Twitter founder Jack Dorsey played Elon Musk
Is the Pope Catholic? Yes, Jack Dorsey played Elon Musk for a sucker. Except that Twitter employees are the ones feeling played. That’s what inspired this headline today in the New York Post:
- Jack Dorsey source: ‘Everyone at Twitter hates him now’
They blame him for wooing Elon Musk. Because Musk bought Twitter, fired them, and began turning their premier social media app into a dark web-style hellscape. So they have good reasons to hate Jack.
The backstory and endgame
On October 8, CNN reported on Musk celebrating Twitter’s decision to welcome Kanye back. That is after Instagram booted Kanye for posting antisemitic bile. I commented on that report as follows:
Sure, Musk will celebrate anything that smacks of Uncle Tomfoolery or White supremacy. That’s why Black employees are continually suing him for racial discrimination and harassment.
But, he has trifled with its executives and staff so much, Musk is bound to find Twitter a poisoned chalice – staffed by homebodies lying in wait to mutiny against him. It would not surprise me if there’s a conspiracy already afoot. One that calls for key personnel to quit en masse within weeks of Musk taking over to launch a rival platform.
That way, sensible people will have a Twitter-like platform to continue their social media engagements. Moreover, it will offer all the sensible social media safeguards and community standards that Musk seems hell-bent on abandoning.
That’s why I felt vindicated when I read the Post report I cited above. Because here, in part, is what it reported:
Now, barely a week since his fellow billionaire businessman Elon Musk snapped up Twitter for $44 billion, Dorsey, 46, is launching a social media company called Bluesky: a new kind of decentralized platform that promises to give users and developers more autonomy. More than 30,000 subscribers have already signed up, the company tweeted on October 20.
So, with all due respect to those fired Twitter employees, don’t hate Jack yet. Because he may have just played Elon – in epic fashion
But why the apology, Jack?
Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that.
— jack (@jack) November 5, 2022
WTF! Dorsey should spare us that self-serving penitent BS. And why provide Musk this specious cover to cull Twitter of the very employees he needs to prevent users and advertisers from fleeing?
More to the point, though, those employees don’t need a pep talk or an apology. Dorsey should make amends by hiring them.
After all, who better to help him build his rival Bluesky ASAP? Because, as soon as they have a refuge, users will flee the “free-for-all hellscape” Elon is turning Twitter into by the millions.
Is Elon losing his money and marbles?
Meanwhile, Elon is losing his marbles. He’s threatening to go “thermonuclear” on advertisers. And only because they no longer want to be associated with the dystopian mess Twitter is becoming under his ownership.
Except Musk is hopelessly delusional. He laid off the content moderation staff. But he’s promising advertisers there will be no change in content moderation. And he doesn’t see the disconnect. That’s like opening your shop for business but sacking all the sales staff.
Not to mention that you’d think Elon would think twice about going thermonuclear after seeing what happened to Kanye after he threatened to go “death con 3.” But you live and learn.
Still, the proverb “a fool and his money are soon parted” comes to mind. Because never has it been more aptly demonstrated than in how Elon is parting with his billions, right?