2022 Twitter Shutdown Rumors / #RIPTwitter

About

The 2022 Twitter Shutdown Rumors refers to rumors and speculation regarding Twitter shutting down in November 2022 following Elon Musk's acquisition of the company in late October and his push for an "extremely hardcore Twitter 2.0," which prompted many Twitter employees to resign following an ultimatum from Musk. Most of the discourse surfaced when reports came out that Twitter's offices and HQ were temporarily closed and badge access was suspended for employees. This led to panic, both humorous and earnest, across the app as hashtags like #RIPTwitter and #GoodbyeTwitter trended alongside #TwitterMigration, which referred to the migration of Twitter users to other social media platforms like Tumblr or Mastodon. Elon Musk also shared ominous memes about Twitter dying that furthered rumors of the platform's demise. Many also posted memes about losing their explicit bookmarks or their unemployed friend who might struggle after the speculated death of Twitter.

History

After Elon Musk acquired Twitter in late October 2022, welcoming his new title as Twitter CEO by bringing a sink into HQ, he quickly moved to make a number of changes on the platform. This included firing many top Twitter executives including CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, General Counsel Sam Edgett and Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde.^[1]

He then hinted at systematic changes on Twitter, such as making blue checks or verified accounts cost up to $20 per month. The price for verification later went down to $8 dollars a month. The concept led to odd squabbles on the app like the AOC vs. Elon Musk Twitter conflict.

Soon after, mass Twitter layoffs took place, starting en masse on November 3rd, 2022, when recently laid off Twitter employees started trending the hashtag #OneTeam, such as Twitter^[2] user and former Twitter employee Simon Balmain who earned over 30,000 likes in one day (shown below).

On November 8th, 2022, early-stage products manager at Twitter Esther Crawford announced via a tweet^[3] that subscribers of Twitter Blue, referred to by some as "Twitter Premium," could then pay for a blue checkmark through the subscription service. There would be a small, differentiation between an "Official" blue check mark and a paid-for Twitter Blue checkmark. Regardless, the concept of buying a blue checkmark caused a lot of controversy and discourse on the platform, mostly regarding concerns over potentially harmful parody accounts and impersonators.

Thereafter, many verified parody accounts surfaced on the app, leading to scams, misinformation and other, general chaos. For instance, one of the first notable impersonations was done by a user impersonating basketball star LeBron James, saying that the star was requesting a trade from Los Angeles to Cleveland (shown below). It was caught by reporter Ben Collins,^[4] who noted the tweet received thousands of likes and retweets before it was deleted by Twitter moderators.

November 16th, 2022, Twitter Shutting Down Rumors

Following all of the aforementioned developments, news outlets like the Washington Post^[8] reiterated on November 16th, 2022, that Elon Musk sent out a company-wide memo via email to Twitter's employees. The memo was titled "A Fork In The Road" and told the staff that the website was about to go "extremely hardcore" and any employee who wasn't prepared for "working long hours at high intensity" would be laid off on the afternoon of November 17th, 2022, with three months severance. Employees had until 5 p.m. on November 17th to confirm that they wanted to continue with the company. Musk additionally stated in the memo, "Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade" (shown below).

Multiple reports surfaced on Twitter about Musk's memo, like one posted by Twitter^[5] user donie on November 16th that gained roughly 19,900 likes in two days and one from Twitter^[9] user GergelyOrosz that received roughly 65,500 likes in two days.

As Musk's ultimatum deadline approached, Twitter^[6] user and editor for The Verge Alex Heath tweeted a link to an article^[7] that referenced insider knowledge regarding many Twitter employees not abiding by Musk's ultimatum. Many of them did not say "yes" to working at Twitter as the deadline had, at the time of the tweet's posting, passed six minutes prior. Heath's tweet^[6] received roughly 26,500 likes in less than a day (shown below, left).

He then added a reply^[10] soon after, stating that Twitter’s Slack had hundreds of employees giving the saluting face emoji, indicating their resignations. The reply received roughly 25,800 likes on its own (shown below, right).

Heath then added another tweet^[11] to his thread, writing, "Hearing from multiple employees that the odds of Twitter breaking in the near future are very high," earning roughly 26,100 likes in less than a day (shown below, left). The Verge^[12] then published an article titled, "Hundreds of employees say no to being part of Elon Musk’s ‘extremely hardcore’ Twitter."

Adding to all of the rumors based on the ultimatum-induced layoffs, Twitter^[13] user ZoeSchiffer stated in a tweet posted at around 6:52 p.m. EST on November 17th, "Twitter just alerted employees that effective immediately, all office buildings are temporarily closed and badge access is suspended. No details given as to why," gaining roughly 185,100 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

Twitter user ZoeSchiffer added a reply^[14] to her first tweet, giving the supposed reasoning for the temporary office closure, writing, "We're hearing this is because Elon Musk and his team are terrified employees are going to sabotage the company. Also, they're still trying to figure out which Twitter workers they need to cut access for." The closure was said to last until Monday, November 21st, 2022, again, as per Twitter^[15] user ZoeSchiffer on November 17th (shown below).

Twitter^[16] user and tech reporter for Fortune Magazine, Kylie Robison, then stated in a tweet soon after that, "It looks like roughly 75% of the remaining 3,700ish Twitter employees have not opted to stay after the 'hardcore' email," gaining roughly 91,500 likes in less than a day (shown below).

Elon Musk Memes About Possible Shutdown

At around 11:20 p.m. on November 17th, 2022, Elon Musk tweeted^[17] a pirate flag emoji, gaining roughly 376,700 likes in less than a day (shown below, left). Soon after, Musk tweeted^[18] a Grant Gustin Next To Oliver Queen's Grave meme showing a Twitter logo man giving a peace sign next to a Twitter logo grave, gaining over 1.4 million likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

Online Reactions and Memes

Following all of the aforementioned developments in mid-November 2022, such as the Twitter office's temporary closure, the then-recent ultimatum-induced layoffs and Elon Musk's own ominous tweets, Twitter users started to joke about an imagined complete shutdown of Twitter and the death of the platform.

One of the most viral jokes was tweeted by Twitter^[19] user anothercohen on November 17th, 2022, who pretended to be a laid-off Twitter employee who used to be in charge of "badge access to Twitter offices," and due to his firing, Musk locked himself out of the HQ building. The tweet received roughly 351,100 likes in less than a day (shown below, left). Also on November 17th, Twitter^[20] user ben_rosen humorously compared the current state of Twitter to the end of Toy Story 3, gaining roughly 63,600 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

On November 17th, Twitter^[21] user RickyMar49 used the Guy Looking At Server image, captioning it, "Elon when he becomes the only employee at Twitter HQ," gaining roughly 135,200 likes in less than a day (shown below, left). Twitter^[22] user brndxix joked about unemployed people (who are often imagined to be on Twitter a lot) in a tweet reading, "this is unemployed peoples 9/11," gaining roughly 114,500 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

#TwitterMigration

Twitter users started to use the hashtag "#TwitterMigration," alluding to a mass exodus from Twitter to other platforms. One of the substitute platforms was Mastodon. For instance, on November 18th, 2022, Twitter^[23] user Lee_in_Iowa tweeted about Mastodon's influx of roughly 6 million users in November 2022, gaining roughly 2,300 likes in four hours (shown below, left). Tumblr was another platform discussed in relation to #TwitterMigration. For instance, the official Twitter^[24] account for Tumblr tweeted the Welcome Home Cheater image, gaining roughly 310,200 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

Various Reactions

all my bookmarked porn pic.twitter.com/ZXQ5VEBksC

— ْ (@gaysmtra) November 18, 2022

Me at twitter HQ if bookmarks go down pic.twitter.com/w80jlM3m8E

— cryptic incognito (@CrypticNoHoes) November 18, 2022

Search Interest

External References