1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:12,639 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: tech are You. We are talking about some of the 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 1: biggest stories in tech over the last year, and today 6 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: we're looking back at a huge train wreck of a 7 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:33,240 Speaker 1: story that of how the platform formerly known as Twitter 8 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: currently known as a disgrace. I'm sorry as X has 9 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: navigated the year. And before I get into it, I 10 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: want to give a huge shout out to the folks 11 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,479 Speaker 1: over at the Verge. They have a collection of stories 12 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: gathered under the banner the Year Twitter Died. So seriously, 13 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: I'll be hitting some highlights of what has gone on 14 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: over the course of actually the last two years, because 15 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: we have to do some background on this, but to 16 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: really get into the muck, I recommend checking out the 17 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: articles that are part of the Year Twitter Died over 18 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,119 Speaker 1: at the Verge. They're really good and they go into 19 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: a lot more analysis and even opinion, So check those out. 20 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 1: All right, let's set the scene, all right. Last year 21 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two, folks began to notice that Elon 22 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: Musk was appearing to accumulate a significant amount of Twitter stock, 23 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: like around nine percent of all outstanding shares by early spring, 24 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:37,680 Speaker 1: the rumor mill was a buzz that Musk might be 25 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:41,320 Speaker 1: making a move to purchase Twitter, which is a or 26 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: at the time was a publicly traded company now. At 27 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: one point, Musk actually received an offer for a seat 28 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: on the board of directors, and he considered taking it. However, 29 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: taking that position would mean that Musk would have to 30 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: agree to not buy more than fourteen point nine percent 31 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: of the company stock, he would not be allowed to 32 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: own any more than that, and it would also mean 33 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: he would actually have to agree to be more careful 34 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: about what he said publicly about Twitter. Well, neither of 35 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: those things really suited Musk, and he declined the offer. Instead, 36 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: Musk made an unsolicited bid for the company itself. He 37 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: offered up a deal that would see shareholders receive fifty 38 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: four dollars twenty cents per share. Now, at the time, 39 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: Twitter stock was trading at around forty five dollars per share, 40 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: so this would be a significant bump in investments. If 41 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:40,359 Speaker 1: you're an investor and you own, you know, one thousand 42 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: shares in Twitter and it's going from forty five dollars 43 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: to fifty four. That's great. That's like a nine thousand 44 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: dollars profit from what you had already held. That's great. 45 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,799 Speaker 1: So Musk's offer was kind of flirting at the edge 46 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: of a hostel takeover attempt, and he also announced when 47 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: he had secured fun from various partners who would contribute 48 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: to his purchase of this. Because while Musk is, or 49 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: at times has been, the most wealthy person in the world, 50 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: that wealth is tied into other assets. It's not like 51 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,680 Speaker 1: he has a Scrooge make Duck vault full of gold 52 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: coins that he goes swimming in. Most of his money 53 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,519 Speaker 1: is tied up in stocks in other companies, so it's 54 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,519 Speaker 1: not something that he can just like take forty four 55 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: billion dollars out of the bank and slap it down 56 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: on the table and buy Twitter. So the board of 57 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: director said they would consider the offer. They also prepared 58 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: a measure to protect Twitter should Musk actually pursue a 59 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: hostile takeover, in a type of protection called a poison pill. 60 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: To get into that would take a little too much time, 61 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: but let's just say that they were kind of hedging 62 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: their bets anyway. From that point things went bonkers. The 63 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: board agreed to Musk's offer, whereupon Musk appeared to suddenly 64 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: develop second thoughts. By mid May, so like a month 65 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: after this had really gotten started, Musk was trying to 66 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: get out of the deal he had proposed, and he 67 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: cited all sorts of concerns, saying that things at Twitter 68 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,039 Speaker 1: weren't as peachy keen as he had been led to believe, 69 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: that the platform was absolutely riddled with bots, and that 70 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: this had driven up Twitter's value to a level that 71 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: wasn't realistic. But the problem was Musk's agreement had ceded 72 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 1: his rights to due diligence, like he had agreed to 73 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: just skip due diligence, so he was kind of stuck. 74 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: It's like agreeing site unseen that you're going to buy 75 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: a house and you sign a contract. Then you show 76 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: up and you find out the houses in shambles, but 77 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 1: we've already signed the contract. You gave up your rights 78 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,360 Speaker 1: in the agreement. Well Over the following months, Musk repeatedly 79 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,039 Speaker 1: made statements saying things at Twitter were really not good, 80 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:01,480 Speaker 1: the company was garbage, that he didn't want to buy it, 81 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,280 Speaker 1: and meanwhile the board of directors were taking legal action 82 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 1: to force Musk to follow through on the deal. And 83 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: you know their point was, Hey, you said you're going 84 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: to buy this. Even if you're not gonna buy it, 85 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: you're gonna owe us a billion dollars because that's what 86 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: the agreement says. If you back out, you've got to 87 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: pay a billion for that privilege. And you are sabotaging 88 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: the company, right, you are saying all these terrible things 89 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 1: about the company in an effort to get out of 90 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: this deal. We're going to make you follow through. Ultimately, 91 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: Musk did follow through on the deal, but only after 92 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: it was clear there was no way for him to 93 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: get out of the hole he himself had dug. Once 94 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: he realized, oh no, the consequences of my own actions 95 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,559 Speaker 1: are inevitable, he kind of accepted it and went ahead 96 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: and purchased the company. So in October twenty twenty two, 97 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,479 Speaker 1: Elon Musk acquired Twitter, and it didn't take long at 98 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: all before he started making huge moves. He cleared house, 99 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: He fired essentially the board of directors in the executive 100 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,039 Speaker 1: team over at Twitter. He also fired about half of 101 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,039 Speaker 1: Twitter's workforce right out of the gate, and made demands 102 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: that led to thousands of other employees resigning because they 103 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: refused to work under the circumstances that he was demanding, 104 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: and Musk reigned over a significantly damaged Twitter. This kind 105 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: of sets the scene for twenty twenty three. Now, even 106 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: before twenty twenty three got started, Twitter was already facing 107 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 1: a challenge when it came to revenue. The company has 108 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 1: always struggled with revenue and profitability. Even when Twitter was 109 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: going gangbusters, it wasn't really a profitable company. But according 110 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: to Musk himself, Twitter was losing around four million dollars 111 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: per day back in November of twenty twenty two, and 112 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,719 Speaker 1: advertisers were starting to show signs of caution upon Musk's 113 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: acquisition of the company, And this, as it would turn out, 114 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: would be a tiny preview of what was to come 115 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three. So in January twenty twenty three, 116 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: Twitter had around two thousand, three hundred employees. Before Musk 117 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: took the company over, it had seven four hundred folks 118 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: working there. So now they were down to less than 119 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: half of their workforce from just a few months earlier. Meanwhile, 120 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: Elon Musk had these huge dreams he wanted implemented. He 121 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: wanted to transform Twitter into something that had been on 122 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: his mind for years, a sort of everything app, similar 123 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: to China's we Chat app, where you could communicate, you 124 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: could conduct commerce, you could do all sorts of things. 125 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: His version of the app had its roots way back 126 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: in his early days as one of the co founders 127 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: of the company that would eventually become PayPal. His version 128 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: back then was to be called x, But Musk wouldn't 129 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 1: see it come to fruition because some of the other 130 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 1: folks at the company that would become PayPal decided that 131 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: Dusk was a bit much and they muscled him out 132 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: of the company. Apparently Musk had been determined to prove 133 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: them wrong ever since. Anyway, Musk wanted to transform Twitter 134 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: into something beyond what it already was. But that is 135 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: really hard to do, even if you haven't just gone 136 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: ahead and reduced your workforce by more than half. Just 137 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: keeping Twitter running was a challenge, let alone building the 138 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: elements that would turn it into an everything app. Perhaps 139 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: this drive took too much attention and led to situations 140 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: that if Musk had been a little more attentive, could 141 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 1: have been avoided. But seeing as how Musk typically reacts 142 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,719 Speaker 1: poorly to pretty much every situation he's ever put in, 143 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: I'm not convinced. In March twenty twenty three, Musk stated 144 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: that he figured Twitter at that point was worth around 145 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 1: twenty billion dollars. That had to be a blow, because, again, 146 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 1: at fifty four dollars twenty cents per share, the price 147 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: that Musk paid when he bought company, it brought the 148 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: company up to around forty four billion, So, just like 149 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 1: the workforce, Twitter's value was reduced by more than half 150 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:14,199 Speaker 1: since Musk's takeover. Worse yet, Fidelity gave an even more 151 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: drastic estimate, valuing the company down to fourteen point four 152 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:22,559 Speaker 1: one billion, so like a third of what Musk had 153 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: paid for it. Beyond the monetary value, some users were 154 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: questioning the practical value of Twitter. Once upon a time, 155 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: owners of Note could have their accounts verified by Twitter 156 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: and they would receive a little blue check mark, and 157 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: this mark alerted other users on Twitter that that account 158 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: legitimately represented who or what it claimed to, whether that 159 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: was a celebrity or a news organization or a politician, 160 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: a government agency, what have you. But Musk changed that 161 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:57,839 Speaker 1: and in twenty twenty two he introduced a paid for 162 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: check system and for eight a month, initially twenty bucks 163 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: a month, but he walked that back because people freaked 164 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:07,720 Speaker 1: out about it. Anyone could get a check mark. Suddenly 165 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: the verification element of check marks was out the window, 166 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,680 Speaker 1: and in fact, several mischief makers took the opportunity to 167 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: create new accounts that impersonated famous people or brands or 168 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: government agencies. They paid for the check mark so it 169 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: looked like they were the verified account representing that entity, 170 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: and then they started posting all sorts of stuff, including 171 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: really awful stuff. This damaged Twinter's reputation, particularly among brands 172 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 1: which weren't keen on some Yahoo on the site pretending 173 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:41,559 Speaker 1: to represent them. It was one of many questionable decisions 174 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: that would lead us to where we are today. We'll 175 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,640 Speaker 1: talk more about some of those questionable decisions, but right 176 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:50,960 Speaker 1: now we have a decision that's not questionable, and that 177 00:10:51,160 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: is to thank our sponsors. We're back. So one thing 178 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,320 Speaker 1: that Musk has also done repeatedly is kind of position 179 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 1: himself as a champion of free speech. You might find 180 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:14,200 Speaker 1: that his parameters of what constitutes free speech are somewhat subjective. 181 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:19,199 Speaker 1: Hate speech seemed to increase and flourish on the platform 182 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:22,680 Speaker 1: a matter that led more than one organization to accuse 183 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:27,360 Speaker 1: Twitter of failing to prevent or mitigate the problem. Musk's 184 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: response typically is to threaten lawsuits against organizations complaining about 185 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:37,559 Speaker 1: hate speech on the platform. Meanwhile, more advertisers were rethinking 186 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: their relationship with Twitter, with several pausing spending on any 187 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:47,080 Speaker 1: advertising money for Twitter campaigns. The situation got bad enough 188 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 1: that Musk was convinced he needed to find a new CEO, 189 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: mostly to help bring advertisers back to the platform. Now, 190 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 1: Musk had said his plan was only to act as 191 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:01,200 Speaker 1: interim CEO from the very beginning. He said that Susie 192 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,320 Speaker 1: found a suitable replacement, that person would be put in 193 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: charge and he would step away. This was something that 194 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: was necessary because shareholders and other companies like Tesla were 195 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: becoming frustrated that Musk's attention was on this social platform 196 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:20,120 Speaker 1: instead of say, his car company, and that their investments 197 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,959 Speaker 1: in the car company were suffering as a result because 198 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,840 Speaker 1: the company wasn't really going in any good direction. So 199 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 1: there was this pressure on Elon Musk to name a 200 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:34,760 Speaker 1: successor over at Twitter, and he did sort of. He 201 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: named Linda Yakarino, a former executive with NBC Universal, who 202 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: was known for having strong relationships with advertisers, which makes sense. 203 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 1: She worked with advertisers and brands in a high profile 204 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:50,440 Speaker 1: media company, so she seemed like an ideal choice at 205 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,679 Speaker 1: least as far as repairing Twitter's relationship with brands and 206 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: ad companies would go. But Yakarino has found herself somewhat 207 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: hampered by the fact that Elon has stick on with Twitter, 208 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:05,079 Speaker 1: and by some accounts at least essentially is still running 209 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 1: the show over there. So in other words, the common 210 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:12,320 Speaker 1: perception is that Yakarino is over there to try and 211 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: smooth things out with advertisers and brands, but not to 212 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:20,000 Speaker 1: actually run the company. That would be Musk's purview. Now. 213 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:22,959 Speaker 1: I don't know if that's true. I don't know if 214 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,720 Speaker 1: that's a reflection of what is actually happening over at X, 215 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: but it is the common perception anyway, whether she's calling 216 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 1: the shots or not. She hasn't really been able to 217 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: stop the migration of advertisers from the company. Occasionally you'll 218 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:41,440 Speaker 1: hear about one tentatively coming back, but more frequently you 219 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:44,959 Speaker 1: hear about them leaving now. Back in the spring, Musk 220 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:51,839 Speaker 1: also rebranded Twitter as X Corp. The platform was still 221 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: called Twitter at this point. That would change over the 222 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 1: summer when Twitter shed its old name and adopted X 223 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:01,320 Speaker 1: as it's new name, and it also got rid of 224 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: all the Twitter branding and the logos and everything that 225 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: had defined Twitter for more than a decade. This move 226 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:11,319 Speaker 1: confused a lot of people. It's generally believed that it's 227 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: a bad idea to toss aside a widely recognizable brand 228 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:18,240 Speaker 1: and to start from scratch. It certainly led to everyone 229 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: using the phrase X formerly known as Twitter. I still 230 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: hear that, and it's been six months since the change. Anyway, 231 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:28,520 Speaker 1: There's a lot of value that's built up in a brand. 232 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 1: I think part of the reason people say X formerly 233 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 1: known as Twitter is that they missed the old Twitter, 234 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 1: and it's kind of them indicating like, the thing I'm 235 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 1: talking about now is not the same as the thing 236 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: that I enjoyed using, you know, two years ago. Anyway, 237 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: they decided, for whatever reason to throw all that value out, 238 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: possibly because Elon Musk has some level of obsession over 239 00:14:54,840 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 1: the brand X. The changes kept coming. In August, tweet Deck, 240 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 1: which had started off as a third party Twitter client, 241 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: and then later Twitter acquired tweet deck went from being 242 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 1: freely available to anyone to being locked behind a paywall 243 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: so only X subscribers can access the tweet deck tool. 244 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: This was a huge hassle to folks who managed multiple 245 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: accounts on X, myself included. I had my own account, 246 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: I had tech Stuff's account, I had a few others, 247 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: and it was really easy to manage from a single 248 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: view in tweet deck, but putting it behind a Twitter 249 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:35,960 Speaker 1: subscription was a drag. Part of the reason it was 250 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: a drag is that by this point, the Twitter or 251 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 1: rather X check mark was no longer looked at as 252 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: verification or even a social badge of honor. It was 253 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 1: quite the opposite. Actually, people started to look at that 254 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: check mark as a sign that you were kind of 255 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 1: a stooge. At least that was the general perception among 256 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: a subset of Twitter's population or X's population. In fact, 257 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:04,480 Speaker 1: some accounts that retained the check mark because they just 258 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: had so many followers that musk allowed them to continue 259 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,800 Speaker 1: having the check mark. They would proclaim, Hey, this isn't 260 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: my choice. I didn't subscribe to X. They just gave 261 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: me the check mark, and I have nothing to do 262 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: with it. So it became the opposite social status than 263 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: what it had used to be this past summer, Musk 264 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:29,040 Speaker 1: also announced that non subscribers would have limits to the 265 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:31,160 Speaker 1: number of posts they would be able to see in 266 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:33,720 Speaker 1: a day. Now. The official story for this is that 267 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,880 Speaker 1: they would cut down on data scriping across the platform, 268 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: though skeptics figured it was an effort to drive more subscriptions. 269 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: Musk also introduced a revenue sharing plan for certain Twitter users. 270 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: You again would need to be subscribed to Twitter to 271 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: qualify for this. Musk also generously indicated that he would 272 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 1: put any money his own account earned back into the pool, 273 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: because obviously, Musk has the most followed account on the platform. Now, 274 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: keep in mind that investigations indicated that a ton of 275 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 1: musks followers appear to either be inactive or potentially bots. 276 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 1: Most have fewer than a dozen posts credited to them. 277 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: Many of them have no followers of their own. They 278 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: appear to be passive accounts and arguably serve no value 279 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:25,360 Speaker 1: other than to inflate Musk's own follower numbers. Let's see 280 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:29,680 Speaker 1: what else. X also changed its API, its application programmer interface. 281 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: It got rid of all the free options replaced it 282 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,919 Speaker 1: with tiers of paid service. The top tier for enterprises 283 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: costs a blistering forty two thousand dollars a month. This 284 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 1: led to several developers saying they would have to call 285 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,320 Speaker 1: it quits on their Twitter related apps or they would 286 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:49,639 Speaker 1: just go bankrupt trying to run them. Musk also welcomed 287 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,439 Speaker 1: back folks who had previously been banned on the platform, 288 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: giving them a space for that free speech he values 289 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: so much. Again, your mileage may vary with Musk's dedication 290 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:02,040 Speaker 1: to free speech. If you criticize Musk, you might find 291 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:07,359 Speaker 1: it's not that free anyway. These questionable decisions would include 292 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: reinstating the account of Alex Jones, which was a decision 293 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: that was so shocking I'm sure it convinced advertisers that 294 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 1: had been on the fence about leaving to just pick 295 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,560 Speaker 1: up their bags and go. At that point. The company's 296 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: financial situation, i think it's safe to say, is in shambles. 297 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: Throughout the year, there were stories of the company failing 298 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:28,880 Speaker 1: or refusing to pay bills for stuff like office space, 299 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 1: which led to evictions and lawsuits. X employees have brought 300 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: legal action against the company too, saying they've been denied 301 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: their guaranteed severance The National Music Publishers Association has sued 302 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: X for two hundred and fifty million dollars, alleging multiple 303 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: incidents of copyright infringement. The EU has launched an investigation 304 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: into the company to determine if X is failing to 305 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:57,520 Speaker 1: follow EU law with regard to policing hate speech. The 306 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 1: companies on track to post much lower recaps new numbers 307 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: this year than from last year, which in turn was 308 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:06,720 Speaker 1: already a drop from the year before. Pretty Much every 309 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: story coming out of X right now is negative, and 310 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:11,800 Speaker 1: I'm sure Vegas is going to start taking bets on if, 311 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:15,800 Speaker 1: or maybe even when the company will collapse. So can 312 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:18,520 Speaker 1: X make it through twenty twenty four and out the 313 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 1: other side? I personally believe it would be much easier 314 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,199 Speaker 1: to achieve that if someone convinced Musk to just step 315 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:28,639 Speaker 1: back from the company entirely, But I'd be surprised if 316 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:32,360 Speaker 1: he actually does it. I don't know. The company does 317 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:34,920 Speaker 1: have a lot of staying power. I mean, it stuck 318 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:38,720 Speaker 1: around for years without making any sort of profit, but 319 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: it just I don't know. The perception seems to be 320 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 1: that X now is just a toxic environment and that 321 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:50,680 Speaker 1: it's destroying itself from within, so we'll see. I think 322 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 1: it's pretty sad, especially for all the people who lost 323 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:56,000 Speaker 1: their jobs in the wake of Musk taking over. But 324 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: who knows, maybe it will transform itself again. We'll have 325 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: to see what happens in twenty twenty four. In the meantime, 326 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: I hope all of you are well, and I'll talk 327 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. 328 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:21,800 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 329 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:27,439 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.