Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun • Hacker News Board

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#151

Post by yabatopia » Fri, Nov 04, 2022, 11:40 AM UTC

code51 wrote: post #63

> "Twitter’s newsletter service Revue will be shut down by the end of the year. Revue was acquired by Twitter in January 2021 for an undisclosed amount. The report also says that Notes, a longform posting feature, is on hold, as is Twitter’s plan to build crypto wallets." All these are look so distant to Twitter's core value.

What exactly is Twitter's core value?

Some say it's the world's town square. Fine, but how do you support (pay for) that? Town squares are generally funded and maintained by public organisations and tax money. Twitter is a private company and I don't think there's much enthousiasm for giving Twitter public funding in order to run it.

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#152

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Nov 04, 2022, 11:40 AM UTC

crnkofe wrote: post #129

Looking at how Musk handles business and public comms makes me loose more and more respect for this guy with every passing second. It's all fun and games when you have a few hundred mills in the bank. Hopefully the people that left were prepared. Given his public behavior it was kind of expected. I'm not sure if people that stayed are now worse or better off.

[deleted]

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#153

Post by Barrin92 » Fri, Nov 04, 2022, 11:43 AM UTC

tomp wrote: post #122

redwood wrote: post #9

In my view no single medium (the media is the message) has done more to weaken the quality of public discourse in the world than Twitter. But maybe Facebook proves that even if you're allowed to use prose crazies dominate so maybe the issue is deeper

Really? On which other platform can you directly communicate (or at least listen to, unfiltered) to the worlds dictators, political leaders, and billionaires?

that's literally the very mechanism that weakens public discourse because it turns discourse into a 280 word soundbite popularity contest.

Productive and democratic discourse consists of people assembling a community of their peers eye-to-eye to solve local issues, not billionaires and dictators addressing a mob like Mussolini on the Palazzo Venezia with a megaphone.

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#154

Post by throwaway6734 » Fri, Nov 04, 2022, 11:46 AM UTC

jdub wrote: post #76

Musk is capricious, cruel, and clueless. Whether or not you liked Twitter, it's a culturally significant platform, and Musk has almost certainly destroyed any hope it had of surviving. In barely a week. Hopefully it destroys him, too.

Twitter is a trash heap of the worst kind of snarky/sassy culture.

It's great to see it getting shaken up

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#155

Post by rbanffy » Fri, Nov 04, 2022, 11:51 AM UTC

taurath wrote: post #89

Since apparently nobody else in the thread has any empathy for those who've lost their jobs, future access to healthcare (in the US and less civilized countries), and financial security, I guess I'll be the first: I feel bad for people who are laid off by the machinations of billionaires. I wish we lived in a society where it wasn't optimal to act like raving lunatics will tear down every bit of security you have at…

In CA, at least, Twitter may be liable for violating labor law with layoffs like this. It may be worth looking into it and lawyering up.

And, shouldn't need to say this, unionize!

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#156

Post by zjlnd » Fri, Nov 04, 2022, 11:51 AM UTC

taurath wrote: post #89

Since apparently nobody else in the thread has any empathy for those who've lost their jobs, future access to healthcare (in the US and less civilized countries), and financial security, I guess I'll be the first: I feel bad for people who are laid off by the machinations of billionaires. I wish we lived in a society where it wasn't optimal to act like raving lunatics will tear down every bit of security you have at…

I think the empathy is limited only in this particular case. Twitter has a) been exemplifying cancel culture itself and b) been a major tool for cancel mobs to organize and defame. The latter was intended and encouraged.

Some here have perhaps been victims themselves, for relatively mild things (I'm not talking about the really egregious cases where cancellation has been justified!).

If you live by the sword, things may turn around at some point.

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#157

Post by tsujamin » Fri, Nov 04, 2022, 11:53 AM UTC

usrusr wrote: post #42

aliljet wrote: post #8

I'm pretty curious about how and where Twitter employees were distributed. For a company ostensibly worth $44 billion, having 7,500 staff feels pretty damn lean. It feels like Musk isn't just purging people, he's purging the Twitter culture...

Imagine what the company would be "worth" if it did everything it does but with only three and a half employees. Company culture is a cost center.

Imagine what it would be worth if it did everything it does but with just Musk employed

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#158

Post by maxpowersage » Fri, Nov 04, 2022, 12:03 PM UTC

You could say, they were 'deplatformed'

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#159

Post by phphphphp » Fri, Nov 04, 2022, 12:05 PM UTC

wreath wrote: post #108

jdub wrote: post #76

Musk is capricious, cruel, and clueless. Whether or not you liked Twitter, it's a culturally significant platform, and Musk has almost certainly destroyed any hope it had of surviving. In barely a week. Hopefully it destroys him, too.

Twitter’s cultural significance is almost net negative. It has been a vehicle for divisiveness and culture wars and not only a vehicle but a self driving one if you catch my drift.

I disagree. The internet has increased the reach of individuals by many orders of magnitude: we (humanity) are experiencing the consequences of something we're not equipped for, but that isn't the fault of Twitter or Facebook, it's a consequence of the internet connecting us all.

What, specifically, has Twitter done, that has been a negative influence on the culture? If you look at, say, Donald Trump, he was across the internet being divisive in every venue he could get his hands on, from Facebook to Reddit... and outside of the internet too, on Fox News and the like.

If we went back 2 decades and put all of humanity on a bbs or newsgroup instead, you'd have the same outcome.

Re: Twitter’s mass layoffs have begun

#160

Post by bananapub » Fri, Nov 04, 2022, 12:09 PM UTC

taurath wrote: post #89

Since apparently nobody else in the thread has any empathy for those who've lost their jobs, future access to healthcare (in the US and less civilized countries), and financial security, I guess I'll be the first: I feel bad for people who are laid off by the machinations of billionaires. I wish we lived in a society where it wasn't optimal to act like raving lunatics will tear down every bit of security you have at…

don't forget immigration security - if you're on an employer-tied visa then you must find a job extremely quickly or leave the US and start the process over.