Twitter Inc. owner Elon Musk tweeted out an upbeat message saying the company beat its all-time high in usage late Thursday, on a day when many employees decided to leave the company.
(Bloomberg) — Twitter Inc. owner Elon Musk tweeted out an upbeat message saying the company beat its all-time high in usage late Thursday, on a day when many employees decided to leave the company.
It was the second time in a week that the social network set a record, according to Musk, who said it hit its highest-ever number of daily active users on Nov. 11. In another message posted this week, the billionaire — who hasn’t given himself a specific job title at Twitter after adopting “chief Twit” and “complaint hotline operator” briefly — posted a chart showing user numbers rising since his acquisition. Musk has long disputed the accuracy of Twitter’s internal metrics, saying they are unreliable due to an overabundance of fake or bot accounts.
More people have likely been on Twitter in the last few weeks, but it’s not necessarily a sign of any sustainable growth, said Matt Navarra, a social media consultant and analyst. “The analogy people use is ‘rubbernecking,’ like with a car accident or a train wreck and we’ve seen similar activity on platforms like Twitter when crises occurred,” he said. The question is, “’what’s the quality and what’s the sustainability for any type of growth he’s trying to evidence there?’”
Earlier on Thursday, Twitter decided to abruptly shut its offices after many employees reacted negatively to Musk’s ultimatum of either staying for a new “hardcore” work environment or leaving with three months’ severance. So many employees decided to take severance that it created a cloud of confusion over which people should still have access to company property, Bloomberg News reported.
Musk ‘Hardcore’ Ultimatum Spurs Exodus, With Twitter at Risk
Uncertainty hangs over Twitter’s ability to continue normal operations after the company dismissed its executive team and laid off half the workforce in Musk’s first few days in charge. The new leader has since reversed several decisions he’s made, including recalling some fired staff who were working on features he wanted to add.
Navarra said he doesn’t anticipate a full-scale collapse of the website in the coming weeks. What’s happening now is a shift from Twitter 1.0 to the rebirth of Twitter under Musk, he said. Small bugs could be likely, he said, and there could also be issues with rolling out the Twitter Blue feature and verification.
“I think there’s a chance we’ll see flickers of the lights at Twitter,” Navarra said. “Whether it will be a full scale knock-down, I’m hoping it won’t lead to that.”
–With assistance from Michael Tobin.
(Updates with comment from analyst from third paragraph.)
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