Reports are emerging that new Twitter owner cum holding CEO Elon Musk has warned his employees that they must be ready to start working long hours or opt to leave the company if they don’t want to commit to the new requirement. High intensity work is the cornerstone of this new philosophy, per a late night email from the boss himself. The email has already sent some employees into contemplation mode and some are towing with the idea of taking the “quit” side of the coin.
According to the Washington Post which was the first to go to press with the story based on first hand information having seen the email, the new boss says that employees at the micro-blogging giant must agree to commit to this new culture if they desire to continue working at the company. The email was apparently accompanied by a link which employees are required to click and confirm their commitment. In the email, Mr. Musk also says that Twitter will have to be ‘hadcore’ going forward in order to drive success.
The Washington Post says members of a critical team dubbed Trust and Safety were already exploring a mass exodus. This is the team tasked with cleaning the site of misinformation and hate speech.
While this move could have come as a surprise to many, that should not be the case for those who understand Musk’s way of doing things. In fact more is yet to come as the richest man in the world takes over the wheels of the most popular ‘public discourse square’. But the interwebs are awash with large numbers of disgruntled observers who opine that there are a few things that Mr. ‘Iron Man Musk’ must get right with the user ecosystem.
Many feeIt’s important for Musk to understand that as an ecosystem, Twitter is already thriving at a near or totally incomparable level. Those who currently love to use Twitter with dedication, and there are hundreds of thousands of the millions in the Platform, often view themselves as critical stakeholders of the Twitter ecosystem – and there’s a good reason. For many of these passionate Tweeps, it’ll be so difficult to live with any changes that would potentially disrupt their current ‘comfort zones’ – whatever that may mean for different users. This is one thing that Elon will need to reflect upon and be sure to strike a balance that does not tilt the current setup so ugly.
Probably no one needs intense convincing to appreciate the fact that Twitter is largely driven by the type of users you can describe as “Tweet-addicts”. These are the users who have a huge following, ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands all the way to the millions. These users are influential, and often ignite the trends. People listen to them. They initiate and sustain massive conversations, which then go on to spread like wildfire. People look up to them, checking their handles daily to see what’s cutting. These are the people Elon Musk will have to think about. They make Twitter tick. Whatever he does, this heartbeat of Twitter will have to be at the center of his plans.
Meanwhile, Musk’s first major project, besides the organizational restructuring that he hopes to finish in a week, is to shake up the “Verified” product. He has already postponed the much anticipated new “Blue Verified”, until ‘some issues’ are fixed.
