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☆ Twitter deliberately suspended Tweetbot and other third-party apps, forcing people to use the platform's official app, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter revoked access from third-party apps on purpose, The Information reported, citing messages. The report speculated Twitter may have suspended the apps because they don't boost ad revenue. The Information reported there was speculation that Twitter could have suspended the apps because they failed to bump up ad revenue. "Third-party app suspensions are intentional," a senior software engineer wrote on Thursday in an internal Twitter Slack channel, The Information reported. One employee asked when Twitter would provide a list of "approved talking points" for partners of third-party clients who had been suspended, The Information reported.

☆ Twitter cofounder Biz Stone isn't enjoying the platform as much as he used to and has been 'tinkering' with its rival Mastodon, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter cofounder Biz Stone says his experience on the platform isn't as good as previously. Ev Williams, another Twitter cofounder, has also signed up for Mastodon, per the outlet. In an interview with Bloomberg, Stone said: "I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or what, but my Twitter experience isn't as great. Ev Williams, another Twitter cofounder, has also signed up for Mastodon. "I love the idea of an open and distributed — yet connected — network," Williams told Bloomberg via email.

☆ Twitter alternatives like Mastadon see downloads plunge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Long before Elon Musk came along, Twitter users bemoaned the service yet remained addicted to it. It is a text-based social platform, or "microblogging" site, home to independent servers, or "instances." In early November, the hashtag TwitterMigration was trending on Mastodon for several days as Twitter users set up accounts amid Musk's chaotic takeover. Daily users have held steady though, at 1.4 million, a major increase from its usage prior to Musk's takeover of Twitter, which typically hovered around 20,000 daily users. Downloads of the iOS app have grown 290,000% to 1.5 million since Oct. 24, with daily users up 660,000% to 321,000, according to Apptopia data.

☆ LinkedIn is having a moment thanks to a wave of layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Some LinkedIn users affected by recent layoffs have formed groups on the site aimed at providing assistance, coordinating around signing exit paperwork and aiding with connections for new jobs. Suddenly, the normally staid professional network has become both a vital lifeline for recently laid off workers and a surprisingly lively social platform. “There’s been an uptick in [LinkedIn use] since the pandemic,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor and social media expert at Syracuse University. Layoffs and upheaval in social media industryEven apart from the layoffs, the social media landscape has been through a volatile year. But lately it appears users have more than enough reason to use LinkedIn amid a wave of thousands of layoffs.

☆ Big Tech predictions for 2023: A rival for Twitter, Amazon deceleration, Google's AI wake-up call, Microsoft's serious game, cloud bills, and DTC decline
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Hugh Langley | Kali Hays | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The painful adjustments will ripple across the industry in 2023.Insider's Big Tech reporters share what to watch this coming year. At $44 billion, the debt-fueled deal was completed quickly at valuations from the frothy tech bull market of 2021. Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesThe slow breakdown of Twitter under Musk appears to be upon us. Mastodon has experienced a major influx of users, hitting more than 5 million accounts after Musk took over Twitter. With intense tech antitrust scrutiny, these new services are unlikely to be gobbled up by Big Tech.

☆ Which Twitter alternatives have staying power — and which is the next Clubhouse?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

For the rest of the week, in addition to the day's top stories, I'll be highlighting some of the year's biggest investigations, features, and more from Insider's tech reporters. Today, we're taking a look back on everything from employee angst at Amazon to Thomas Kurian's three-year reign at Google Cloud. Which Twitter alternatives have staying power — and which is the next Clubhouse? See which Twitter alternatives could make it out alive. We gave readers an inside look at Kurian's Google Cloud.

☆ Twitter alternatives that got traction after Elon Musk takeover are suddenly seeing downloads plunge. Which has staying power and who is the next Clubhouse?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Long before Elon Musk came along, Twitter users bemoaned the service yet remained addicted to it. It is a text-based social platform, or "microblogging" site, home to independent servers, or "instances." In early November, the hashtag TwitterMigration was trending on Mastodon for several days as Twitter users set up accounts amid Musk's chaotic takeover. Daily users have held steady though, at 1.4 million, a major increase from its usage prior to Musk's takeover of Twitter, which typically hovered around 20,000 daily users. Yet, it has maintained more than 500,000 daily users.

[1/2] Twitter corporate headquarters building is seen in downtown San Francisco, California, U.S. November 21, 2022. Twitter and the EU did not immediately respond to requests for comment. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government has previously said it was monitoring developments at the social media company with growing concern. German regulators are already pushing government institutions to stop posting announcements exclusively to privately-held platforms, touting alternatives like the fledgling decentralised social media network Mastodon. "However, Twitter is not yet classified as a dominant digital platform, also because the company's sales are still too low," he said.

Mastodon, an alternative microblogging platform, has seen several spikes in user sign-ups since the world’s second-wealthiest man purchased Twitter in late October. Hourly data from a Mastodon user counter shows that the surges typically happened shortly after some of Musk’s most headline-grabbing actions. Mastodon-powered sites averaged about 130 new sign-ups per hour from Oct. 1 to Oct. 26. That number jumped to 2,000 per hour after Elon Musk took control of Twitter on Oct. 28. Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter, journalists, news organizations, authors and politicians have created Mastodon accounts.

☆ Elon Musk is growing a social network. Just not the one he expected.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Nigel Chiwaya | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

It has been reported that more than 200.000 new users flocked the social media app after the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk. One of the biggest beneficiaries of billionaire Elon Musk's chaotic ownership of Twitter is a small social network most people hadn't heard of two months ago. Mastodon, an alternative microblogging platform, has seen several spikes in user sign-ups since the world's second-wealthiest man purchased Twitter in late October. Mastodon-powered sites averaged about 130 new sign-ups per hour from Oct. 1 to Oct. 26. That number jumped to 2,000 per hour after Elon Musk took control of Twitter on Oct. 28.

☆ Self-driving-car developer at Twitter resigns a month after starting a 12-week internship
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Self-driving-car developer George Hotz tweeted last month he was starting a Twitter internship. Hotz tweeted a poll on Monday, asking if he should "step down as a Twitter intern?" After Musk's November email asking Twitter employees to commit to an "extremely hardcore" work culture, Hotz tweeted that "is the attitude that builds incredible things. In the Twitter Space with Musk, Hotz said he removed the login popup "entirely," but that it was added back by other engineers who "messed up." While at Twitter, Hotz was critical of Twitter's brief policy of banning links to accounts on other social media platforms.

☆ Who's afraid of Wells Fargo?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Wells Fargo reached a $3.7 billion deal with regulators over the bank’s “widespread mismanagement” that allegedly hit more than 16 million consumer accounts. KEY CONTEXTSadly, all of this echoes earlier reports about Wells Fargo’s practices that have emerged since 2016, when its fake-accounts scandal made national headlines, my colleague Matt Egan writes. Wells Fargo workers ended up creating millions of bank accounts for customers without their knowledge. Chopra described Wells Fargo as a “repeat offender” and a “corporate recidivist,” adding that Tuesday’s fine is just an initial step toward holding the bank accountable. The web of scandals at Wells Fargo is massive, and after six years of fallout, a lot of folks aren’t convinced the bank can save itself.

☆ As Twitter backlash grows, rival Mastodon reaches 2.5 million monthly users
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Twitter rival Mastodon has grown eight times its size in a matter of weeks, going from approximately 300,000 users in October to 2.5 million in November, according to a blog post by the platform’s founder, Eugen Rochko. The eye-popping growth figure comes as a wave of Twitter users have announced their plans to switch services amid the erratic leadership of Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk. (Mastodon is a decentralized social network, meaning that there are also numerous third-party apps for the platform beyond its own.) Despite Mastodon’s rapid rise, Twitter remains far larger, reporting 238 million monetizable daily users in July. Twitter’s short-lived ban on promotion of other social media platforms prompted some users to accuse Musk of abandoning his commitment to free speech.

☆ Nobel economist Paul Krugman slams Elon Musk and Sam Bankman-Fried, and says we're living in an era of 'petulant oligarchs'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Nobel laureate Paul Krugman slammed Elon Musk and Sam Bankman-Fried as "oligarchs" in an op-ed. His comments follow Musk's chaotic revamp of Twitter, a project that's sparked growing scrutiny over his leadership style and political tweets. The same narrative could also be applied to Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced crypto executive facing charges of fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy after the collapse of his crypto exchange, FTX. But the tarnished reputations of both Musk and Bankman-Fried could mean the allure of the "genius entrepreneur" has evaporated. "Musk and Bankman-Fried may end up doing a public service, by tarnishing the legend of the genius entrepreneur, which has done a great deal of harm," Krugman said.

He lost a Twitter poll asking whether he should remain as CEO. Musk reinstated a handful of banned journalists Saturday after he conducted a Twitter poll asking users whether he should uphold the ban. Following backlash, Twitter also quickly rolled back its decision to ban users’ promotion of links to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post accounts. Won’t happen again.”But after all that, some users are skeptical that Twitter is a platform they want to remain on. “Should I run Twitter ?” Snoop Dogg wrote in a Twitter poll Sunday.

☆ Elon Musk Twitter poll shows majority want him to step down as chief
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Nivedita Balu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Dec 19 (Reuters) - Twitter users voted in a poll for Elon Musk to step down as chief executive of the social media platform, in a backlash against the billionaire less than two months after he took over. The poll results capped a whirlwind of actions over the past few days, including the suspension of journalists which drew condemnation from news organizations, advocacy groups and officials across Europe. The sudden banning of accounts that promoted rival social media platforms such as Facebook sparked retaliation even among long-time supporters. "THERE IS NO SUCCESSOR"Replying to one Twitter user's comment on a possible change in CEO, Musk said on Sunday "There is no successor". "Elon" and "CEO of Twitter" were among the trending topics on the social media platform on Monday.

☆ Musk launches poll on whether he should quit as Twitter CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Replying to a user on Twitter later, Musk said "There is no successor" in reference to a possible change in CEO. Minutes before the poll, Musk apologized and tweeted "Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes." loadingFormer Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who recently invested in social media platform Nostr, replied to the Twitter support post with one word: "Why?". Last week, Twitter disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, a volunteer group formed in 2016 to advise the social media platform on site decisions. The policy change follows other chaotic actions at Twitter since Elon Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), bought the social network.

☆ Twitter Plans to Remove Tweets Promoting Rival Social Media Platforms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Alexa Corse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Twitter said it could temporarily lock or permanently suspend accounts that violate the new policy. Twitter Inc. said it would no longer allow “free promotion of certain social media platforms” on its sites, the latest change to its content-moderation rules under billionaire owner Elon Musk. “Specifically, we will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames for the following platforms: Facebook , Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post,” Twitter said Sunday, in a series of tweets from company account @TwitterSupport.

☆ A data scientist says Jack Dorsey told her Twitter was defenseless against a takeover by Elon Musk and the company should never have gone public
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Jack Dorsey said Twitter was defenseless against Elon Musk's acquisition, per a data scientist. Dorsey said Twitter "should have never gone public" and that anyone could buy it, per Gorcenski. Gorcenski told Dorsey she wished the takeover could have been handled with "grace" and noted that Twitter had some of the best staff in "very important disciplines." No choice in the matter," Dorsey wrote in a message to Gorcenski, per the screenshots. Gorcenski told Insider that Dorsey started following her around five years ago on Twitter, adding that she wasn't sure why because she didn't know him.

☆ The world's biggest YouTuber, MrBeast, backed Elon Musk possibly standing down as Twitter's CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

MrBeast said Sunday that he backs Twitter owner Elon Musk stepping down as the platform's CEO. Musk published a poll on the site on Sunday, asking users to vote on whether he should step down. MrBeast cited a new Twitter policy, seemingly later retracted, that prohibited the "free promotion" of other social-media sites. Twitter appears to have since retracted the policy and removed the explanatory webpage, which had been titled "Promotion of Alternative Social Platforms Policy." Just over 17.5 million people participated in Musk's Twitter poll, with 57.5% voting in favor of his stepping down as CEO.

☆ Elon had to choose between Twitter and Tesla. He's choosing Tesla.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Elon Musk has been forced to make a tough choice: Tesla or Twitter. He's picking Tesla, which represents nearly half his $156 billion in estimated wealth, and the Twitter poll gave him a handy escape pod. That red ink wasn't as much of a problem when interest rates were low, and Tesla's shares were soaring. But as the Federal Reserve has aggressively hiked interest rates to curb inflation, using Tesla stock to pay off the debt on the Twitter buyout is a problem for Tesla. "Tesla is so much an Elon stock, it stands or falls because of him," Beauchamp said.

☆ Twitter prohibits users from promoting accounts on Facebook, Mastodon
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] The Twitter logo is seen outside the offices in New York City, U.S., November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidDec 18 (Reuters) - Twitter on Sunday said that it will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames. The move would impact content from social media platforms like Meta Platforms' (META.O) Facebook and Instagram, along with Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post while allowing cross-content posting, Twitter support said in a tweet. loadingFormer Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who recently invested in social media platform Nostr, replied to the Twitter support post with one word: "Why?". Last week, Twitter disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, a volunteer group formed in 2016 to advise the social media platform on site decisions.

Twitter will no longer allow users to promote their accounts on at least seven other major social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram and Truth Social, the platform announced Sunday. "We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms. However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter," Twitter Support tweeted Sunday. Twitter’s rule change left out some major social media platforms, most notably TikTok. Other social media companies have few, if any, rules about users’ posting links to their accounts on other platforms.

☆ Elon Musk’s Twitter bans links to other social media sites, including Facebook and emerging rivals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Under the new policy, links to content on Facebook and Instagram are prohibited, as well as links to content on emerging Twitter alternatives, including Mastodon and Post. Despite the bans, Twitter says it will still “allow paid advertisement/promotion for any of the prohibited social media platforms.”Notably absent from the list is TikTok, one of the internet’s fastest-growing social media platforms whose links to China have sparked national security concerns among US policymakers. Now, that practice has been formalized into official Twitter policy, a move that could further raise eyebrows among Twitter’s regulators. As part of Twitter’s new policy, users may not “link out” to social media platforms subject to the restrictions. Users may continue to use third-party software to simultaneously publish their social media content to multiple sites, including Twitter, the company said.

☆ Twitter says it will no longer allow 'free promotion' of other social media platforms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter said it will no longer allow users to promote other social media accounts on its platform, according to a thread of tweets Sunday. "We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms," the company said. "However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter." Many users have been promoting their other social media accounts on Twitter following Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover of the company in October. Twitter suspended the Washington Post's Taylor Lorenz late Saturday night, but her account was reinstated as of Sunday afternoon.

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