But with all of Musk’s tweeting and jarring decision-making, it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on in the Twitterverse. Here’s an ongoing liveblog of everything the Tesla CEO does as “Chief Twit.”
Elon Musk is reportedly poaching Tesla staff for Twitter October 31, 3:15 p.m Tesla software engineers are not interchangeable with Twitter software engineers, as they must navigate different skill sets and coding languages for their respective jobs. But for Musk, it makes no difference. Musk is hiring about 50 software engineers from Tesla and two other Musk-owned entities over his grand plans to revive Vine and change Twitter’s verification process, CNBC reported Monday. (CNBC notoriously fell for a prank on Friday when they interviewed fired Twitter employees; one of the employees gave a NSFW name.) Although most Tesla engineers have limited familiarity with Twitter’s inner workings, notes the CNBC. they seem to be going after Musk in hopes of currying favor with Chief Twit. It’s not just low-level employees. Ashok Elluswamy, director of software development at Tesla, is among the employees who have reportedly been invited to the Twitter gig. CNBC also noted that some stranded Twitter workers are being ordered to work 84-hour weeks — 12 hours a day, seven days a week — without promises of job stability or even overtime.
Celebrities are leaving Twitter left and right October 31, 1:45 p.m At least a few big names are leaving Twitter in an apparent boycott of its new owner. Among them, according to a CBS News list: legendary “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunner Shonda Rhimes, singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles and actress Téa Leoni. It looks like LeBron James is also on the sidelines after a report said his use of the N-word increased fivefold following news of Musk’s ownership. “… if this is true,” James tweeted Saturday, “I hope he and his folks take this very seriously because this is scary AF. So many inappropriate people who say hate speech is free expression.” Twitter’s headquarters are seen in San Francisco, Friday, Oct. 28, 2022. Elon Musk has taken control of Twitter after a protracted legal battle and months of uncertainty. The question now is what Tesla’s billionaire CEO will do with the social networking platform. Jeff Chiu/AP
Elon Musk wants to revive Vine
October 31, 1:30 p.m It looks like Elon Musk and his army of VC friends are R&D on Twitter based on his polls and responses. After a poll Musk released on Sunday, it appears he has plans to revive Vine, the Twitter-owned short-form video service that happened in 2016. In many ways, the 6-second video service was a precursor to the now-ubiquitous TikTok . But it would have to compete in a market where every app from YouTube to Instagram has a short-form video feature, mostly from TikTok. On Monday morning, Axios reported that Musk is assigning engineers to examine Vine’s codebase, apparently in hopes of reviving the failing video app. The code has not been updated in six years, the agency said. Musk has interested at least one high-profile internet celebrity: YouTuber MrBeast, who said: “If you did this and actually competed with tik tok, it would be hilarious.” Musk replied: “What could we do to make it better than TikTok?”
Elon Musk wants to cash the blue checks October 31, 12 p.m Musk is apparently spitting out ideas for monetizing his multi-billion dollar impulse buy. On Sunday, as The Verge first reported, Musk announced plans to charge anyone who wants a Twitter verification — or a blue check — $20 a month. That’s a healthy chunk of change to charge for a previously free feature that most people don’t think twice about. That’s more than Netflix and Hulu (ad-supported) combined for a feature that 81% of Twitter users wouldn’t pay for, at least according to a poll Jason Calacanis posted on Sunday. (Musk simply replied, “Interesting.”) To make things even weirder, the Verge reported that Musk is moving full speed ahead and is reportedly ordering engineers to develop the feature by next Monday, November 7, or face being fired.
San Francisco VCs advise Elon Musk on Twitter October 31, 12 p.m Two of the most prominent Twitter figures of the Musk era aren’t Twitter executives or even other social media bigots. They are San Francisco venture capitalists — one of whom is also a conservative political heavyweight. San Francisco-based venture capitalists Jason Calacanis and David Sacks, the latter of whom has poured money into the recall efforts of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Unified school board, are also the two main players in this new era of the social media giant. “For those asking, yes I’m hanging out on Twitter and just trying to be as helpful as possible during the transition,” Kalakanis tweeted Sunday afternoon. But the Washington Post reported Monday that both Calacanis and Sacks are listed as “staff software engineers” in Twitter’s internal directory and have official company emails, suggesting they have some official role in Twitter’s new era.
