Technology Archives - Social Media Explorer https://socialmediaexplorer.com/tag/technology/ Exploring the World of Social Media from the Inside Out Tue, 08 Aug 2023 22:10:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 Twitter Looks To Bring Advertisers Back With Expanded Ad Features, Months After Top Advertisers Left The Platform In Mass https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/twitter-looks-to-bring-advertisers-back-with-expanded-ad-features-months-after-top-advertisers-left-the-platform-in-mass/ Tue, 08 Aug 2023 22:09:39 +0000 https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/twitter-looks-to-bring-advertisers-back-with-expanded-ad-features-months-after-top-advertisers-left-the-platform-in-mass/ Topline Twitter, now called X, has announced a partnership with X on Tuesday. expand brand...

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Topline

Twitter, now called X, has announced a partnership with X on Tuesday. expand brand safety measures for advertisers on the platform—which has been battered by decreases in ad revenue since Elon Musk acquired Twitter last year.

The Key Facts

Through an extended partnership with ad-tech firm Integral Ad Science, X will provide more advertisement tools that it claimed would allow advertisers to separate their content from undesired keywords and handles with more than a “99% efficacy rate.”

The ad tool expansion comes about a month after Musk said X, then Twitter, had “negative cash flow” due to an estimated 50% declineAdvertising revenue has declined significantly since Musk’s takeover of the platform.

Advertisers will also be able to use standard and conservative sensitivity settings to choose what kind of content they’re not comfortable showing their ads alongside, including sexual content, targeted hate speech, obscenity, drugs and more.

A relaxed sensitivity setting is coming soon, which would show advertisements alongside some types of sensitive content to “maximize reach,” according to a screenshotThe feature.

According to researchers, the sensitivity features may be a welcome relief for advertisers of X. Since Musk took over, there has been an increase in hate speech.

An automated blocklist will also be a tool available to advertisers, allowing them to prohibit their brands from appearing adjacent to certain keywords on the “For You” and “Following” pages.

What We Don’t Know

It’s not clear when some of the features, such as sensitivity settings, will officially go live. A test phase is being used in the interim before some tools are launched.

Big Number

59%. That is the year-over-year drop in X’s revenue from U.S. advertising this April, according to the New York Times.

Key Background

Since Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, the platform, currently known as X, has gone through shifts that have turned away advertisers. The platform experienced a significant increase in racist and anti-semitic posts weeks after Musk’s arrival. By January, more than half of Twitter’s top advertisers, such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, Jeep and Wells Fargo, stopped spending on the platform. Researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate claimed that Twitter had failed to respond to 99% of Twitter Blue account posts that were hateful. Musk promptly threatened legal action against the non-profit, claiming it intended to scare advertisers away from the platform with “incendiary claims.” Musk has said his platform was willing to work with advertisers and their concerns about the platform, but that “freedom of speech” was “paramount” for Twitter. The billionaire has further maintained that he has tried to create “a “sensible middle ground” between advertisers and the public’s freedom of speech.

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Musk says Twitter ads plummet as the battle with Threads heats up (SME)

Twitter’s U.S. Ad Sales Down 59% Despite Musk’s ‘Breaking Even’ Claims, Report Says (SME)

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Analysis by Tom Keane: Harnessing the Power of Multi-Cloud https://socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/tom-keane-multi-cloud/ Wed, 12 Jul 2023 21:48:06 +0000 https://socialmediaexplorer.com/?p=42412 Gain valuable insights from Tom Keane as he delves into the advantages and critical considerations of implementing multi-cloud strategies. Explore how leveraging multi-cloud architectures can amplify edge computing capabilities, offering businesses enhanced cost-effectiveness, operational flexibility, and optimized service offerings.

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According to Tom Keane, the more we analyze the benefits of edge computing, the clearer it becomes why businesses should consider a move to – or the adoption of – platforms, services, and digital infrastructures that can deliver those benefits. At the same time, however, business leaders mustn’t lose sight of the fact that technological advancements and their real-life use cases do not occur in a vacuum. What this means is that new business models, tech innovations, and cutting-edge service offerings should be looked at together so that the highest-impact force multipliers available can be adopted.

Much of the success of today’s edge offerings is due to advancements made in the cloud computing space. Without access to computing capabilities that are fast, flexible, reliable, and scalable, it would not likely have been possible to build new business models and IT infrastructures designed to deliver the real-time, low latency, and highly available functionalities that edge devices, sensors, systems, and applications provide.

That being said, Tom Keane believes that an exploration of not just cloud but multi-cloud strategies can be of immense benefit to businesses and users. Business leaders should look at the available cloud and multi-cloud offerings and how they may integrate with a given set of edge capabilities to create value and/or solve real-world challenges. Below are points to consider and critical success factors based on Tom Keane’s vast experience as a long-time leader at Azure – Microsoft’s cloud computing platform.

Tom Keane Breaks Down Multi-Cloud Strategies

As the name suggests, a multi-cloud strategy involves the use of two or more different cloud computing services. This can refer to the use of multiple SaaS (Software as a Service) or PaaS (Platform as a Service) offerings, although it is typically used to mean a combination of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offerings. Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud are relevant examples of this.

Multi-cloud adoption today is primarily being driven by redundancy and vendor lock-in concerns. However, evolving business and technical goals and strategies are also linked to the rise in multi-cloud growth. For example, some cloud offerings are more price-competitive than others, while others may be faster or come with more capacity or features. Others may be better suited for particular environments, industries, or regions.

Furthermore, many organizations pursue multi-cloud strategies due to data privacy and sovereignty concerns. The evolving landscape of data privacy, protection, sovereignty, and localization laws means many types of enterprise data must be physically located in specific locations or borders. Multi-cloud strategies can be used to help organizations meet those mandates by leveraging the availability and expertise and offerings of multiple IaaS providers across different data center regions and/or availability zones. Such a setup also provides businesses with the ability to have cloud data and relevant computing resources residing as close as possible to end users, thereby optimizing performance and minimizing latency.

Pros, Cons, and Adoption Trends of Multi-Cloud Computing

Multi-cloud can prevent data loss and downtime that may arise due to localized component failures in the cloud. With multi-cloud, businesses can also avoid vendor lock-in. Tom Keane says that these have been the key driving factors of multi-cloud adoption in recent years.

However, as alluded to above, there are many other benefits to adopting a multi-cloud strategy. Since users can select the right cloud services and features that they need from the most optimized and cost-effective providers that meet all SLAs, this makes picking, choosing, and then building the perfect multi-cloud infrastructure easy. Where end needs are highly specific, such as the ability to handle a large number of requests per unit of time, process smaller data transfers on average, reduce latency, increase redundancies, add machine learning capabilities to devices, or maximize resource availability, businesses can choose what they need based on a highly specific set of requirements without having to worry about designing and building those systems from scratch.

Agility and choice, therefore, are important reasons to consider a multi-cloud architecture for your IT needs. The ability to use best-of-breed services and modernize and transform your digital infrastructure while having the upper hand in price negotiations are also compelling reasons to consider multi-cloud.

However, there are a few potential drawbacks to using multi-cloud. Many IaaS cloud providers provide their users with volume discounts in which prices fall as the user buys more of a specific service. Tom Keane says that organizations may find it increasingly difficult to qualify for such discounts and enjoy those economies of scale if they spread their IT needs across several providers or platforms. Furthermore, since multi-cloud deployments, by definition, involve multiple cloud services and/or platforms, Tom Keane says that it is important to consider the IT and staffing needs of running and maintaining that infrastructure. Workload and application management in a multi-cloud environment can also be challenging when workloads and data move between clouds, platforms, and applications.

The increased complexity of using multiple clouds as opposed to using a single provider or platform, coupled with a lack of trained personnel and difficulties in provisioning can also stand in the way of effective multi-cloud adoption and utilization.

Tom Keane Outlines How to Develop a Multi-Cloud Strategy for Your Business

Before you embark on a move to multi-cloud services, first assess your application needs and your business and technical requirements to break down the motivators for a move to multi-cloud. For example, is your ultimate goal a lowering of overall costs by migrating workloads to cloud providers that have aggressive and attractive pricing? Do you need to enhance application delivery by provisioning development resources when and where they are needed? Do you want to improve IT efficiency by freeing up resources that were formerly reliant on on-premises systems?

Tom Keane says that, in addition to the above, decision-makers should also consider the unique benefits of different cloud providers, how those benefits map to current and future needs, the strength of current vendor and provider relationships, whether vendor lock-in is or will be a concern, and any strategic or business benefits or risks that may arise in a multi-cloud setting, such as compliance or governance issues that would come about or be solved.

A simple playbook for ensuring multi-cloud success is to:

  • Know the “why” of multi-cloud while focusing on key objectives, such as modernization, cost savings, or the elimination of on-premises IT infrastructure.
  • Keep costs in check. Cloud platforms are all different. As per Tom Keane, if businesses are not careful, the expansion of operations, security, and governance over multiple costs can quickly spiral out of control.
  • Plan for the resources you need to make your multi-cloud strategy a success. Every additional cloud adds complexity to your IT infrastructure, and they may all need dedicated and expert personnel to run and maintain them.
  • Always measure progress to know where and how ROI is generated or obstructed.

Multi-Cloud for Edge? Tom Keane Weights In

Edge devices and systems, often by definition, can be countless. Think of the sensors, mobile devices, smart appliances, RFID-equipped supplies and shipments, and more. When connected, these devices, sensors, and systems make up the Internet of Things (IoT), and they all operate at the edge of where data is generated, stored, consumed – and even processed.

With the benefits of multi-cloud in mind, Tom Keane says that it is easy to see why businesses may wish to adopt a multi-cloud strategy. It can lower costs and latency while allowing businesses to choose the optimal providers for specific services and needs.

With so much variety in terms of needs, data types, device types, application requirements, and the geographic spread of large and growing edge networks, edge systems can definitely benefit from adopting a multi-cloud topology. The only consideration would be to ensure that the use case and financials make sense and can deliver the benefits and ROI expected of a multi-cloud edge implementation. If they do, then Tom Keane believes that making the move and adopting a new multi-cloud edge approach is an easy decision to make.

Final Thoughts

As mentioned at the outset, edge computing capabilities and cloud/multi-cloud technologies continue to evolve. Innovation, new offerings, new service models, and new business use cases are all driving an IT and digital transformation revolution, but the smart money is always invested in maximizing output and value creation with a given set of inputs.That being said, businesses should not look at either edge, cloud, or multi-cloud implementations as one-off and independent digital transformation initiatives or opportunities. Tech synergies, economies of scale, application tie-ins, and the incremental growth and deepening of expertise that come with specialization all provide unique and quantifiable benefits to businesses and users. With multi-cloud in an edge setting, businesses can pick and choose the services, features, cost structures, and delivery models that suit them best. With the flexibility, scalability, competitive pricing, and best-in-class offerings of different cloud platforms and services, businesses can truly build the systems that are precisely tailored to their needs and are just perfect for them.

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The workers the mass Twitter layoffs left behind https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/the-workers-the-mass-twitter-layoffs-left-behind/ Mon, 06 Mar 2023 15:29:04 +0000 https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/the-workers-the-mass-twitter-layoffs-left-behind/ These workers were left behind after the mass Twitter layoffs SME interviewed three ex-Twitter employees,...

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These workers were left behind after the mass Twitter layoffs

SME interviewed three ex-Twitter employees, their lawyer and about their last days with the company following Elon Musk’s takeover. They also discussed their life after the layoffs and how they feel now.

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She was weeks away from maternity leave at Twitter. Then Elon Musk took over https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/she-was-weeks-away-from-maternity-leave-at-twitter-then-elon-musk-took-over/ Mon, 06 Mar 2023 14:29:58 +0000 https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/she-was-weeks-away-from-maternity-leave-at-twitter-then-elon-musk-took-over/ New York SME  —  Bim Ali became pregnant early during her first child when Elon...

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New York
SME
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Bim Ali became pregnant early during her first child when Elon Musk, a billionaire, agreed to purchase Twitter. She worked on Redbird’s core technology team as an engineer. Ali stayed with Twitter through months of uncertainty, trying to ignore the flood of news and focus instead on her baby’s health.

“I was really happy, I loved my team, I loved contributing,” Ali said. “I was also pregnant, so [leaving] didn’t even make sense on any level” because that maternity leave might not be guaranteed as a new hire at a different company, she said.

However, Ali was fired in November shortly after Musk’s acquisition, and just weeks before she began her five-month maternity leaves.

January 4 marked Ali’s official separation date from Twitter, leaving her without health insurance, which her job had provided for her family. The baby was delivered a week later. She is now spending her time with her baby, two months after she gave birth.

“But I’m not being financially supported like I had planned,” she said. “We have to make some way of staying afloat.”

Ali is just one of many current or former employees of Twitter whose lives were disrupted by Musk’s purchase of shares in the company. Twitter employees endured a corporate circus unlike any other, complete with Musk’s threats to bail on the deal, his public clashes with Twitter executives, the potential for a high-profile trial between Twitter and the Tesla CEO, and finally the deal’s completion immediately followed by rumors of imminent mass layoffs.

Musk bought Twitter and cut half the staff. Then, he laid off more people while repeatedly warning of a possible Twitter bankruptcy. After more reductions late last month, Twitter reported that it now has less than 2000 employees, a decrease of around 7,500 since Musk’s takeover.

Former workers who spoke with SME said the past year has felt like whiplash: they went from working for a company whose culture they loved with a corporate mission they believed in, to hunting for a new job and worrying about the platform’s future under Musk’s leadership as he restored incendiary accounts and alienated advertisers. One former employee told SME following December layoffs that they felt like they were grieving what had been their “dream job.”

Numerous workers now find themselves reeling from generous severance package offers that they claim were promised, but which never came through. While some have quickly found jobs, others have struggled with a tech job market that’s at its bleakest point in recent memory. Former employees have told SME about the legal cases filed against them.

“I wasn’t a software engineer or an executive,” said Michele Armstrong, a former senior audio video engineer, who was laid off seven months after joining the company. “I made a decent wage in San Francisco, but if I don’t find another job, I will have to move out of my apartment because I was paid just enough to live in San Francisco … but I wasn’t one of the people that could sock away a bunch of money.”

Armstrong says she’s now searching for work in the challenging tech job market and dipping into her retirement savings to help pay her rent.

A view of Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco, California, on February 8.

Armstrong and Ali are two of the 1,500 employees that have taken legal action. Ex-Twitter employees have filed arbitration demands and four class action lawsuits against Twitter in pursuit of additional severance they allege they were promised by the company prior to Musk’s takeover. Some ex-workers also allege sex, disability discrimination or other issues. However, the company has not proven that these allegations are valid.

“One person can impact our way of living, and unfortunately, we’re seeing the negative impacts of that from how Twitter is being run,” Ali said.

Twitter has asked to dismiss all four class action lawsuits. The company claimed its layoffs had been legal and employees could pursue their claims through arbitration. A judge ruled last month in the company’s favor that at least some workers could not pursue their claims through a class action suit and must instead proceed through arbitration.

Twitter did not make any comment on arbitration, but Shannon LissRiordan filed last month a lawsuit accusing Twitter’s failure to cooperate with arbitration. Twitter laid off a large portion of its media relations staff last year. They did not respond when we asked for comments.

Armstrong was in onboarding sessions for a new job at Twitter, which she called her “unicorn company,” the day news broke that Musk had agreed to buy the company. “It was very welcoming,” Armstrong said of the company. “I was respected, and I hadn’t had that anywhere else working in tech.”

But in the months after Musk’s April offer to buy Twitter, employees witnessed near-daily news coverage of their employer and a wide range of questions about the takeover, from uncertainty over the billionaire’s financing to concerns about his “free speech” vision for the platform.

Michele Armstrong, a former senior audio video engineer, was laid off seven months after joining Twitter. Armstrong says she's now searching for work and dipping into her retirement savings to help pay her rent.

“We were on the Twitter-coaster, the Elon Musk chapter, for seven months,” Ali said. “And during that time, he was in, he was out, it was happening, it wasn’t happening, we could’ve been purchased by some other rogue faction, there were so many rumors, so many opinions.”

Of the many rumors that swirled about Musk’s plans for Twitter, former employees say the biggest question internally was whether Musk would conduct layoffs following his takeover.

But former employees say they got some reassurance after a June meeting in which Musk responded to a question about layoffs by telling Twitter workers that “anyone who’s obviously a significant contributor should have nothing to worry about.”

“I thought, well then, I don’t have anything to worry about because I’m a significant contributor,” Armstrong said, who added that she had previously considered starting to look for another job but “then he said that and it kind of changed my mind.”

Like Ali, some employees said that even if they’d wanted to leave, it simply didn’t feel like an option for personal reasons. Other workers were open to the idea of working for Musk, one of the world’s most famous entrepreneurs, despite his reputation as a controversial figure on Twitter and the uncertainty around his plans for the platform.

“Twitter has definitely never been a perfect company … and so I kind of welcome that not necessarily contrarian, but definitely different, approach,” said Justine de Caires, a former senior software engineer who was the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit filed against Twitter shortly after the November mass layoffs and who is now pursuing arbitration claims against the company. “I think we definitely could have had something to learn from Elon.”

Former Twitter employee Justine De Caires walks toward an entrance to a federal courthouse in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. De Caires is one of the former Twitter employees taking legal action against the company following mass layoffs after Musk took over.

According to Twitter, employees claim that they received very little communication from Musk in the first week after his acquisition. De Caires worked for the first week with Musk on Twitter Blue. This subscription service was Musk’s urgent attempt to boost revenue. De Caires claimed that they worked all night to assist with this effort at one time. Armstrong claimed that Armstrong was called to assist in setting up audio-video equipment at a conference area in an office building in which the company was in the process to shut down due to new leadership.

A week after his takeover, Musk laid off around half of Twitter’s staff by email, leaving employees without work — and at least some confused about whether they could seek out new jobs without risking their severance pay — just before the holidays. In the following weeks, Musk continued to push out additional employees, including by asking remaining workers to commit to working “extremely hardcore” or resign.

Musk initially denied reports that he was planning to lay off 75% of Twitter employees to save costs. But, Musk has actually done something very similar over the past four month with different rounds of staff cutting.

In lawsuits and arbitration claims, numerous former Twitter employees have alleged that the company had promised if layoffs did occur following Musk’s takeover, the severance benefits provided would be at least equivalent to what had been offered prior to his acquisition, including two-months base pay, three months accelerated equity vesting, annual bonuses and some continued health insurance coverage.

Instead, Musk’s Twitter offered laid off employees just one month’s severance following layoffs, beyond pay during the notice period that’s required by state and federal laws. That’s far less than rival companies like Meta, which laid off thousands of workers around the same time as the first cuts under Musk and guaranteed them 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for each year they worked at the company. The severance offers were sent to at least some employees by email, according public tweets from former employees that spoke to SME.

Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan is representing around 1,500 former Twitter employees taking legal action against the company following Musk's takeover.

“I had lots of Twitter employees reaching out to me and saying they relied on” the company’s earlier severance promise, Liss-Riordan told SME. “They were nervous during all that uncertain time last year when it wasn’t clear what was going to happen with the company, and leadership at Twitter didn’t want to lose their workforce in the meantime, so to keep people there, they made these promises.”

Some former employees say the company’s severance promises had encouraged them to stay at the company last summer amid the uncertainty around Musk’s acquisition, only to regret that as the tech industry entered its most severe downturn in recent memory later in the year.

“It would have been really good to have spent the time in the substantially better tech market while it still existed,” de Caires said. “The market is hot garbage right now. I was sitting down earlier this week after a wave of rejections and I was kind of like, maybe I should go be a firefighter or something… because the tech jobs are just not happening.”

De Caires stated that approximately half their compensation was made up of equity vesting. So, losing this portion of their severance package would have meant that they were missing out on large sums of money. The workers and others are seeking to recover the alleged losses by filing arbitration claims.

“A lot of us put in a lot of effort because we love the company and we love to excel,” Ali told SME. “I think there were a lot of excellent workers at Twitter … we were part of a global movement to tell everyone what’s happening, how it’s affecting you locally, how it’s affecting you nationwide, how it’s affecting you globally. And I think that we all should be compensated fairly for what we’ve done.”

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Two doulas, Facebook and video chat helped with the birth of a baby during Buffalo snowstorm over Christmas https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/two-doulas-facebook-and-video-chat-helped-with-the-birth-of-a-baby-during-buffalo-snowstorm-over-christmas/ Thu, 29 Dec 2022 04:46:12 +0000 https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/two-doulas-facebook-and-video-chat-helped-with-the-birth-of-a-baby-during-buffalo-snowstorm-over-christmas/ SME  —  ‘Twas two days before Christmas when within the house, a soon-to-be mother began...

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SME
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‘Twas two days before Christmas when within the house, a soon-to-be mother began having contractions.

Erica and Davon Thomas were expecting their first child on Christmas Day, but around 11 p.m. on December 23, Erica’s contractions began.

On Christmas Eve morning, the contractions worsened – but the Thomas’ couldn’t leave their home as the snow from the winter storm had piled up about halfway up the front door of their Buffalo home, Davon told SME.

The soon-to-be father called 911 for help and was told they’d attempt to get an emergency vehicle there as soon as possible. When he called again later, he was told responders had attempted to get to their house but couldn’t.

“I started thinking, ‘Well, how is my baby going to get delivered safely?’” Davon told SME.

That’s when he realized they were going to be doing this alone.

Davon called Jeter Jr., a close friend. He posted the request to help on a Buffalo group Facebook.

Many people left feedback, offering help or sharing their numbers. Raymonda Reynolds (a doula with five years of experience) was one of them.

Reynolds and Davon spoke at 1:05 p.m. Davon was concerned for Reynolds’ wife and child.

“I’m so happy they chose me, there was a lot of people they could’ve called.” Reynolds told SME.

Reynolds said she could hear Erica in the background – clearly in labor – as she began telling Davon what to do.

“It was straight tunnel vision,” Davon recalled. “I realized how important this was and all nerves went away.”

With Reynolds’ guidance, he grabbed towels, a pair of sanitized scissors and a bowl from the kitchen (to catch the placenta).

They eventually connected via videochat so that the doula could assist them better.

“I kept telling Erica to take deep breaths,” Reynolds said, “I was trying to keep them calm and reassure them.”

As Erica walked around the house in pain, Davon’s job was to follow her closely.

Reynolds added Iva Blackburn as a friend and doula to the conversation. “She brought that extra comfort with the medical background,” Reynolds said.

Two doulas, Davon and Mary on video chat, suggested that Davon examine the baby with a flashlight.

As he put the phone down to check, Erica yelled, “The baby’s crowning!”

Erica then described a burning sensation and gave out what Reynolds described as “a primal moan.”

As Erica squatted, Davon placed a stack of towels under her. The room was quiet, and then Erica shouted: “She’s here!”

“We started screaming like it was a Buffalo Bills touchdown,” Reynolds said. “It was the most beautiful thing I’ve been a part of.”

Devynn Briell Thomas was conceived at 3:31 on December 24, and weighed 6 pounds, 9ozs and measured 20 inches in length.

The doulas advised the new parents to clean Devynn’s mouth and nose, and ensure skin-to-skin contact with mom. After that, Devynn let out her first cry.

Courtesy Davon Thomas

They stayed in touch with their couple via phone to assist with post-birth care and cut the umbilical cord.

“I couldn’t have done it without them,” Davon said, adding he and his wife were in shock. “It was very comforting knowing they were there.”

And it’s social media that made it possible. Facebook “can be messy sometimes, but it can be life saving and life changing,” Reynolds said.

After the successful birth, the family’s next task was to get mom and baby to the hospital, despite the snowstorm. Davon was notified by a text message that assistance was coming at around 4:30 am on Christmas Day

Angel Lugo’s family had seen the post on Facebook and his sister told Davon Lugo would come take them to the hospital, he said.

The snowfall prevented Lugo from parking at the family’s house, so the new mom, dad and baby had to trek through three blocks of knee-deep snow to the car. “We had to walk through quite a bit of snow,” Davon added. “It was like a scene out of a movie.”

Davon said his family arrived back home on Tuesday safe and sound, and Erica and Devynn are “both doing wonderful.”

They plan to meet the doulas that helped them get through the experience face-to-face once the snow has melted.

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Oil Spills and Leaks: Effects on the Environment | Bobby Lee Koricanek https://socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/oil-spills-and-leaks-effects-on-the-environment-bobby-lee-koricanek/ Sat, 10 Dec 2022 12:14:31 +0000 https://socialmediaexplorer.com/?p=41301 The oil used in our machines, automobiles, and industries is typically located far beneath the...

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The oil used in our machines, automobiles, and industries is typically located far beneath the surface of the Earth, in the middle of the ocean. Thousands of tons of oil can leak into the environment if oil rigs or apparatus break down. The effects of an oil spill on ecosystems and habitats can be devastating, resulting in the loss of countless species of flora and fauna, as well as the contamination of air and water.

Bobby Lee Koricanek believes an oil spill could compromise numerous environmental components. The extent of the spill and its placement determine the severity of the consequences. Oil spills, for example, can significantly impact the temporary loss of habitat for animals and fish. Many biological processes, including respiration, nutrition, and thermoregulation, could be disrupted by exposure to heavy oils. Additionally, the spilled oil’s hazardous chemical components and constituents might temporarily alter the ecology.

Oil spills in water environments (such as the ocean or seas or leaks from rigs that make their way into water) are often degraded quickly, in contrast to those on land or in the subsurface. Suppose an aquatic oil spill is significant enough. In that case, it can have devastating impacts on marine life, birds, humans, and ecosystems (such as marshes, wetlands, shorelines, and gulf coasts) (as in the case of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill or the 2010 BP oil spill caused by offshore drilling). If we know how they will carry the oil and where it will end up, Bobby Lee Koricanek ascertains that we can estimate the full scope and severity of the effects of an oil spill.

 

Effects of an Oil Spill on Water Environments

The environmental effects of oil on the water are harmful in many ways. Oil does not mix with the water when it pours into the sea or freshwater. Both fresh and saltwater have oil on the surface. The oil covers the water’s surface in a very thin layer for a brief period. This may prevent sunlight from penetrating oceanic habitats, harming producers and, as a result, the entire food chain of an ecosystem.

Smooth Expands

The oil layer, often known as a slick, thins out and can stretch hundreds of miles in width. Sheens are thin layers that are typically less than 0.01 mm thick. The whims of the weather, waves, and currents can affect oil spills on the water’s surface. So, waves and current activity can bring an oil spill far out at sea to shore.

An oil slick can be broken apart by rough seas, sending more oil in one direction and less in the other. In contrast, currents and wave movement that cause the oil to reach onshore and harm marine shoreline ecology can completely manage a near-shore oil spill.

Oil Degradation

When oil is spilled, different types respond in different ways. Some dissipate slowly, while others degrade more quickly. A moderate amount of oil will degrade after the sheen does, and it will be left behind on the ocean floor.

Although some kinds of bacteria will disintegrate and devour the oil, this will not undo the harm caused by the spill. Oil spills in the ocean also damage the underwater environment when they break apart and settle on the ocean floor.

 

Environmental Effects of Oil on the Coastline

The damaging effects oil has on the coastline may be the aspect of an oil spill that is most noticeable. Images of sea creatures and birds covered in oil are quite common. Oil adheres to everything it touches because it is thick. Even though the birds and other species you see on television may be the most obvious signs of devastation, Bobby Lee Koricanek recommends that you keep in mind that the oil covers everything, even sand grains. After a spill, thick oil devastates or affects every rock, piece of driftwood, sawgrass, sand, soil, and microscopic habitat.

Oil will remain on the shore until the weather and passing the time break the oil down unless a concerted effort is made to clean the shoreline. The process is quite slow, which is why so many environmentalists tirelessly clean polluted shorelines, rocks, and beach areas. The nasty black tar that makes up an oil slick covers the shoreline in a mushy mass.

Because so much aquatic life is concentrated along the coastline, it is dangerous. In addition to housing many juvenile marine animals, beach regions are typically the nurseries for fish and marine life.

 

Impacts on Wildlife and Marine Life

Oil spills in the ocean have a wide range of repercussions.

Direct Impact on Marine Life

There are many ways that marine and coastal species can get contaminated, including by direct contact with oil, habitat degradation, and ingesting poison. As an illustration, a marine mammal that surfaces in the middle of an oil slick will consume the oil. The gills of marine invertebrates and animals that swim through the oily area can also absorb oil.

Even if a marine species is kilometers away from the oil leak, it will consume the lethal oil if it eats a nearby creature. Other than death and illness, consuming oil can result in a variety of issues. Oil can interfere with an animal’s or other marine organisms’ capacity to reproduce and give birth to healthy children.

Environmental Effects of Oil on Wildlife and Habitat

With an oil disaster, habitat devastation is all too visible. On land, you would find the most noticeable creatures, but underwater, shallow-water ecosystems like reefs have a highly delicate equilibrium. Oil spills frequently result in the death of plankton, the producers at the base of the food chain, due to changes to the water and a lack of sunlight beneath the oil slick.

The impact continues to spread up the food chain. The extremely delicate marine life that consumes plankton, such as clams and mussels, is of particular concern.

Any organism that comes into direct touch with oil is harmed. For instance, oil prevents a bird’s feathers from rejecting water when it coats them. The oil also makes the bird heavier and prevents it from flying. A bird is guaranteed to die if the oil isn’t removed. Additionally, many birds consume lethal amounts of oil while brushing their feathers.

Marine mammals share the same characteristics. Marine mammals’ fur is an insulator to keep the animal warm in the coldest seas. Fur loses its capacity to absorb heat when it is saturated with oil. Again, when cleaning their fur, marine creatures may consume the oil.

 

Conclusion

Oil spills have a variety of negative repercussions on the economy and environment. Oil spill consequences will fundamentally harm streams, marine life, vegetation, and animals on land. Oil spills can devastate a region’s economy and infrastructure, with long-term consequences that can last for decades. An oil spill cleanup is exceedingly expensive, and the costs are shared between government organizations, nonprofit organizations, and the oil transport business. Every time there is an oil spill, the public loses faith in the ability of the oil industry to handle this hazardous yet necessary product.

Damage to an animal’s fur or feathers can occur during and after an oil spill. For instance, if a seal pup’s fur breaks down, it will become hypothermic. According to Bobby Lee Koricanek, this phenomenon causes the bulk of bird deaths in oil slicks. Toxins are produced when oil is consumed directly. This is true for creatures living close to the oil spill and those higher up the food chain. Fish may tolerate little oil and live, but they may transmit it to another species far away from the spot, killing it. A long-term effect on animals is that their eggshells get thinner if they are exposed to oil. Algae and seagrass are also contaminated. Bobby Lee Koricanek also ascertains that it can take years for the ecology to recover from this.

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Twitter HQ trolled as Musk shuts down offices https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/twitter-hq-trolled-as-musk-shuts-down-offices/ Sun, 20 Nov 2022 03:57:39 +0000 https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/twitter-hq-trolled-as-musk-shuts-down-offices/ My Account Account for SME Register to access your SME account Live TV Audio Audio...

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Opinion: Why those of us on Twitter are saying ‘I was here’ https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/opinion-why-those-of-us-on-twitter-are-saying-i-was-here/ Sun, 20 Nov 2022 03:53:06 +0000 https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/opinion-why-those-of-us-on-twitter-are-saying-i-was-here/ Editor’s Note: David M. Perry is a journalist, historian and co-author of “The Bright Ages:...

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Editor’s Note: David M. Perry is a journalist, historian and co-author of “The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe.” He is a senior academic adviser in the history department of the University of Minnesota. Follow him Twitter. His views do not reflect those of the author. More information on SME.



SME
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Twitter deserves to be praised, not buried. Yes, I know that’s not how the line goes, but Twitter is a space where we meme, where we take the familiar and remix it, where we make self-referential loops of meta-commentary that somehow – for me anyway – has always added up to so much more than the sum of its parts. My life was transformed by Twitter in profound and absurd ways, professionally and personally.

The whole thing seems to be in danger of falling apart due to the chaos and cruelty that is often the mark of a billionaire.

Twitter is actually pretty small, with hundreds of millions of users – which may sound like a lot, but is actually many fewer than the billions who use Facebook, Instagram and the new kid on the block, TikTok. But those bigger networks tend to keep us siloed, whereas Twitter always has the potential to connect people, ideas, events, concepts and more in ways that I haven’t experienced elsewhere.

These can make life so much easier. It has helped build relationships, created social movements and built communities. I’ve found so many amazing ideas and people, been lucky to hear new perspectives, grown not only as a writer and historian, but also as a citizen, as a person. I’ve found new friends and collaborators. This ability to connect can be terrifying as well; on Twitter, I’ve been exposed to layers of hate that have left me shaken. I know I’m not alone in that.

But as the tweets of farewell, the “find me on Substack or Mastodon or Instagram” posts, continue to pile up, it feels as if so many people on Twitter – whether it collapses entirely or not – feel an immutable urge to say “thank you,” “you mattered,” “I was here.”

Perhaps the reason why is the fear that, in addition to losing this way to connect with each other, the world will move on too quickly, to question amid the ruins Elon Musk has made of Twitter whether the platform’s absence (if it comes to that) will make that much of a difference to people’s everyday lives.

That being said, I’d like to add: These are just a few of the examples that I have from my life in case you want to know if Twitter is really important or if it can be replaced.

In 2009, I joined Twitter to keep up with Fantasy Baseball and add relief pitchers to my league. In 2011, I was able to connect with historians from other professions and had new ideas and things to learn. This made me an even better scholar. 2013 was a year that I started writing more publicly and began finding collaborators, editors, and eventually a readership to support my work as an editor.

Twitter helped me navigate through not just one, but two challenging professional areas. I may, thanks to a reasonably successful book and over 500 published essays since then, be able to continue as a writer without Twitter, but it definitely wouldn’t have happened without that network.

I worry about the next generation of up-and-coming authors who won’t be able to make these kinds of contacts as easily. I’m especially concerned for voices that are otherwise marginalized who have used social media as a way to break out. And in place of “authors,” you could also insert any number of other groups who have found a place to thrive on Twitter: activists, artists, filmmakers, educators, entrepreneurs.

The impact of Twitter has had a profound effect on my political and citizenship identity. My first time logging on I didn’t think sex work was “work”. I thought American police could be reform and had no opinion about whether transgender women were women. The writers I link to on some of these issues – Melissa Gira Grant, Mariame Kaba, Katelyn Burns – are all people who I only started reading because of Twitter. There are dozens of other writers working on dozens of other issues to whom I’m equally grateful.

It’s not just commentary. In 2016, the #CripTheVote hashtag was created by Alice Wong and Andrew Pulrang. This hashtag combines decades of disability advocacy with the fact that Twitter has the largest real-time, public conversation ever. It’s not perfectly accessible or equally so, but it allows people who use a wide variety of communication techniques and whose access to physical spaces varies equally widely to connect with each other.

Stories that would otherwise be buried were also bought on Twitter, and then jumped to mainstream reporting. That was evident at the national level in Ferguson, Missouri after Michael Brown’s death. Nobody was discussing it on Facebook. Everybody in my circle was tweeting about it. This meant that Twitter gave me all the information I needed about when and where to go in my basement, even though it was on a smaller scale.

And don’t forget: Twitter has beenFun. While I don’t watch the Oscars I enjoy Twitter and the Academy Awards. My entertainment and political lives are enhanced by the Twitter gestalt, which allows me to find out what TV shows to view, where to go, who is making new music, and what games I should play. When I was a teenager, N.K. was my first book. Jemisin’s first novel was mentioned by a mutual friend. So it’s not only my real world that’s richer, but my imagination as well.

Many of my bad tweets are about Twitter. I’m mentally ill and have had ideation around self harm since fourth grade. The most perilous incidents in my life since middle school have been bad Twitter cycles. It’s also the first place in my life where a Nazi called me a kike. But Twitter also has provided me with tools to explore and better understand my Judaism, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

And long before I admitted to myself that I had a problem – I started therapy for depression only at age 45, a long time since fourth grade – I got to lurk and listen to disability twitter talk about mental health and to build up the courage to seek help. This is also part of Twitter’s public nature. Sharing your struggles and coping strategies, as well as their experiences, with others can help to create a path for other people to follow, even if they don’t intend to. I’m in a better place now, and I don’t know if that would be true without Twitter.

I don’t want to lose this space that’s changed my life. My network is thriving and I’m inviting others to my Instagram account to share cute pictures of our children.

All of this is all about keeping what you already have. I don’t want to lose the next discovery that Twitter would bring, the thing I don’t know yet, the voice I’m not hearing. For me, Twitter is very important. I’m not ready to let it go.

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Elon Musk restores Donald Trump’s Twitter account https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/elon-musk-restores-donald-trumps-twitter-account/ Sun, 20 Nov 2022 03:20:45 +0000 https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/elon-musk-restores-donald-trumps-twitter-account/ SME  —  Former US President Donald Trump’s Twitter account has been reinstated on the platform....

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SME
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Former US President Donald Trump’s Twitter account has been reinstated on the platform.

The account, which Twitter banned following the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, was restored after Twitter CEO and new owner Elon Musk posted a poll on Twitter on Friday night asking the platform’s users if Trump should be reinstated.

“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk tweeted Saturday night. “Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Latin for “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”

On Saturday night, 51.8% voted in favor of the final poll and 48.2% were against. There were 15,000,000 votes in the poll.

The much-anticipated decision from the new owner sets the stage for the former president’s return to the social media platform where he was previously its most influential, if controversial user, with almost 90 million followers and tweets that often moved the markets, set the news cycle and drove the agenda in Washington.

Trump stated previously that he would continue to use Truth Social as his platform instead of rejoining Twitter. But, any change in Trump’s strategy could have significant political consequences. Trump announced that he would run for the Republican nomination in 2024. He aims to be the second Commander in Chief to ever serve two consecutive terms.

Trump was asked on Saturday about Musk buying Twitter and what his thoughts were on that. However, he praised Musk while questioning whether or not the site could survive the current financial crisis.

“They have a lot of problems,” Trump said in Las Vegas at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting. “You see what’s going on. It may make it, it may not make it.”

Still, Trump said he liked Musk and “liked that he bought (Twitter.)”

“He’s a character and I tend to like characters,” the former president said of Musk. “But he’s smart.”

Throughout Trump’s White House tenure, Twitter was central to his presidency, a fact that also benefited the company in the form of countless hours of user engagement. Twitter took an informal approach when managing Trump’s account. They argued at times that the former president should be allowed to speak freely as a public official.

But as Trump neared the end of his term – and increasingly tweeted misinformation alleging election fraud – the balance shifted. To correct Trump’s misleading statements ahead of 2020, the company started to apply warning labels on his tweets. The platform also banned him permanently after the US Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021.

“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said at the time. “In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action.”

The decision followed two tweets by Trump that, according to Twitter, violated the company’s policy against glorification of violence. The tweets, Twitter said at the time, “must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks.”

The first tweet – a statement about Trump’s supporters, who he called “75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me” – suggested that “he plans to continue to support, empower, and shield those who believe he won the election,” Twitter had said.

The second, which indicated he did not plan to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration, could be viewed as a further statement that the election was not legitimate and could be interpreted as Trump saying that the inauguration would be a “safe” target for violence because he would not be attending, according to Twitter.

Soon after Trump’s Twitter ban, he was also restricted from Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, which could also restore his accounts as soon as January 2023.

On November 18, Musk tweeted that he had reinstated several controversial accounts on the platform, but that a “Trump decision has not yet been made.”

“New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach,” he said at the time. “Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet.”

Musk had previously said he disagreed with Twitter’s permanent ban policy, and could also return other accounts that had been removed from the platform for repeated rules violations.

“I do think it was not correct to ban Donald  Trump; I think that was a mistake,” Musk said at a conference in May, pledging to reverse the ban were he to become the company’s owner.

Jack Dorsey, who was the CEO of Twitter when the company banned Trump but has since left, responded to Musk’s comments saying he agreed that there should not be permanent bans. Banning the former president, he said, was a “business decision” and it “shouldn’t have been.”

Derrick Johnson, President of NAACP, urged advertisers who still fund Twitter to stop buying ad space.

“In Elon Musk’s Twittersphere, you can incite an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which led to the deaths of multiple people, and still be allowed to spew hate speech and violent conspiracies on his platform,” Johnson said in a statement. “If Elon Musk continues to run Twitter like this, using garbage polls that do not represent the American people and the needs of our democracy, God help us all.”

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Twitter chaos spills into public view as Musk clashes with and fires employees on the platform https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/twitter-chaos-spills-into-public-view-as-musk-clashes-with-and-fires-employees-on-the-platform/ Fri, 18 Nov 2022 07:58:01 +0000 https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/twitter-chaos-spills-into-public-view-as-musk-clashes-with-and-fires-employees-on-the-platform/ New York SME Business  —  Elon Musk publicly clashed over the status of Twitter with...

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New York
SME Business
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Elon Musk publicly clashed over the status of Twitter with growing numbers of employees and fired at most one of them. This is an uncommonly obvious sign of corporate chaos following his takeover of the company for $44 billion.

Musk on Monday got into a dispute with software engineer Eric Frohnhoefer on Twitter that ended with the billionaire tweeting “he’s fired,” and Frohnhoefer confirming he’d lost access to Twitter’s internal systems. The public termination came after Frohnhoefer tweeted evidence suggesting that Musk was “wrong” about his claims that Twitter was running, in the billionaire’s words, “super slow” in various countries.

Frohnhoefer told SME Monday night that he found out about the firing when a friend sent him Musk’s tweet and said that “no one even reached out to me from Twitter.” Frohnhoefer added that he had been “willing to give it a try” under Musk and described himself as “in the wait-and-see camp,” but that “everything that has been reported is true.” He described working for Musk as a “total sh*t show” and the current state of affairs as pure “chaos.”

According to an employee’s tweet, at least one additional employee had contributed context about the topic and was also fired on Tuesday morning. And a handful of other Twitter employees said Tuesday on the platform that they were fired by an email that said their “behavior has violated company policy,” with some speculating that the move may have been a reaction to comments they made in internal Slack channels. Sources have indicated to SME that employees in recent days had been very candid in criticism of Musk in the company’s Slack. (SME attempted to reach fired employees for confirmation.

Musk responded to a Twitter comment about Tuesday’s firings. said, “I would like to apologize for firing these geniuses. Their immense talent will no doubt be of great use elsewhere.”

The firings come after Musk slashed half of Twitter’s staff and, reportedly, many of its contractors, in a manner that many critics have described as slapdash and could put the platform at risk. Musk’s retribution for those who disagree with him also comes as he has cemented his control over the company by pushing out Twitter’s top execs and eliminating its board of directors.

Musk now runs Twitter in their absence with help from Jason Calacanis & David Sacks. His personal lawyer Alex Spiro is also involved. There are also engineers that Musk has loaned to other companies such as Tesla.

(TSLA). Other than the negative press from the employees, some Twitter staff seem to have sought to contact Musk and his entourage privately to discuss disruptive changes they are making to the platform.

SME obtained an internal document indicating that staff had expressed concerns to Musk about the potential fallout if Twitter launched its $8 per-month paid verification service. The November 1 document is accurate in its prediction and offers a number of suggestions for avoiding the severe consequences that could result from a subscription. Anyone can pay $8 to get a verification check mark.

“Legacy Verification provides a critical signal in enforcing impersonation rules, the loss of which is likely to lead to an increase in impersonation of high-profile accounts on Twitter,” the document states, adding that such issues could result in a loss of trust among high-profile users. It also raised concerns that the service could result in a “pay to play” system in which key voices that can’t or won’t pay for the subscription, such as “individuals in sanctioned countries (including dissenters and activists)” could be deprioritized.

Esther Crawford, a Twitter product manager who is reportedly now leading its Twitter Blue subscription service update, was briefed on the document ahead of last week’s rollout the paid verification option, as was Musk and his lawyer Alex Spiro, a source told SME. Platformer, a digital news site, was first to publish details about the document.

Within hours of the paid verification system launching last week, Twitter was hit with a wave of celebrity and corporate impersonators on its platform who quickly gamed the system, potentially adding to growing uncertainty among advertisers, who make up nearly all of Twitter’s business. With little notice, Friday’s suspension of the paid subscription was sudden. It wasn’t immediately known when the company would restore the offer.

Correction: This story was incorrectly titled “Musk’s Criticism” in an earlier version. Musk was criticized by a Twitter user, who claimed to be an employee. However, he doesn’t actually work for the company.

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Twitter employees head for the exits after Elon Musk’s ‘extremely hardcore’ work ultimatum https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/twitter-employees-head-for-the-exits-after-elon-musks-extremely-hardcore-work-ultimatum/ Fri, 18 Nov 2022 07:46:21 +0000 https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/twitter-employees-head-for-the-exits-after-elon-musks-extremely-hardcore-work-ultimatum/ New York SME Business  —  Another employee exodus appears to be underway at Twitter as...

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New York
SME Business
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Another employee exodus appears to be underway at Twitter as many workers rejected Elon Musk’s terms for staying with the company, choosing instead to depart, according to multiple current and former employees.

As the deadline approached for Twitter employees to respond to Elon Musk’s ultimatum to commit to working in an “extremely hardcore” fashion at the company or leave, some employees appeared to publicly indicate they had chosen the latter option. Twitter employees began using the salute Emoji on Thursday afternoon to signal their exit. One Twitter employee said in a tweet that deciding to join the company was “one of the easiest decisions ever made. Deciding to leave today was 100% the opposite.”

Meanwhile, an internal Slack channel at the company was filled with employees posting the salute emoji after the 5pm ET deadline, indicating they had chosen not to sign Musk’s pledge and depart the company, employees told SME.

Twitter’s remaining workforce had until 5 p.m. ET Thursday, to make a decision about whether to join the culture Musk has in place at Twitter or if they want to resign. According to an email that he sent staff Wednesday,

A former Twitter executive who recently exited the company described Thursday’s employee exits as a “mass exodus.”

On Thursday evening following the exits, employees remaining at the company received an email alerting them that the company’s offices will be temporarily closed and badge access will be restricted through Monday, according to a copy of the email obtained by SME from a current Twitter employee. Musk’s team similarly shuttered offices during the mass layoffs earlier this month out of a concern for safety and an apparent fear that exiting employees could attempt to sabotage the company on their way out.

SME was informed by two Twitter employees that they would reject Musk’s ultimatum. They cited a hostile work environment. Another Twitter employee told SME Wednesday they were still weighing the decision, saying the email from Musk “felt like a punch in the gut because no matter how you felt about wanting to stay or wanting to go, you were forced to make a decision and feel like you’re up against the time clock to make the best decision for you and your family.”

The employee added: “Those decisions are more than just 24 hours.”

Musk told employees on Wednesday that his goal is to build “Twitter 2.0” and that employees who choose to stay will be required to commit to working “long hours at high intensity” and presumably agreeing to Musk’s demand for Twitter employees, who have been largely working remotely, to return to in-office work. One employee stated that employees were still unsure about which remote work exceptions they would receive if they decided to remain at the company.

According to text from the email, which was obtained by SME by a Twitter employee, Musk wrote to his staff on Thursday to clarify his position regarding remote work.

“Regarding remote work, all that is required for approval is that your manager takes responsibility for ensuring that you are making an excellent contribution,” Musk said in the email, adding that workers would be expected to attend in-person meetings no less than once a month.

Twenty minutes later, Musk sent a follow up email saying: “At risk of stating the obvious, any manager who falsely claims that someone reporting to them is doing excellent work or that a given role is essential, whether remote or not, will be exited from the company.”

The decision to issue an ultimatum came after Musk earlier this month fired half of Twitter’s staff, reducing its workforce to around 3,700 employees, and also reportedly cut many of Twitter’s contract workers. The board of directors was also dismantled and its top leadership removed. Musk fired several employees recently for criticizing Musk in Twitter posts or via internal Slack channels.

“I don’t want to stick around to build a product that’s being poisoned from the inside and out,” said one of the employees who plans to reject the ultimatum, but requested anonymity to avoid putting the severance at risk. “Everyone has a price to a certain degree and this severance gives me some comfort into looking for a better environment in the time frame despite the economy.”

That employee said management now appears to have grown concerned about the number of people planning to depart and are “scrambling” to convince talent to stay. Twitter has apparently cut most of its public affairs team. They did not respond immediately to my request.

A Twitter employee shared the same concerns but asked to not be quoted. They also stated that they were planning to leave the company.

A recently laid off employee who remains in touch with former coworkers told SME that everyone they had spoken to plans to reject Musk’s ultimatum and exit the company. “People can’t overlook the public mockery and firing of other employees,” the former employee told SME. “In the same vein, they can’t overlook or feel comfortable working for someone who has handled the last few weeks in the way Elon has.”

“People don’t want to sacrifice their mental health and family lives to make the richest man in the world richer,” the former employee added.

Others may find the process more difficult. This ultimatum is issued during difficult times for the tech sector, after mass layoffs, hiring freeze announcements, and massive layoffs at major companies like Meta, Amazon and Lyft. Workers from foreign countries who work in America could lose their visas to work if the company is closed.

A fourth employee told SME Thursday they plan to stay at the company “because change is rarely influenced from the outside.”

The shakeup likely to come as a result of the ultimatum will be the last element of the “fundamental organizational restructuring” following Musk’s takeover, he told a Delaware court Wednesday during a trial over his Tesla pay package.

Musk said in the Wednesday email that the “new Twitter” will be “much more engineering-driven,” leaving some non-engineering workers questioning whether their jobs could be at risk even if they opt to stay.

“There’s no assurance in this, you’re just like, ‘I might be able to advocate for myself, I might not,’” the employee who expressed uncertainty about the decision said. “What’s behind this door? You don’t know. The only door you know that’s certain is the exit door.”

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Inside Twitter as ‘mass exodus’ of staffers throws platform’s future into uncertainty https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/inside-twitter-as-mass-exodus-of-staffers-throws-platforms-future-into-uncertainty/ Fri, 18 Nov 2022 07:38:35 +0000 https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/inside-twitter-as-mass-exodus-of-staffers-throws-platforms-future-into-uncertainty/ New York SME Business  —  Twitter: Death is everywhere The platform was live on Thursday...

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New York
SME Business
 — 

Twitter: Death is everywhere

The platform was live on Thursday evening. #RIPTwitter was the global top trend. Users wrote about what they fear might be the last of their posts.

These employees were responding to dire Twitter news. Scores of remaining employees at the social media company on Thursday appeared to reject owner Elon Musk’s ultimatum to work “extremely hardcore,” throwing the communications platform into utter disarray and raising serious questions about about how much longer it will survive.

A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Register for our daily digest that chronicles the evolution of the media landscape.

Inside the company’s Slack, a mass resignation effectively occurred after Musk’s 5pm deadline for employees to arrive at a decision passed. Hundreds of staffers appear to have called it quits, accepting Musk’s offer to exit in exchange for three months of severance.

Employees flooded the “#social-watercooler” channel with the salute emoji, indicating that they had chosen not to sign Musk’s pledge. A similar series of events unfolded in the Slack channel earlier this month as Musk eliminated roughly 50% of the company’s then 7,500-person workforce.

A former Twitter executive, who recently exited the company, described the situation as a “mass exodus.” Asked about the situation, the former executive said, “Elon is finding out that he can’t bully top senior talent. They have lots of options and won’t put up with his antics.”

“They will struggle just to keep the lights on,” the former executive added.

This assessment was shared equally by half the former employees and present employees who also made it on Thursday. This was all bad enough considering Musk had already conducted mass layoffs of employees earlier in this month. Twitter asked the employees it let go to return just days later. This has made the current state of affairs even worse.

In fact, Twitter management was in panic mode hours before the deadline passed, people familiar with the matter said, explaining that senior leaders were “scrambling” to convince talent to stay at the company.

Musk seemed to have finally realized the situation, and sent an email all-staff relaxing his anti-remote position. “Regarding remote work, all that is required for approval is that your manager takes responsibility for ensuring that you are making an excellent contribution,” Musk said in the email.

It didn’t appear to do much good.

Two employees who had decided to reject Musk’s ultimatum on Thursday were quite clear in why they were doing so. “I don’t want to stick around to build a product that’s being poisoned from the inside and out,” one said, adding later that he felt good about making a decision “in line with what I stand for.”

A recently laid off employee who remains in touch with former coworkers said, “People don’t want to sacrifice their mental health and family lives to make the richest man in the world richer.”

Twitter appeared to have figured out the situation and sent an email Thursday night to employees informing them that it had shut down all its offices again and suspend employee badge access. This was apparently to safeguard its data and systems.

Twitter’s already decimated communications department didn’t respond to requests for comment. Musk appeared to agree with the situation via a tweet.

“How do you make a small fortune in social media?” Musk asked. “Start out with a large one.”

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