Elon Musk’s cuts to Twitter staff are being compared to the plot of a particularly savage Game of Thrones episode – yep, we think you can all probably guess the one.
Musk has wasted no time shaking things up at Twitter since taking over, not only sending users into a frenzy with plans to charge $8 a month for those coveted blue ticks, but also laying off almost 50 percent of the company’s staff.
Addressing the inevitable backlash to the latter, Musk tweeted: "Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required."
The mass exodus has reminded many people of a gruesome episode from series three of HBO’s Game of Thrones, which – you may recall – saw Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey’s nuptials transformed into a bloody massacre called The Red Wedding.
One Twitter user tweeted: “The Red Wedding has started at Twitter. It’s so ham-handed that I’m not sure Twitter will know who they’ve fired and who’s been retained…lots of employees could prob just keep going in b/c nobody really knows who has been fired.”
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Someone else said: “This is like the Red Wedding, Twitter version. Gonna make an incredible movie one day.”
A third added: "It’s straight Red Wedding at Twitter. Alarm set for 9PST."
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Twitter employees are making the same comparison, as well, with one tweeting: “I’m speechless, the update is: I’m still at Twitter.
"Last night was like the Red Wedding of GOT, but afterwards, I felt so much love and warmth from my teammates, and friends who cared. I’ll bring the love with me along the way.”
A former staff member also said: “I left Twitter 8 years ago but still always believed in the power of this platform until today.
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"My timeline looks like red wedding at the blue bird.”
Of course, Musk is also facing heat for the ongoing saga of Twitter’s blue tick, which is rapidly evolving from a simple verification system for celebrities and other high profile users to a controversial paid-for package.
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Following much speculation, Musk confirmed the new charge earlier this week, tweeting: "Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is b******t.
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"Power to the people! Blue for $8/month. Price adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity.”
He added that blue tick users would also get ‘priority in replies, mentions and search, which is essential to defeat spam/scam’, the ability to post long video and audio, half as many ads and ‘paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us’.
Topics: Film and TV, Game of Thrones, Elon Musk, Twitter
Jess Hardiman