(San Francisco) The future of Twitter seemed uncertain on Friday after the departure of many engineers from the influential social network who refused to give themselves “fully, unconditionally”, according to the new terms dictated by Elon Musk.
According to former employees and several American media, hundreds of employees answered “no” to the ultimatum of the new owner and boss, who had given them the choice between working tirelessly “to build a revolutionary Twitter 2.0” or leaving. with three months salary.
Half of the 7,500 employees of the Californian group were already laid off two weeks ago by the multi-billionaire, and some 700 employees had already resigned during the summer, even before being sure that the acquisition would take place.
“My friends are gone, the vision is blurred, a storm is coming and there is no financial incentive. What would you do ? Would you sacrifice your time with your children during the holidays for vague promises and (to) make a rich person even richer? “Summarized Peter Clowes, computer engineer and director at Twitter and “survivor of layoffs”, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Like many other employees of the Californian group, he detailed his hesitations on the social network, explaining that he did not “hate Elon Musk” and wanted to “see Twitter succeed”.
But according to him, there are only “three engineers out of the 75” on his team. “If I had stayed, I would have been on duty almost constantly, with very little indefinite support on complex computer systems in which I have no experience,” he notes.
Furthermore, “no vision was shared with us. No five-year plan like at Tesla. […] It’s a pure test of loyalty, ”he explains.
pirate flag
“What should Twitter do now? “, tweeted Elon Musk Friday morning, apparently impervious to the ambient chaos.
He then announced that several suspended user accounts have been reinstated on the platform, but that he had “not yet made a decision on (Donald) Trump.”
“The policy of the new Twitter is freedom of expression, but not the freedom to reach” the public, he tweeted again, promising to demote “hate tweets” in the future.
On Friday evening, he launched a new poll: “Readmitting former President Trump? Yes/No”, accompanied by a tweet: “Vox populi, Vox Dei” (“The voice of the people is the voice of God”).
Meanwhile, many users of the social network, including ex-employees, journalists and analysts, wondered if the end of Twitter was not near.
Because the whimsical entrepreneur mobilized teams day and night on controversial projects, then postponed. He launched a massive social plan before having to recall essential people. He made promises to advertisers while threatening those who fled.
According to a former company engineer, the risk of breakdowns is increasing because of the increasing difficulty in transmitting technical skills, even if there are still qualified people and strong safety systems.
“And… we just hit a new peak in Twitter usage, lol,” Elon Musk quipped Thursday night after a series of humorous tweets, including a skull and crossbones pirate flag.
” Stop to toxic Twitter »
On Thursday afternoon, Twitter warned all employees that company buildings were temporarily closed and inaccessible, even with a badge, until Monday.
But on Friday, Elon Musk wrote to developers asking them to come “to the tenth floor at 2 p.m.” after emailing him a recap of their recent work, according to an unnamed source.
Other employees, who refused the ultimatum, lost access to their laptops.
The multibillionaire wanted to buy the Californian company in the spring, then he no longer wanted it in the summer, and was forced to acquire it for 44 billion dollars at the end of October, to avoid a lawsuit, by putting it in debt heavily.
Since then, it divides more and more between the unconditional, those who still want to believe in the brilliant engineer, and those who dedicate him to loathing.
“It feels like the sky is falling on us right now, but maybe not, maybe it’s a transition to something else,” said John Wihbey, a media professor at Northeastern. University.
“But if he continues all this madness and alienates what’s left of the essential engineers, he could drive the network over the cliff,” he admits.
Thursday evening, anti-Elon Musk messages were projected on the facade of the company’s headquarters in San Francisco, including “Elon Musk, shut up”, “Stop toxic Twitter” or “Forward to bankruptcy”, from photos by NBC reporter Gia Vang.