'It was OUR dumpster fire': Twitter users keep tweeting amid chaotic Musk takeover
Folks, they're tweeting through it.
Amid a chaotic -- and at times abrasive -- takeover by controversial billionaire Elon Musk that has seen furtive product rollouts, a spasm of brand impersonations and mass layoffs, firings and resignations, one thing has stayed constant: the tweets.
While it's unclear what impact Musk's changes will ultimately have on the company, many tweeters are openly speculating that the departures of Twitter staffers, both voluntary and not, will affect the site to the point that it will either cease functioning or become too difficult to use.
In fact, the birdsite's new owner has tweeted multiple times that usage is higher than ever. But some of the highest-profile examples of that usage have tended to be musings about the supposed impending death of the site itself.
A timeline of Elon Musk's tumultuous Twitter acquisition
Some are almost wistfully recalling the old Fail Whale days of yore:
The Old God prepares for final battle pic.twitter.com/xE9nEW5LF1
— Jessica Hagy (@jessicahagy) November 18, 2022
Online reaction has ranged from derision and mockery -- always among Twitter's chief exports -- to earnest goodbyes, with some comparing this time to the last day of school or summer camp:
feels like yearbook signing day at the end of the school year when everyone is like “you seemed cool wish we had hung out more”
— JP (@jpbrammer) November 18, 2022
Twitter sort of felt like having your head stuck in a beehive and so I understand that saying "I'm going to miss the bees" might cause some confusion but I am absolutely 100% going to miss the bees
— Dan Sheehan (@ItsDanSheehan) November 18, 2022
it was a dumpster fire but it was OUR dumpster fire
— JRR Jokien (Parody) 🗡️🏹🪓 (@joshcarlosjosh) November 18, 2022
Others are goofing about publishing all their drafts or finally informing their Twitter crush of their true feelings. (I would never.)
if you have a twitter crush on someone you legally have to tell them tonight
— Zack Bornstein (@ZackBornstein) November 18, 2022
Twitter is ending, it’s safe to admit The Irishman was boring as hell
— Jeremy Schneider (@J_Schneider) November 18, 2022
Others are fondly recalling some of the best times we had on this app:
I watched 30-50 feral hogs glitter in the dark near the Tannhoüser gate. All these moments will be lost in time, like tweets in rain
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) November 18, 2022
30-50 feral hogs really brought the country together. It was a beautiful moment in time
— Elrond Hubbard (@DrewBJameson) November 17, 2022
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And then ... there's derision and mockery.
It is like if the Titanic captain intentionally hit the iceberg because he thought it would be funny, then (with urging of tech bro friends) he kept backing the ship up & hitting it at different angles at full speed hoping that iceberg could plug the massive holes in the ship.
— David Rothschild 🌻 (@DavMicRot) November 11, 2022
Damn, y'all, just opened the app on my phone and it's already happened. #TwitterDown pic.twitter.com/huHEuSYi1V
— Jensen Harris (@jensenharris) November 18, 2022
And while German Twitter clone Mastodon continues to gain new users, it's unlikely you'll find this level of banter there -- yet.
1000 Twitter employees with three months severance. Pray for Mexico City.
— Carlo Sosenicci (@CharlieSosnick) November 18, 2022
'It was OUR dumpster fire': Twitter users keep tweeting amid chaotic Musk takeover originally appeared on abcnews.go.com