SonicZoomDec 30, 2022
kate conger
Currently at Twitter:
- Seattle office faces eviction
- people are bringing their own toilet paper to work as janitorial services are cut
- workers scrambled to deal with the aftermath of a data center shutdown on Christmas Eve
(un-paywalled link)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/29/technology/twitter-elon-musk.html?unlocked_article_code=VgRUNNm_WiVdC4UQEMlklKIzkCg-CdCSZscqTNvGoiusn7if4Ovf4XYsLnMqfUOyJzZmN-zJDGl5je3ZZhzn0thD1RGC2qWb_Bq7LHrAhzBDsTZYsUJqrqHyC5u6xpETToPQb5PKgWFVuoS6D8aTfzR2C7cV_HlQ6lQoecldCGptqAPeTr1qvpna6d15I4GmcKSKtil5rDcqpEaDtl_okEOw_voUSR4lYgUfK_UX8R2fHemvdTcWWoKbGLssrrp-9KuCZXToEcjuxT6ivu8ZR0fr4khjqCTM2sqDqPhL8kuvGRDmyFzanNGojEU1rkd8ayzIqkeNE3UDRGv8XDs&smid=share-url
Elon Musk’s Cuts at Twitter? A Data Center, Janitors, Some Toilet Paper

Elon Musk has reduced the company to a bare-bones operation, and employees are under a “zero-based budgeting” mandate to justify any spending.

The New York Times
Dec 29, 2022 at 11:00pmWeb
Show threadTamar YellinDec 29, 2022
@cong He's really knocking it out of the park, isn't he? https://tenor.com/view/charlie-sheen-im-winning-hashtag-winning-gif-12305414

Tenor
Show threadRoseFromNJ/PhillyDec 30, 2022
@TamarYellin @cong
Can’t wait for the big Elon crash! It’s coming and the world will be celebrating!!
Show threadTamar YellinDec 30, 2022
@RoseFromNJ @cong
Show threadJeremy DanieleDec 30, 2022
@TamarYellin @RoseFromNJ @cong even if you like Evon. How is this not funny? 🤣
Show threadTamar YellinDec 30, 2022
@jdaniele @RoseFromNJ @cong the cat one is hilarious
Show threadJeffDec 29, 2022
@cong bring your own toilet paper to work that's the new car smell in Tesla
Show threadMisuse CaseDec 29, 2022
@Waterloo @cong Real YT’s mom’s workplace in SNOW CRASH hours.
Show threadDiasporaDiamondDec 30, 2022
@MisuseCase @Waterloo @cong
#Snowcrash
Show threadInterstelarLADec 31, 2022
@MisuseCase @Waterloo @cong unrelated, but when are we ever getting a #snowcrash movie? I dream of the distant future of 1997
Show threadJanet RiversDec 30, 2022
@Waterloo @cong that’s pretty hilarious, like the cat
Show threadCLSDec 29, 2022
@cong uh he did many of these types of things at TRES-LA
Show threadDr. Guillermo Power Dec 30, 2022
@CLS @cong so glad I’m not driving around in a car made by people who can’t even wipe their ass at work.
Show threadIsaac Erbele, MDDec 29, 2022
@cong Morale must be terrible at that place. The pay can't be worth it, can it? Or is it that it's mostly foreign labor left?
Show threadシュガ人Dec 29, 2022
@Ear_bele @cong The only people left are those on super aggressive work visas. If they leave or get fired, they get deported.
Show threadIsaac Erbele, MDDec 29, 2022
@Sugarian @cong I've heard similar; that sounds like a dedicated story to me.
Show threadsmidbotDec 30, 2022
@Ear_bele @cong it’s the latter. Lots of people who can’t afford to lose the job for visa reasons. It’s really fucked up.
Show threadIsaac Erbele, MDDec 30, 2022
@smidbot @cong Sounds like exploitation and a story worth telling.
Show threadAlicePaulDec 30, 2022

@Ear_bele @smidbot @cong

Must be why Musk went to Qatar for the World Cup…to find better ways to exploit workers.

Show threadRoseFromNJ/PhillyDec 30, 2022
@Ear_bele @cong I would suppose the latter!!
Show threadStu Duerson, machina exo deusDec 29, 2022

@cong

You know what this reminds me of? Few may remember it, but this is how Frank Lorenzo took down Eastern after acquiring it in a rapacious run of mergers. He decimated Rickenbaker's airline by starving it, while also using it as a cash cow. Beware of Elon selling Twitter's 'assets', which is, the personal information and political stances and statements of its users.

We were the product, we are the product, and we WILL be burned.

Show threadLaurence Raphael BrothersDec 30, 2022

@skydog @cong
Yes. The very prototype for vulture capitalism.

But it should be pointed out that though Lorenzo completed Eastern's ruination, it started failing under Rickenbacker's management, and that made it vulnerable to Lorenzo's predation.

Show threadsmartwatermelon Dec 29, 2022

@cong @mmasnick I...

-----
With people packed into more confined spaces, the smell of leftover takeout food and body odor has lingered on the floors, according to four current and former employees. Bathrooms have grown dirty, these people said. And because janitorial services have largely been ended, some workers have resorted to bringing their own rolls of toilet paper from home.
-----
This just sounds delightful!

Show threadJonneDec 30, 2022

@smartwatermelon @cong @mmasnick seriously, who would want to still work at Twitter under those conditions? He forced people into the office after Twitter had a WFH policy for years that employees structured their lives around, and now that same office is just turned into a dump.

Next step is probably too force the engineers on $200k+ to take over the janitorial duties, and his reply guys will call that a genius move.

Show threadsmartwatermelon Dec 30, 2022
@jonne @cong @mmasnick exactly, no thank you. The market for engineers is *Fantastic* right now. Only a fanatical True Believer would stick around under these conditions.
Show threadnadin brzezinskiDec 29, 2022
@cong @dankennedy_nu 🍿anyone?
Show threadKayDec 30, 2022

@cong "Guys hey guys.. listen up for as second. Hey guys! Serious here for a second. I

cough cough

I'm about to literally blow your guys's minds here. Listen. What if we

cough

What if Trumpism was.....a tech company? I mean, BOOM, right? Right guys?"

Image credit: S3XYDES9

Show threadAndrew O'BrienDec 30, 2022
@cong I’m guessing no one thought “extremely hardcore” meant BYOTP.
Show threadOpusDec 30, 2022

@cong

This is a clown car, not a major company. I feel sorry for the workers.

Show threadewhiteDec 30, 2022
@cong link is not un-paywalled, unfortunately
Show threadewhiteDec 30, 2022
@cong here you go https://archive.ph/mImLD
archive.ph

Show threadKris SamselDec 30, 2022
@cong maybe hooking up to Starlink? Charge 100 bucks a month? lol Dude is running it into the ground. Ignore bills and workers. Obvious dumb move. Next stop Bankruptcy.
Emerald Ego’s expensive. Profession help could save 44 to 200 billion. (Stock loss included.) Smart or intentional? Considering the investment partners involved.
Observed 7 months of Musk.
Flying around on his jet constantly. Carbon footprint biggest on this planet! I’m on Reddit too. Musk needs help. From fake robot. To flight patterns that boggle the mind. Grown man that never grew up. Elon’s World is a lost child. No direction. Scorched earth if I don’t get my way mentally. I’d still buy a Tesla if I had the money. ☮️
Show threadOld Man MikeDec 30, 2022
@cong has eLon recruited one of his employees to carry his turds around yet?
Show threadEdith PrickleyDec 30, 2022
@cong Wow. Bringing your own toilet paper to the office? This is dystopian. I would love to see the remaining employees just abandon ship.
Show threadElizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾Dec 30, 2022
@cong lol this is pretty apocalyptic
Show threadKatiameDec 30, 2022

@cong

The writing has been on on the wall. This is why so many of us migrated to Mastodon.

Show threaddecaDec 30, 2022
@cong New York times and other left wing outlets all have a clear agenda, so i would take it with a big grain of salt. Toilet paper is overrated anyways
Show threadGreengordonDec 30, 2022

@cong

Any other sources than the pro-Musk NYT? It's an auto-ignore for me.

Show threadMaggieLDec 30, 2022

@cong Might even save it... Which would be remarkable.

Because it had a pretty grim future otherwise, that's why all the stockholders freaked out when he tried to end the sale for fraud.

It's not like they would have rejoiced if he didn't buy it.

Show threadLorenaDec 30, 2022
@cong dang! I ditched Twitter a couple of weeks ago. It’s not easy, but I’m recovering.
Show threadNicholas GenesjockeyDec 30, 2022
@cong Wow. It's just hard to wrap one's head around the chaos...
Show threadPepperDec 30, 2022
@cong Also on Tw*tter:
Jonathan Frakes' account was hacked 7 hours ago and is still being used by a scammer.
Show threadnullrendDec 30, 2022
@cong the NYT article does imply that the melon husk is actively trying to _save_ the company… but that's not what he's doing. All he needed to do was **not** fuck around with the ongoing business processes
Show threadErik Nygren Dec 30, 2022

@cong It looks like twitter.com expires in less than a month. I really hope they're paying their registrar and have it set to auto-renew. I know I get antsy when operationally critical domains have less than a year on them.

Domain Name: twitter.com
Registrar URL: www.cscprotectsbrands.com
Updated Date: 2022-01-17T01:08:20Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2023-01-21T16:28:17Z

Maybe they just auto renew a few days beforehand (eg Jan 17) but that's cutting it close.

Show threadJohn KristoffDec 30, 2022
@cong @nygren It is quite common for the expiration date to be updated near the renewal date. Watch all the edu names. You'd think hundreds of institutions are at risk of losing their domain over their summer break. I'd be shocked if the registrar Twitter uses doesn't automatically protect them from such a thing.
Show threadLora KolodnyDec 30, 2022
@cong Man this reminds me of Tesla when it has been in cost-cutting mode.
Show threadJeffDec 30, 2022
@cong hillbilly Twitter
Show threadHarriet Dec 30, 2022
@cong I simply don't understand anyone who is working willingly for him
Show threadjust adrienneDec 30, 2022
@savvykenya @cong A whole lot of the remaining employees are H1-B visa holders, who have a hell of a lot harder time leaving. I suspect a lot of them are jobhunting as hard as they can in the background.
Show threadHarriet Dec 31, 2022
@adrienne @cong I guess that's why he's not letting them have any free time!
Show threadJim SnowdenDec 30, 2022
@cong Once something catches fire we can declare it up to his usual standard.
Show threadjonnyevansDec 30, 2022
@cong translation: worlds richest man insists staff provide own loo roll. The more I see of him the more convinced I become that Musk is simply a horrible human being.
Show threadjohnmastodonDec 30, 2022
@cong instead of chief tweet, he should be addressed as big bird. Not really a genius after all, just your average greedy billionaire
#ElonMusk
Show threadjust adrienneDec 30, 2022
@johnmastodon @cong Big Bird is kind and caring and prosocial, though. He would NEVER make employees bring their own TP.
Show threadhttps://gigatexal.blog -he/himDec 30, 2022
@cong wow what a shit show lol literally
Show threadNathan HubbardDec 30, 2022
@cong who needs TP when your boss is such an asswipe!
Show threadGabriele PollaraDec 30, 2022

@cong the question is how close does this take the service to implosion / failure?

Most people will keep using twitter, oblivious to all this stuff behind the scenes ... until... it actually breaks. 🌋

I guess that's the 🔥 he's playing with.

Show threadkryphosDec 31, 2022
@cong Musk optimizes for exploitation. I assume he keeps recreating his dad's emerald mine.
Show threadMemphisJohnny1Jan 2, 2023

@cong

Maybe the MAGA TP hoarders can help him resupply?

Show threadRiley S. FaelanJan 4, 2023
@cong: When will their first data centre get evicted? ​