According to a source familiar with the situation, the public version of Twitter was in danger of going down overnight as the version used by its employees started to slow down on Thursday evening (US time). Elon Musk, the new owner, gave staff an ultimatum, demanding they choose between being “extremely hardcore” and working intense, long hours or losing their jobs. This came amid widespread employee resignations.
“If it does break, there is no one left to fix things in many areas,” the person who did not wish to be named, was quoted as saying. The hashtag #RIPTwitter was among the top trends on the platform as social media users worried that they will lose access to their Twitter accounts.
Hundreds of Twitter employees announced their resignation by posting heartfelt farewell messages
Online outage tracking website Downdetector has seen a dramatic increase in reports of Twitter outages during the past 24 hours. Musk claimed that the flood of resignations doesn’t worry him. He answered a user by saying, “The greatest folks are remaining, so I’m not really worried.”
Hundreds of Twitter employees announced their resignation by posting heartfelt farewell messages with a salute emoji and a blue heart. Using the hashtag #LoveWhereYouWorked, employees—also known as “Tweeps”—shared their workplace memories.
“I may be #exceptional, but gosh darn it, I’m just not #hardcore,” tweeted one former employee, Andrea Horst, whose LinkedIn profile still reads “Supply Chain & Capacity Management (Survivor) @Twitter.”
Musk has drawn criticism for making significant changes to the social media company
“I walked away from my dream job today with a full heart because of the people I got to work with every day. Here’s a photo dump of the best 4.5 years a girl could wish for,” Jessalyn Johnson tweeted. “After 8+ years, I still don’t know what to say in this Tweet. It was one hell of a ride and a highlight of my career,” Twitter employee Brian said in his farewell message.
Elon Musk, who is the founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has drawn criticism for making significant changes to the social media company that he recently paid $44 billion. His attempts to restructure Twitter have been plagued by chaos and setbacks, and earlier this month he fired half of the company’s 7,500 employees, did away with a work-from-home policy, and instituted long hours.