Today's Twitter employees: spoof new boss, worry about being laid off, and look forward to new changes

This article comes from Wall Street JournalThis article comes from

, the original author: Salvador Rodriguez, compiled by Odaily translator Katie Ku.

On April 26, Beijing time, Twitter accepted Musk's offer to acquire the company for $44 billion, bringing the world's richest man one step closer to taking control of the social media platform. Musk has said he plans to take Twitter private, which would make it easier for him to implement the overhaul he envisions turning the company into a bastion of free speech.

Musk's stance could run counter to a series of efforts Twitter has made in recent years to reach a wider audience and be more advertiser-friendly, depending, of course, on how "free speech" is implemented. Musk has more than 80 million followers on Twitter. His outsize influence on the platform, and his history of using it to "battle" with those who disagree with his own, amplified employees' doubts about his impending rise to power."These are troubling and uncertain times," Edward Perez, Twitter's director of product management for social health, tweeted Monday after the deal was announced.

"Most of us firmly believe that Twitter is more than a technology platform and that we have a great responsibility to society. I hope our new bosses will understand."

In a series of tweets late Monday, Jack Dorsey, the onetime soul of Twitter, backed Musk's "goal to create a platform of 'maximum trust and broad inclusivity'" and shared his vision for Musk's management of the company ."In principle, I don't think anyone should own or operate Twitter," Jack Dorsey wrote.

"Twitter wants to be a public good at the protocol level, not a company. However, I believe that Musk can solve Twitter's business problems, and he is the only 'solution' I trust. I believe he will shoulder his responsibility to expand social awareness. duty of."Employees at the social media company began predicting their own future under Musk. An employee who claimed to be the company's product manager said on Twitter that Musk's acquisition will help Twitter recruiting: "You'd be surprised how many people wrote to me today,”

If Musk takes over Twitter, there must be a lot of good people who will consider joining Twitter.

Some employees expressed opposing views. One of the people said that Twitter employees took their mission of providing a "public conversation" service seriously, and that Musk's "free speech authoritarianism" ran counter to that mission. For years, Twitter has tried to promote what it calls "healthier speech" on the platform, tightening Twitter moderation and limiting online violence.Employees also "welcomed" their new boss, retweeting one user's tweet: "If you've ever wanted to hire an existing Twitter employee, you can sneak into their LinkedIn profile this week." Employees added their LinkedIn pages and tweeted the spoof: "”

Why don't you fire me, Father Musk~Some employees are making various jokes about it. Someone tweeted: "Send us all a Tesla!

Another employee predicted that Canadian singer Grimes, who has two children with Musk, would perform at the company’s end-of-year party. Another employee tweeted a video of actor Will Ferrell, citing his 2008 The line from the movie "I Won't Call Him Daddy" in 2010 - "I Won't Call Him Daddy".

Even former Twitter employees also came to join in the fun. Sriram Krishnan, who led Twitter's core consumer product team until December 2019, tweeted: "He's excited for Musk and Twitter."

"Twitter, one of the most important social services in the world, needs reform, and Musk is probably the best candidate for it," Sriram Krishnan tweeted.

Former Twitter employee Paul Katsen, who left in January, told The Wall Street Journal that he was excited about Musk joining Twitter. He believes: "There is no doubt that Musk has proven that he can enter an industry that has not had new blood leadership for a long time, and build an effective team that focuses on the long-term mission, and withstand the noise of speech haters/authorities to achieve success. Impossible goal."

In a series of tweets Monday night, Jack Dorsey struck an upbeat tone: "I'm delighted that Twitter will continue to serve the public conversation and look forward to it going from strength to strength."Minutes after the announcement of Musk's acquisition of Twitter, according to some employees,Employees on the company's internal Slack communication channel are starting to say they plan to quit

. A lot of people have been asking openly in internal Slack channels what the acquisition means for LGBTQ employees and the company’s gender diversity plans, one employee said.

Those concerns may stem in part from problems at Tesla, of which Musk is chief executive. In October, a federal jury found that Tesla caused a black former employee to suffer racial discrimination on the job and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent him from being racially harassed. Tesla said it believed the ruling was unreasonable. Musk also tweeted memes mocking gendered pronouns, adding that while he supports the transgender community, he thinks including gendered pronouns on someone's resume is an "aesthetic nightmare."

In 2018, Musk was sued for suggesting that a cave diver in Thailand who criticized Musk was a pedophile. A jury in Los Angeles ultimately found that Musk's use of Twitter was not defamatory.The employees also said,。

They are concerned about possible layoffs and changes to their restricted stock units after the acquisition

In an all-staff meeting on Monday, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said, “the company has no layoff plans and the company’s priorities will not change until the deal is completed,” according to people familiar with the matter. Board chairman Bret Taylor said: “ The Board of Directors agreed to sell Twitter because of their fiduciary duty to maximize returns for Twitter investors."

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Twitter's San Francisco headquarters.

According to people familiar with the matter, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal believes: "Musk agreed to convert the stock held by employees into cash after the transaction is completed, and pay according to the same redemption schedule."Agrawal said: “。”

Once Musk takes over, we don't know which direction the company will take

Agrawal repeatedly said Twitter would only grow when everyone felt safe participating in the company, according to an employee who heard the remarks. There is diversity on the platform, and companies must reflect that diversity in every employee.

One former executive said he wished Musk would recognize the quality of the company's team and hear what they could bring to the company before firing anyone.

Taking the company private could be beneficial for Twitter, the former executive added. Public pressure always slows companies down, so with the cover of going private, companies can move faster, especially on open-source projects, this person said.