Category: Technology

Technology

New “Official” Tag And Other Latest Updates From Twitter

HT News

Elon Musk created an “Official” label for select verified Twitter accounts on Wednesday but it vanished soon. And all Musk had to say about this new label was that he just killed that. It is to be noted that Twitter already has a blue label for select verified accounts.

HIGHLIGHTS

• A new “Official” label appeared on Twitter on Wednesday only to disappear on the same day
• Twitter’s coveted blue badge is undergoing a major makeover under Elon Musk
• Elon Musk wants to levy an $8 fee for the blue badge despite heavy criticism

Why Did Elon Musk Create an “Official” Label?

Elon Musk Create an “Official” Label

It was Twitter’s latest update along with the new $8 service with the blue verification mark but it didn’t last for long. Twitter launched an “Official” label for select verified accounts including government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers, and some public figures but removed it soon after the launch.

PM Modi’s Twitter account had the “Official” label before it was withdrawn. During the launch, Elon Musk tweeted that Twitter would do many dumb things in the coming months. They would what be worked and change what didn’t.

Why Was The “Official” Label Removed?

When American YouTuber Marques Brownlee highlighted that the label had disappeared, Musk replied that he just killed that. The blue check would be a great leveler, said Musk.

What Is The Controversy Surrounding the $8 Fee?

According to Twitter’s early-stage products executive Esther Crawford, the “Official” isn’t available for sale, and nor would previously verify accounts would get the new label. But Elon Musk is sticking with his $8 fee despite facing criticism from … Read the rest

International Technology

Facebook Parent Meta Platforms Inc. Is Cutting Jobs For These Reasons

HT News

Meta Platforms Inc. follows Twitter in job cuts. The Facebook parent company initiated work on widespread job cuts on Wednesday. According to insiders, Mark Zuckerberg took the drastic step after disappointing earnings and a sharp drop in revenue.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Meta job announces job cuts for the first time after its inception in 2004
• About 10% of Meta employees are expected to be affected by the job cuts
• Mark Zuckerberg had already updated his team about the job cuts in September

What Are The Reasons Given For Job Cuts By Meta Platforms Inc.?

When Mark Zuckerberg warned employees in late September about his intentions to slash expenses by restructuring teams, the company was already reeling struggling to improve its revenue from digital advertising. The fear of economic recession also forced Mark Zuckerberg to take this drastic step. Insiders also say that Zuckerberg needs more funding for his speculative virtual-reality push called the Metaverse.

How Did The Job Cut Start In Meta Platforms Inc.?

Job Cut Start In Meta Platforms Inc.

The Menlo Park, California-based company implemented a hiring freeze saying that the CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants a smaller team in 2023. On Tuesday, Zuckerberg told the executives to prepare for job cuts. The Wall Street Journal reported Mark Zuckerberg said that he was accountable for the company’s missteps during the executive call.

What Did Mark Zuckerberg Say To Executives?

He said that the company basically grew quickly every year for the first 18 years, and then more recently their revenue had been flat to slightly down for the first time. So they had to adjust. Meta Platforms Inc. owns Instagram and Whatsapp as well and employs more than 87,000 people as of September.

… Read the rest
Technology

How Will Layoff Impact Twitter Business In India?

HT News

Elon Musk downsized the Twitter India team on Friday according to his plans for reducing the infrastructural cost of the social media platform. While a majority of officials were removed, a handful of employees in the sales operations are retained.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 50-60% of the Twitter India staff have been let go
• There is no information about the severance pay
• India is the third-largest market for Twitter after US and Japan

What Is The Impact Of Twitter India Layoffs?

Impact Of Twitter India Layoffs

With a majority of the 250-member team being laid off, Twitter India’s strength has considerably impacted all verticals in the country. India constitutes the third-largest market for Twitter with 23.6 million users and it is increasing.

According to internal information, Twitter India has laid off at least 50-60% of its employees. And its impact can be seen in marketing, communication, partnerships, and all other verticals.

The majority of employees retained by Twitter India belong to sales operations. There is no communication regarding severance pay, if any, to be given to the employees laid off on Friday.

Twitter India closed its offices and denied the employees access to the internal systems. There were asked to wait for information about whether they are laid off. There was chaos in the office as everyone wanted to know about the laid-off.

Why Is Elon Musk Downsizing Twitter India Team?

Soon after the takeover, Musk made it clear that he wanted to cut around 3700 Twitter staff to slash costs and impose a demanding work ethic. A source in Twitter India said that they were aware of the laid off but the exact number of employees to be relieved … Read the rest

Business Technology

What Is Elon Musk’s “Deep Cut Plan” For Twitter?

HT News

Elon Musk has asked Twitter Inc’s teams to explore options for annual infrastructure cost savings of up to $1 billion and has given Nov 7 deadline to present a plan. But the teams fear that this move could make Twitter unable to handle high-traffic events like the U.S. midterm elections.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Elon Musk could save up to $3 million a day from servers and cloud services
• But the steep infrastructure cut will compromise the services during critical events
• Musk has asked Twitter teams to work hard to meet Nov 7 deadline to present a cost-cutting plan

What Is The Present Infrastructural Cost Of Twitter?

According to an internal document, Twitter’s daily expense is about $3 million a day “with all spending and revenue considered”. But the company wants to go for a “Deep Cut Plan” to save as much as it can. It is estimated that the social media company can save between $1.5 million and $3 million by cutting down on its servers and cloud services.

What Is Twitter’s Deep Cut Plan?

Twitter’s Deep Cut Plan

The social media platform has extra server space to ensure that it can easily accommodate high traffic which is when people rush to Twitter to share and consume information. It happens in crisis times or major political events. Insiders say that Musk is willing to introduce that risk to meet those goals. Elon Musk can even reduce spending on Google Cloud services to fulfill the goals. But Google didn’t comment on this matter.

Twitter teams are working round the clock to meet the Nov 7 deadline set to present a “Deep Cut Plan”. Musk has even ordered some of the officials to work every … Read the rest

Technology

Twitter Sees An Exodus Of Officials For This Reason

HT News

The exodus of top management employees from Twitter continues after Elon Musk took the reins of the company. The latest to resign from Twitter is the chief customer officer and ad boss, Sarah Personette. She tweeted on Tuesday that she resigned last week.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Sarah Personette and other officials resigned from Twitter
• The resignation of top advertising and marketing chiefs has added to the advertisers’ uncertainty
• Advertisers are stopping their ads on Twitter

Which Officials Left Twitter?

Chief Customer Officer and Ad Boss Sarah Personette, Chief People and Diversity Officer Dalana Brand, General Manager for Core Technologies Nick Caldwell, Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Berland, Head of Product Jay Sullivan, and Vice President of Global Sales Jean-Philippe Maheu have left the social media company.

Twitter Exodus Of Officials For This Reason

How Are Advertisers Responding To Twitter?

A group of over 40 advocacy organizations including the NAACP and Free Press asked the top 20 advertisers to pull their ads in an open letter fearing Elon Musk could get content moderation on Twitter. Mediabrands, a unit of ad holding company IPG, has also advised its clients to pause advertising on Twitter until Twitter takes trust-building measures and ensures safety on the platform.

It is to be noted that hateful content has skyrocketed since the change of guards at the top level. The Network Contagion Research Institute, which identifies “cyber-social threats, has already said that the use of the n-word had increased to an alarming 500% on the social media platform.

How Is Elon Musk Handling The Situation?

Elon Musk sent a tweet on Monday to reassure advertisers about brand safety. “Twitter’s commitment to brand safety is unchanged,” tweeted Musk. Also, his … Read the rest

Technology

Why Is Elon Musk Downsizing Twitter?

HT News

The social media company Twitter will begin laying off employees as soon as Saturday according to The New York Times. The report further said that Elon Musk wanted to complete the layoffs before November to save stock grants given to employees every year on November 1.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The New York Times reported massive job cuts on Twitter after Musk’s takeover
• The report said that Elon Musk wanted to save stock grants through job cuts
• Twitter will have a new content moderation council

How Many Employees Will Be Removed From Twitter?

As soon as Elon Musk completed the USD 44 billion Twitter deal, reports about massive layoffs of up to 75% of employees started pouring in from unconfirmed sources. The NYT reported that some teams would be trimmed more than others. The social media company has around 7,500 employees.

What Are The Stock Grants Given To Twitter Employees In November?

Elon Musk Downsizing Twitter

Twitter has a tradition of giving stock grants on every year November 1. These grants are a significant portion of employees’ pay. And by laying off employees before November, Elon Musk could avoid paying the grants. Musk has already assured investors to reduce the workforce and find new revenue streams for the social media company.

What Is Content Moderation Council?

Elon Musk cleared the air over Twitter content by announcing a content moderation council. He said that no major content decisions or account reinstatements would happen before the convening of the council. He also tweeted that they hadn’t made any changes in Twitter’s content moderation policies.

On Wednesday, Musk arrived at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco and met with engineers and advertising executives. … Read the rest

International Technology

Twitter Loses Its CEO Parag Agarwal As Elon Musk Takes Control

HT News

Twitter Chief Elon Musk announced changes in the top position of the company soon after taking charge. Twitter’s chief executive Parag Agarwal and chief financial officer and its head of legal policy, trust, and safety were sacked on Musk’s orders.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Elon Musk sacked officials of Twitter on Tuesday
• Musk said Twitter won’t be free-for-all hellspace
• Former US president Donald Trump could return to Twitter

How Did Elon Musk Close Twitter Deal?

Elon Musk chose to close the deal hours before the court-appointed deadline for him to seal the on-again, off-again Twitter deal. Musk sent a tweet to all saying that he bought the social media network “because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.”

What Were Musk’s Initial Orders As Twitter Chief?

Twitter Loses Its CEO Parag Agarwal As Elon Musk Takes Control

As soon as Musk took control of the social media network, he sacked two of the top-ranking employees including CEO Parag Agarwal. But some employees have already left the company. And those who have remained want to give Elon Musk the benefit of doubt. Parag Agarwal is exploring legal options to make Musk respect the terms of the takeover deal.

Why Did Elon Musk Say Twitter Won’t Be Free-For-All?

Activists fear that Twitter will see a surge in harassment and misinformation as Elon Musk is himself known for trolling other users. But Musk is determined to his idea of Twitter “cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences.”

It is to be noted that former US president Donald Trump was blocked due to … Read the rest

International Technology

Twitter Will Reduce Its strength By 75% Ahead Of Elon Musk’s Deal

HT News

Twitter Inc will see a mass layoff of nearly 75% of 7,500 workers according to the Washington Post report. The report said that Tesla Chief Elon Musk updated the prospective investors in his deal to buy the social media company about his plans to cut short the company’s employees.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Elon Musk plans to fire 75% of Twitter employees
• Twitter human resources staff denied any mass layoffs
• The Washington Post reported job cut was planned much before Elon Musk’s deal

What Was The Washington Post Report About Twitter?

According to The Washington Post report, Twitter planned to pare its payroll by about $800 million by the end of next year. And this number shows the departure of nearly a quarter of the workforce. But the human resources staff of the company has assured the employees that the company wasn’t planning for mass layoffs.

Elon Musk Say About The Twitter Deal

The Washington Post report mentioned the documents that show job cut plans were already in place before Elon Musk offered the deal. According to the report, the social media company wanted to reduce staff to cut down on infrastructure costs. Reuters requested Twitter for a comment on the report but Twitter didn’t respond.

What Is The Status Of The Twitter Deal?

Elon Musk tried to walk away from the deal alleging Twitter understated the number of bots and spam accounts on the social media platform. It started a series of lawsuits between the two parties. Finally, Elon Musk reversed the course and decided to go ahead with the deal.

Source:- https://bit.ly/3gtbXPP

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Technology

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Said This On 5G Technology

HT News

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the 5G infrastructure launched in India was developed in the country and India was ready to share the technology with others. Ms Sitharaman made this big revelation about 5G technology during an interaction with students at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

HIGHLIGHTS

• India developed 5G technology said Ms Sitharaman
• She accepted that some parts were imported from other countries
• The country is ready to share its 5G technology with others

What Did Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman Say About 5G Technology?

FM Nirmala Sitharaman Say About 5G Technology

The FM was interacting with students at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) when one of the students asked her about the 5G technology launched in India. And Ms Sitharaman was quick in answering that 5G was an indigenous technology.

The story of India’s 5G was to reach the public said Ms Sitharaman. The 5G that the government had launched in the country was completely standalone was her response to the question.

But Ms Sitharaman accepted that there could be some parts imported from countries like South Korea but the technology wasn’t borrowed from a foreign country. She said that 5G was completely indigenous technology and they can provide 5G technology to anyone interested in it.

Also, Ms Sitharaman didn’t forget to feel proud of India developing its 5G infrastructure when she said that on 5G, she thought, they can be immensely proud of India’s achievements.

The 5G technology was recently launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The service is presently available in selected cities but it will soon be available throughout the country.

Source:- https://bit.ly/3RV36Dq

… Read the rest

Technology

X2 Becomes The First Flying Car To Fly Amid Full Public View

HT News

Chinese electronic vehicle maker Xpeng Inc displayed its “flying car” for the first time in the United Arab Emirates. It was an unmanned vehicle powered by eight propellers two at each corner. The Chinese maker said that it was considering the international launch of its vehicle.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Chinese flying car makes its first appearance in Dubai
• It is a two-seater aircraft capable of vertical movement
• It will soon be launched on the international market

What Is A Flying Car?

The “flying car” made by Xpeng Inc is a small two-seater aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL). The company calls it X2. The aircraft has two propellers on each corner to support vertical take-off and landing. According to the Chinese manufacturer, the “flying car” will transform city transportation for the better. The company offered X2 as a future mode of transport.

How Was The First Flight Of X2?

First Flight Of X2

The two-seater aircraft X2 did well in the 90-minute flight. Its take-off and landing were smooth and the people were amazed to see a “flying car” for the first time. It was an unmanned flight described as an important step toward developing the next generation of flying cars.

What Did The Manufacturer Say About The Flying Car?

Minguan Qiu, general manager of Xpeng Aeroht said that they were making step-by-step moves to the international market. First, they selected Dubai because it is the most innovative city in the world. But the official disclosed nothing about their plans for the international launch of the aircraft.

Source:- https://bit.ly/3ThLhzI

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