Elon Musk's first weeks as CEO of Twitter have been marked by unrest at the company. Half the company and around 80 percent of the contract workforce was laid off. On Wednesday, November 16, Musk sent a company-wide email with an ultimatum that employees either had to commit to an "extremely hardcore" work environment that would require "working long hours at high intensity" or leave the company. On Thursday, Twitter locked down all of its buildings and denied badge access to all employees until Monday while the company figures out who still works there. Despite Musk's attempt to find new ways to "pay the bills," the instability has caused major advertisers to pause their ads on the platform, which spells trouble for a company that relies on advertisements for 90 percent of its revenue.

The mass exodus of employees from one of the world's most significant social media sites had users taking to Twitter on Thursday night predicting the imminent demise of a once-beloved platform and reminiscing about the good times they'd had on the site. Zoë Schiffer, the managing editor of Platformer, was one of the reporters breaking this news day by day. She speaks of Twitter's code freeze, the fear that employees will sabotage the company, and the irony of Elon Musk's claims to free speech absolutism as he fires employees for criticizing his management.

This is a segment from our November 18, 2022 show, Flipping The Bird.