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A new app competing for ex-Twitter users?
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Ok, so apparently there’s two apps. Musk recently ask followers in a poll what they felt about him bringing back Vine. Yes, Vine – the short form video app that laid the groundwork for TikTok-level virality.
Surprisingly 69% of his followers voted yes.
Reports claim that multiple sources have confirmed Twitter is beginning work on the project as soon as possible without delay.
But there’s another app that’s on the rise.
In the week since Elon Musk took over Twitter, the number of people signing up for a small social network called Mastodon has surged. Unlike larger social networks, Mastodon is both free to use and free of ads. It’s developed by a nonprofit run by creator Eugen Rochko, and is supported via crowdfunding.
Ex-Twitter users moving to Mastodon?
Mastodon has gained 230,000 users since October 27, when Musk took control of Twitter. It now has 655,000 monthly active users. The entirety of the network isn’t under any one person or company’s control. But it also introduces some new complications for those of us used to Twitter.
On Mastodon, for instance, you have to join a specific server to sign up, some of which are open to anyone, some of which require an invitation (you can also run your own server).
There is a server operated by the nonprofit behind Mastodon, Mastodon.social, but it’s not accepting more users. And while you can follow any other Mastodon user, no matter which server they’ve signed up with, you can only see the lists of who follows your Mastodon friends, or who your Mastodon friends follow, if the followers happen to belong to the same server you’re signed up with.
The app is quite similar to Twitter in terms of its look and functionality though, and the iOS app is easy to use. We’ll keep you posted on what – if anything – comes from Mastodon.
Twitter layoffs reduce headcount by half
In less than one week since Elon Musk closed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, he laid off roughly half of the company’s workforce – about 3,700 people,.
Thursday night of last week, Twitter sent out a company-wide email that told employees they would be informed of their job status via email. Ahead of the cuts, Twitter temporarily closed its offices and blocked workers from accessing internal tools.
Was this process legal? A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Twitter for not giving employees sufficient notice about layoffs and violating worker protection laws. However, the lawyer who brought the suit said Musk “is making an effort to comply.”
All the turbulence is scaring advertisers. General Mills, Pfizer, and Volkswagen are just a few of the major brands that have paused ads on Twitter in recent days. Musk acknowledged the advertiser exodus yesterday, tweeting that the platform has seen a huge drop in revenue due to “activist groups pressuring advertisers.”
With advertisers jumping ship, Musk is in a race against time to secure new revenue sources.
But, much like a toxic relationship, Elon Musk wasn’t totally serious. He wants some of those people back. Just days after cutting half of its workforce, Twitter has asked some who were laid off to come back to work.
Some were reportedly laid off mistakenly, while leaders realized that other employees cut are necessary to create some new features Musk wants to launch.
Speaking of those new features – Twitter is delaying the rollout of its $8 per month verification program until after the midterms.
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