Twitter had a chaotic weekend

The Future. The news cycle around Twitter changes in minutes these days as new CEO Elon Musk reboots the company in his image. It’s a “move fast and break things” strategy (all broadcast live on Twitter, of course) that may usher in a bold new era for the influential platform… or demonstrate the quickest way to pull the plug on a high-flying tech company.

On a wing and a prayer
Twitter went up in flames over the weekend… all in the hope of rising like a phoenix.

Here’s what you may have missed:

• After Musk gave employees 48 hours to decide if they wanted to be part of “Twitter 2.0” (and work “hardcore”) or resign, hundreds decided to leave — bringing the total headcount down from a pre-Musk 7,500 to about 2,900.
• Per The Verge, many teams have been reportedly wiped out entirely or almost entirely, including core engineering teams and groups in charge of the platform’s API, information security, communications, payroll, and financial reporting.
• Musk is apparently “paranoid” that someone may sabotage the company from within, so he’s suspended badge access to the company’s offices.
• But, Musk also sent an email in the wee hours Friday morning asking anyone who writes software to get their butts over to Twitter HQ immediately to explain what they do and why it’s important (yes, that includes people not in San Francisco).
• And, yes, Twitter recruiters are already marching out offers to outside engineers to apply for “Twitter 2.0 – an Elon company.”

On Thursday night, #RIPTwitter was trending. The platform is still alive… but it may be hanging on by a thread.