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Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

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Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#842
I'm not a huge Musk fan, mostly because of his political ramblings and especially revolving around Ukraine; but I find the sudden hatred of him pretty odd. Mass layoffs happen all the time, Square just announced a 14% cut yesterday. In terms of Twitter's current moderation nothing has really changed on the platform, I'm an avid user and have seen no difference.

It's not really just Musk, it feels like there is a turn on any social media platform that doesn't do wide arrays of censorship that lean whatever way you're inclined to agree with (this includes conservatives hating TikTok.) Musk has said he wants a free-speech platform but has never claimed it would have no moderation. There was a piece somewhere about a rise in the use of the N word, but there was no follow up showing if those accounts were banned. Seems like an important part of the story.

Honestly some of this feels like a hit job. I've not found anyone that can point to something inherently wrong with the new vision of Twitter that isn't based in some crazy hyperbole not in tune with reality. Twitter has been horribly run for ages, someone trying to revive it isn't bad.

When I use a platform, unless the person is a literal Nazi or Communist, I don't care what their political beliefs are. I care about the product. I think that is being lost on people where now everything revolves around politics. It's kind of sad, especially when we all basically agree on 90% of things and policy.

We used to complain about data silos and filter bubbles...and now people just leave platforms because leadership may not share their political views? How is that good? I think the media itself has fed into this because they have always hated social media (for better or worse) for making them no longer the first source of news when print was already dying.

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#843

A lot of the tweets that are quoted in the article have been removed. For example, Twitter employee Cristina Angeli is mentioned in the story for having tweeted an image of "staff members... flooding an internal Slack channel with blue heart emojis as they wait to learn their fate tomorrow", but that tweet is deleted on twitter itself because "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules." This is ironic if you consider all…

> "freedom of speech" (I know that the first amendment only applies to government censorship, but Musk likes to pretend not to) Freedom of speech is not the first amendment and vice versa. Freedom of speech is an ideal that applies to all people and all spaces, public and private, while the First Amendment only applies in America and to the government. People think they sound smart when they say freedom of speech onl…

The first amendment has very little to do with the "freedom of speech" most people are constantly arguing about. But they are conflated so the first amendment gets dragged into the same old tired conversations.

To me the first amendment is much more interesting. Its roots in ancient Greece. Its importance in sustaining a democratic government. The paradoxical nature of trying to extend its reach to private entities...

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#844

A lot of the tweets that are quoted in the article have been removed. For example, Twitter employee Cristina Angeli is mentioned in the story for having tweeted an image of "staff members... flooding an internal Slack channel with blue heart emojis as they wait to learn their fate tomorrow", but that tweet is deleted on twitter itself because "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules." This is ironic if you consider all…

Twitter employees created this censorship machine now descending upon themselves is hellishly funny.

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#845

Does this mass layoff comply with the WARN Act and California's mini-WARN?[0] What about all of California's protected classes?[1] The pregnant ladies let go before their FMLA seem especially aggrieved. Maybe some lawyers here can chime in: How soon will we see some class action lawsuits? [0] https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/layoff-protections-c... [1] https://www.employmentattorneyla.com/blog/2017/june/what-a…

Class protection doesn't mean you cant fire minorities and pregnant women. It means you can't fire people for being minorities and pregnant.

Firing a pregnant lady in CA simply as a cost cutting measure usually results in a nice settlement for the pregnant lady. FAFO, Elon.

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#846

I'm not a huge Musk fan, mostly because of his political ramblings and especially revolving around Ukraine; but I find the sudden hatred of him pretty odd. Mass layoffs happen all the time, Square just announced a 14% cut yesterday. In terms of Twitter's current moderation nothing has really changed on the platform, I'm an avid user and have seen no difference. It's not really just Musk, it feels like there is a turn…

It is illegal to do layoffs like this at scale without following the California WARN act:

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/03/tech/twitter-layoffs/inde...

It's a dick move and demonstrates someone who doesn't understand how to build worker loyalty. Forcing people to tap dance 80+ hours a week or be fired (without mega compensation) doesn't earn you loyalty. Yeah, he claims he works 120 hour weeks, but he also reaps nearly all of the compensation.

But I think the benefit of all this is having someone trying to break the laws. He's pentesting federal & state worker protections. That's a good thing in the long term, not so much in the short term.

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#847

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there's a much simpler and less juicy angle here: someone posted a screenshot of an internal communication , and it got removed. It's not surprising or controversial that Twitter would try to contain a leak of its own internal comms (a screenshot of their slack). This isn't "Twitter took down a disparaging post about Twitter", it's that they tried to stop the sharing of internal data. That being said, I don't…

Oh, please. This "internal communication" was a bunch of blue hearts if the source is to be believed. What vital business information did that leak?

Why does it matter how vital the info it is? You "oh, please" people love to split hairs until you miss the overarching point.

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#848
post #846

I'm not a huge Musk fan, mostly because of his political ramblings and especially revolving around Ukraine; but I find the sudden hatred of him pretty odd. Mass layoffs happen all the time, Square just announced a 14% cut yesterday. In terms of Twitter's current moderation nothing has really changed on the platform, I'm an avid user and have seen no difference. It's not really just Musk, it feels like there is a turn…

It is illegal to do layoffs like this at scale without following the California WARN act: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/03/tech/twitter-layoffs/inde... It's a dick move and demonstrates someone who doesn't understand how to build worker loyalty. Forcing people to tap dance 80+ hours a week or be fired (without mega compensation) doesn't earn you loyalty. Yeah, he claims he works 120 hour weeks, but he also reaps ne…

I'm well aware of the law, it has been posted everywhere. However, the article questions itself, because it doesn't say how many have actually been laid off, when that date is effective or if they will just get their pay for 60 days; so he might not even be in violation. I don't think Elon is just doing this all solo, he probably has a legal department and also has advice from one of his co-investors which is still Jack Dorsey.

All of which kind of supports my point of the media doing a bit of a hitjob. They did the same during the Cambridge Analytica scandal and a huge portion of the reporting came out to later be mostly not true. The irony is that the media may be doing exactly what they want Twitter to crack down on.

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#849
post #846

I'm not a huge Musk fan, mostly because of his political ramblings and especially revolving around Ukraine; but I find the sudden hatred of him pretty odd. Mass layoffs happen all the time, Square just announced a 14% cut yesterday. In terms of Twitter's current moderation nothing has really changed on the platform, I'm an avid user and have seen no difference. It's not really just Musk, it feels like there is a turn…

It is illegal to do layoffs like this at scale without following the California WARN act: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/03/tech/twitter-layoffs/inde... It's a dick move and demonstrates someone who doesn't understand how to build worker loyalty. Forcing people to tap dance 80+ hours a week or be fired (without mega compensation) doesn't earn you loyalty. Yeah, he claims he works 120 hour weeks, but he also reaps ne…

They might still technically be employed and receiving paychecks for 60 days to keep this legal.

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#850
There's an asymmetry here where Twitter and other companies get blamed for layoffs, but didn't get praised for providing highly paid jobs that put their employees in the top 1%.

Even Stripe just had layoffs and they are a much more productive, tighter run ship.

Twitter cutting deeper than Stripe shouldn't be surprising. It's not a secret that they were overstaffed and are known for rest & vest.

This goes way back. In 2014 there was a show called Silicon Valley that had an entire character and subplots based on this phenomenon in tech companies. Big Head hanging out on the roof resonated for a reason. Compassion is warranted regardless and productive employees got caught in this too, but that doesn't mean we have to engage in selective amnesia and kneejerk outrage.

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