-the-ultra-legend-elon-musk-at-coding/) ---
**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/193 "2023-03-27T20:23:31Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Although I admit, part of me wants to hear an NPR reporter say “We reached out to Twitter for comment, and we got the following response: poop emoji.” Will you accept a WSJ article saying this? > **[Elon Musk Offers Employees Stock Grants Valuing Twitter at About $20 Billion](https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-offers-new-equity-grants-to-staff-938ee7f8)** > > The valuation is less than half of the $44 billion price he acquired the company for last year. Unfortunately it’s paywalled, but if you are able to read it you will see the following: > In response to a request for comment, Twitter’s press email responded with a poop emoji, which Mr. Musk recently tweeted will be the company’s auto-response for media inquiries. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/194 "2023-03-27T20:25:12Z")
This should be a gift link > **[Elon Musk Offers Employees Stock Grants Valuing Twitter at About $20 Billion](https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-offers-new-equity-grants-to-staff-938ee7f8?st=tffz3696uppp9sl&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink)** > > The valuation is less than half of the $44 billion price he acquired the company for last year. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/195 "2023-03-28T13:30:58Z")
> [@raspberry\_hunter](#): > > In response to a request for comment, Twitter’s press email responded with a poop emoji, which Mr. Musk recently tweeted will be the company’s auto-response for media inquiries. It’s unfortunate they found it necessary to include the context. The joke is less funny if you have to explain it. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/196 "2023-03-28T15:45:55Z")
It was funny before the explanation? I guess if you are a teen boy, poop emoji responses are hilarious. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/197 "2023-03-28T16:16:02Z")
No, I mean for the WSJ to write in an article that > In response to a request for comment, Twitter’s press email responded with a poop emoji Without further explanation would be funny, because then it would sound as if that were actually Twitter’s response to this specific inquiry. I’d like to see all the news stories just report it that way, straight. It would be joke on Twitter, not a joke Twitter made. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/198 "2023-03-28T16:24:58Z")
Quoting myself from a ways upthread: > [@LSLGuy](#): > > I suppose that means anyone wanting Twitter’s official response is just shit out of luck. 🙂 I’ll be here all week. Try the veal. ---
**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/199 "2023-03-28T20:50:30Z")
I gotta say I thought the absolutely straight-faced explanation of the poop emoji was hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737/200 "2023-04-05T21:19:05Z")
> **[Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media,' which is untrue](https://www.npr.org/2023/04/05/1168158549/twitter-npr-state-affiliated-media)** > > NPR operates independently of the U.S. government. NPR has asked Twitter to remove the label, calling it "unacceptable." But Twitter CEO Elon Musk says it "seems accurate." The “state affiliated media” label is meant for outlets where the government has editorial control over the content, such as Chinese state media. That is very much not true of NPR. I did get my wish from the poop emoji story, though: > In response to an NPR email for this story seeking comment and requesting details about what in particular might have led to the new designation, the company’s press account auto-replied with a poop emoji [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-musk-bought-twitter-breaking-news-only/975737.md?page=11)