Meditation, beach
Social Media

Why you should meditate if you’re still using Twitter

- September 18, 2023 2 MIN READ

While owner Elon Musk denies X, his rebranded Twitter, is an even bigger cesspit of abuse, racism, and unfettered nastiness than it already was, perhaps one way to improve things is meditation, according to Kiwi academics. Researchers from University of Auckland (UaA) trawled through more than 60,000 Twitter posts by users who’d completed a two-month… Read more »

Furopean wildcat holding dead bird
Social Media

Why Elon Musk’s plan to get rid of the block function on the former Twitter could be its coup de grace

- August 23, 2023 3 MIN READ

On Saturday, X (formerly Twitter) chairman Elon Musk tweeted he would be removing the microblogging platform’s block function. It would remain intact for direct messages, but would otherwise become obsolete. This is the latest in a series of controversial and often confusing moves from Musk since he took ownership of the platform in October 2022.… Read more »

Bluesky
Social Media

Everyone’s talking about Bluesky as the new Twitter alternative – here’s how it works

- May 23, 2023 3 MIN READ

Amid management changes at Twitter, discontented users are exploring an alternative social media platform called Bluesky. According to media reports, downloads of the Bluesky app surged more than 600% in April. Initially conceived by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey in 2019 as a complementary project aimed to improve Twitter user experience, Bluesky transitioned into a standalone… Read more »

Elon Musk
Social Media

I tweet dead people: Twitter’s new paid blue ticks given to deceased celebrities, including murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

- April 24, 2023 3 MIN READ

Last week, Elon Musk finally had his long-awaited Thanos moment for legacy verification in a rapid scheduled disassembly. It was a busy day for the boss of Twitter and SpaceX when it comes to valuable lessons from watching billions of dollars of hard work explode. But if we’re to believe Musk (this time) after the… Read more »

Twitter
Social Media

How Elon Musk crashed Twitter

- April 19, 2023 3 MIN READ

When Elon Musk closed the deal to buy Twitter late last year, the company suddenly found itself facing a US$3 billion yearly deficit and was four months away from bankruptcy, the billionaire told the BBC in an interview last week. Why was Twitter in trouble? Because Musk bought it. “In rough numbers, in a normal… Read more »

Social Media

Linktree hit in Elon Musk’s ban on sharing links on Twitter

- December 19, 2022 2 MIN READ

Melbourne-based link-in-bio startup Linktree has been caught up in the latest changes to Twitter under its quixotic new owner, Elon Musk. Linktree boss Alex Zaccaria, ironically, took to Twitter to argue Musk’s latest diktat was “anti-creator and antithetical” to the foundations of the Internet and Twitter, pointing out that Linktree drives double the traffic to… Read more »

Elon Musk
Leadership

Why Elon Musk’s ‘hardcore’ management style sucks

- November 25, 2022 4 MIN READ

As a case study in how to implement organisational change, Elon Musk’s actions at Twitter will go down as the gold standard in what not to do. Among other things, the evidence shows successful organisational change requires: a clear, compelling vision that is communicated effectively; employee participation; and fairness in the way change is implemented.… Read more »

Social Media

4 important things we’d lose if Musk tanks Twitter

- November 22, 2022 4 MIN READ

What do a cybersecurity researcher building a system to generate alerts for detecting security threats and vulnerabilities, a wildfire watcher who tracks the spread of forest fires, and public health professionals trying to predict enrolment in health insurance exchanges have in common? They all rely on analysing data from Twitter. Twitter is a microblogging service,… Read more »

Social Media

Is Twitter’s ‘blue tick’ worth the money? And what will happen if you buy one?

- November 8, 2022 4 MIN READ

Following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter on October 27, the world’s richest man proposed a range of controversial changes to the platform. With mounting evidence that he is making it up as he goes along, these proposals are tweeted out in a stream-of-consciousness manner from Musk’s Twitter account. Primarily to raise revenue, one of the… Read more »