The Beginning of Twitter
Twitter is one of the many social media apps that millions of people use every day. Almost everyone has a Twitter account so they can express their opinions, tell stories, make up fake news about people they don’t like, repeat news that no one cares about and every once in a while, tell us something useful, honest, and interesting. Twitter was founded in March of 2006 by Evan Williams, Biz Stone, Noah Glass, and Jack Dorsey who all worked for a company called Odeo. It was proposed to be named twttr since the twitter.com domain was already taken at the time. However, after a couple of months, the domain was purchased by the creators. Jack Dorsey was the first user of Twitter to send out a message on March 21, 2006, at 9:50 p.m. Odeo employees did a trial run then. It was obviously successful, and the full version of Twitter was launched out to the public on July 15, 2006. Evan Williams, Biz Stone, Noah Glass, and Jack Dorsey made this microblogging social network launch successfully in July of 2006. They also started Obvious Corporation with board members of Odeo and acquired Twitter.com as well as Odeo.com from all of the shareholders. When Twitter first launched, any registered user was able to put up to 140 characters in a single tweet in any language. When this demonstration happened, the number of tweets rose exponentially. It went from 20,000 tweets per day to 60,000 tweets per day. Users are now able to put 280 characters in a single tweet unless you are posting in Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. Those languages only allow 140 characters. This social media app lets the people of the world post, retweet, and like tweets posted by other registered users. If you are not a registered user, you can only view what is posted on the app. In 2018, there were over 300 million active users on Twitter!
Twitter on the Stock Market
In April of 2007, Obvious Corporation started to trade on its own. At the time, it was not clear what exactly Twitter was. When the South by Southwest Interactive conference began in 2007, Twitter displayed its services. In September of 2013, Twitter made a public announcement stating it was going to float shares in the market in order to raise one billion dollars. At this time, there were over 200 million active people on Twitter posting over five hundred million tweets per day! It kind of makes you wonder what in the hell all of those people had to say or why they had enough time in their day to post so much on a social media app! By November of 2013, Twitter started trading on the New York Stock Exchange for $26 a share. By the time the closing period ended, the price of the share rose to $44.90. This increase in the price of shares led to Twitter being valued at $31 billion! Many companies wanted to purchase Twitter. The companies that were interested in buying Twitter in September of 2016 were Alphabet, Microsoft, Salesforce.com, Walt Disney, and Verizon. Even though Twitter was never sold to any of these companies at the time, the price of the shares went up another 20%!
Fast forward to October of 2022 and things have changed thanks to Elon Musk. Twitter is now a private company and the Securities and Exchange Commission has made it official. The stock of the company has stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange where it was since November of 2013. A record of shareholders will most likely be represented by brokerage agents who will be paid $54.20 for each share that they own in the company. This was the price that Elon Musk agreed to pay for the company and 98% of the shareholders approved this price. Back in September, Twitter representatives advised that the payout should happen soon, so the shareholders just have to sit back and wait for their money. It will all be handled by the brokers.
Celebrities on Twitter
One of the most important tweets ever posted happened on January 22, 2010. T.J. Creamer, an astronaut, was the first person ever to post a tweet from the International Space Station. The first ever off Earth post happened on that day. Other remembered tweets from our celebrity family come from a variety of members. Former President Barack Obama made history by becoming the first Black man elected to the presidency. His tweet in 2016 was powerful yet simple. It simple read, “Four more years.” The robotic spacecraft, Phoenix, landed on Mars and reported that ice was found on the red planet. The tweet read, “Are you ready to celebrate? Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, *WATER ICE* on Mars! Woot!!! Best day ever!!” Another powerful tweet came from Kenton Cool from the top of the world, Mount Everest. The tweet said, “Everest summit no 9! 1st tweet from the top of the world thanks to a weak 3G signal & the awesome Samsung Galaxy S2 handset!” That could be a game changer right there. Maybe more people that are in distress can call for assistance. Another tweet that was probably not expected came from Pope Benedict XVI. He tweeted,” Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.” To add to the oddity, the Pope even sent out that tweet from an iPad! Even the Vatican is coming into the modern world of technology!
Who is in Charge of Twitter and the Changes Going on?
Back in October of 2019, Twitter was under the control of Omid Kordestani as the executive chairman and Jack Dorsey was the chief executive officer. The main headquarters of Twitter is located in San Francisco, California. Since that time, things have changed. The chief executive officer as Parag Agrawal and the finance chief was Ned Segal. Neither one of them are still employed at Twitter. The head of legal policy, trust, and safety, Vijaya Gadde, was also fired from Twitter. Now, Elon Musk is the one that is in charge of Twitter. Numerous changes have gone into effect on Twitter since Musk’s takeover. His first concern, however, was how he was going to pay for his new business venture. He somehow managed to obtain financing from investment banks as well as a few high-profile investors that include venture capital firms and CEO’S in the tech industry. Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange company, was one of Musk’s original sources of money to purchase Twitter. “We’re excited to be able to help Elon realize a new vision for Twitter. We aim to play a role in bringing social media and Web3 together in order to broaden the use and adoption of crypto and blockchain technology,” Binance CEO Chang Peng Zhao said in a statement. Web3 is a term the technology industry uses to refer to the next generation of the internet.
Elon Musk assured his subscribers that Twitter was not going to encourage “free for all hellscape” form of speech without consequences on his app. He posted a tweet to let people know that he will not tolerate hate on the app that will further divide our world. “The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence,” Musk said in the message. “There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far-right wing and far left-wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.”
Twitter Under Elon Musk’s Control
Elon Musk is a name practically everyone in the world knows. If you do not know who this man is, then please continue with your regular scheduled day. He may make it seem like he is a very important man, but he really is just a part of the one-percenters of the world who flaunts his “riches” and cares about no one other than himself. Sound familiar? Elon Musk is involved in the name Tesla and now Twitter. He purchased the social media app for $44 billion finally after trying to back out of the deal months ago. The purchase was finalized in October. Many users celebrated and rejoiced that there was once again freedom of speech on the app (Marjorie Taylor Greene) while others were worried about everything else. People online tend to spread false news about various topics like election fraud, COVID-19, and where Jimmy Hoffa’s body really is. Many Republicans see Musk’s purchase as a victory for the far-right preachers of the lies they actually believe. Those that were previously banned from Twitter as well as their supporters, wondered if their punishments were going to be reversed since the takeover. Benny Johnson, who is the host of a conservative non-profit right-wing internet talk show and a contributor to Turning Point USA, tweeted “It’s time. Bring them all back,” and included a video of a roundabout list of names including former president Donald Trump, Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist behind Infowars who was banned in 2018 for violating Twitter’s abusive behavior policy, and Milo Yiannopoulos, a former Breitbart editor who was banned in 2016 for inciting a racist campaign against comedian Leslie Jones.
Unfortunately for all of these right-wing supporters, changes are not going to come instantly just because they said so. Elon Musk let everyone know that his company will be putting together a council to moderate content that is being uploaded to Twitter. He will ensure that the council members have widely diverse viewpoints on each of the topics in question. “No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes,” he added. In Trump fashion, Elon Musk put out a tweet letting the minor offenders know that their accounts will be freed from Twitter jail if they were guilty of “minor or dubious reasons.” So, how exactly is this the same as his previous tweet? The council is supposed to decide when a suspended account can become active again unless it was a minor infraction of Twitter rules. Many people are concerned about the content that will now be on Twitter ever since Elon Musk bought it. This app was used as a platform for hate speech as well as verbal abuse against anyone that does not agree with the masses (Republicans).
Employment Numbers Since Elon Took Over
Since Elon Musk finalized his purchase of the social media app, Twitter, many people have become unemployed. After only one week on the job, Elon Musk laid off thousands of employees across the company. Before Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, there were roughly 7,500 people that worked for the company. Now, there are approximately 3,700 employees left. Employees showed up for work unable to login to their company email accounts let alone their computers altogether. Some departments that saw layoffs were ethical AI, marketing and communication, search, public policy, wellness, and human rights teams. Senior members of management were not immune to the layoff either. Altogether, 50% of the employees have been fired or “laid off” which included roughly 15% of the company’s trust and safety team. This reduction of employees led to reduced customer service attention but not to content moderation. So, you can tell where Elon Musk’s rational thinking is. He felt it was necessary for Twitter to lay off that many employees sick it was experiencing revenue challenges since not a lot of people are spending their hard-earned money during this upcoming recession. Advertisers that used to put their ads on Twitter have since stopped purchasing ad space since Musk took over. Elon Musk tried his best to explain that the layoffs were necessary to improve the bottom line for the company since he himself has gone into debt since buying Twitter. This explains why you have to pay for your little blue check mark now for $8.00 per month. Musk thinks that this subscription will make or break Twitter. If half of their revenue comes from that little blue check mark, then I guess it is up to the people to decide if Twitter survives or not. Numerous people have already made fake accounts just to prove that the little blue check mark does not necessarily verify one’s identity. Many fake accounts are still up on Twitter and causing a lot of reactions since the takeover. Twitter is no better now, then it was before Elon Musk put his two cents in and made “changes.”
Elon Musk is expecting an awful lot from the employees that he actually has left working for him at Twitter. He fired half of the staff to save money. He is requiring those employees to work eighty or more hours per week. Managers were actually sleeping in their offices on the floor wrapped up in a sleeping bag. If he feels like this is how you properly treat your employees, then I do not see a bright and shiny future for Twitter. That is unless the Republicans of the country unite, do a fundraiser, and save the social media app to use for their own personal meeting place. After all, fake news has to be spread somehow!
Donald Trump and Twitter
One thing we do know for sure is that Donald Trump’s Twitter account was not out of Twitter jail. He has since started his own social media app called Truth Social. That has got to be the funniest name ever associated with Donald Trump! Since when has the Don ever told the truth about anything in his life? He is, however, approving of the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk probably in hopes of his release from Twitter jail. “I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands and will no longer be run by the Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country,” his account posted. That tweet alone is why Donald Trump and Truth Social do not belong together. The people he is referring to do not hate our country. What they do hate is how the country is being run by people who only care about themselves and their own agendas that are going to benefit their bank accounts. Donald Trump is the last person that should even be on Twitter. I know everyone has the right to freedom of speech, but haven’t we heard enough from Donald Trump already? Why can’t he be more like all the other grandfathers of the world and hang out with his grandkids all day while sitting on a park bench feeding some pigeons? Twitter really is not for everyone.
In Conclusion
Elon Musk did everything he could think of to back out of the deal to purchase Twitter for $44 billion after making a deal with the previous owners. He realized that it was not a wise business decision, but he was obligated to fulfill his end of the deal since a contract was signed. Now that the deal is done, a lot of political parties as well as politicians are hoping they will be able to spread their useless news and factless spews of hate without any repercussions for their wrongdoings. The one percenter population in politics have always thought that they are above the law no matter what and they are hoping that Elon Musk will be on their side now. Let us all just say a prayer for the world and boycott Twitter. There are other social media apps that we can use for free to spread the truth, be kind to others, uplift those that need it, and to support people that spread positivity. Let’s all come together and boycott Twitter people! No blue check marks anymore. No more tweets! Let’s all go back to Facebook!
Watch the video below to see the further damage that has been done to Twitter since Elon Musk bought it. No one really knows right now how many people actually still work for this man since he fired everyone, and the rest have quit since he made his insane demands to the employees. I think the previous owners did an amazing job selling him a thriving company that looks like it is going to be out of business soon. Does Elon Musk really know what he is doing when it comes to business? #RIPTwitter.
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