Daily Authority: Twitter layoffs begin

😱 Happy Friday! Today we have a bit of news that should surprise absolutely no one regarding the future of Twitter. I’m glad I haven’t invested much time in the platform because Y I K E S.

Twitter begins massive layoffs

Scarcely a week after assuring employees that he won’t lay off the majority of the workforce, Twitter CEO Elon Musk has begun laying off the majority of the workforce. He previously promised investors he’d cut 75% of the workforce, so at least we know where his loyalties lie.

• An email went out to employees on Thursday evening stating that the company would begin layoffs starting Friday (that’s today).
• If they get to keep their job, they’d receive an email via their work email. If not, they’d receive an email via their personal email.
• However, many employees found out early when access to their work email and company Slack was removed.
• As you can imagine, morale quickly tanked.
• Earlier this week, Twitter managers also reportedly asked workers to work 12 hours days, seven days a week.
• This may have been an effort to get employees to quit rather than fire them, in order to avoid severance.
• Employees are required to give 60 days’ notice before termination under the WARN Act.
• Wasting no time, Twitter employees have already filed a lawsuit ($) for not receiving enough notice.
• Apparently, these layoffs were in the works before Musk took over the company, but the timing and execution couldn’t be worse.
• This is just the latest in what has been a disastrous first week for Musk at Twitter.
• Get the full history in this handy guide.

Other big cuts coming

• In addition to culling his workforce, Musk is also searching for ways to cut costs across the company to recoup his investment.
• Reportedly, he’s looking to save $500 million in annual costs by cutting data servers, software infrastructure, and content moderation tools.
• This has left some engineers worried about their ability to keep the site running.
• Today’s layoffs also hit the company across the board, in the sales, trust and safety, marketing, product, engineering, and legal teams.
• Will the move instill confidence in advertisers and everyday users? Probably not.
• In fact, several big advertisers have already pulled out, and the exodus is likely to continue.
• If you’re thinking of jumping ship, here are some Twitter alternatives worth checking out.

Roundup

📅 We finally have a leaked launch window for the Galaxy S23 series, although it’s no big surprise (Android Authority).

🤔 Samsung apparently knows Apple’s first foldable won’t be an iPhone and expects the device in 2024 (Android Authority).

🔋 Speaking of foldables, a Galaxy foldable-exclusive feature might help boost Galaxy S-series battery life (Android Authority).

🍭 500 drones formed a giant Candy Crush ad above NYC last night in what could be the future of obnoxious advertising (The Verge).

⌚ “I wish the Pixel Watch app was as powerful as the Galaxy Watch app” (Android Authority).

♟️ Amid cheating controversy, the Chess.com Global Championship is on lockdown (Vice).

🍿 Bad news, Netflix’s cheaper plan with ads may not work on your device (Android Authority).

💡 Matter goes official as 190 devices get certified for the smart home standard (Android Authority).

💸 Adobe Photoshop designers are furious that Pantone is forcing them to pay $15 to use its colors (Gizmodo).

🚗 One more Musk-y story for you: The first Hyperloop tunnel in California is gone, replaced with parking spots (The Verge).

Friday fun

For those of us old (and lucky) enough to grow up in the SNES era, Earthbound (called Mother 2 in Japan) is one of the most iconic RPGs around. The unique visuals and sound design made the game a massive cult classic, despite Mother 1 and Mother 3 remaining Japan-only games.

Last month, a fan took to Twitter to post a Rube Goldberg-esque video (via SoraNews24) that retells the events of the game backed by an “Eight Melodies” soundtrack. The result is astounding, and I highly recommend you take 36 seconds of your day to give it a watch.

My Earthbound cartridge is safely tucked away in storage, but if you want to check out (or relive) the magic, you can do so with a SNES emulator on your phone. If you have a Nintendo Switch, the first two games are also included with Nintendo Switch Online.

Nostalgically yours,
Nick Fernandez, Editor.