Musk Receives 'Real' Email from Twitter, Given 30 Days to Complete 'M101' Course
One of the mainstream media’s biggest gripes about Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter has been his promise to cut jobs at the social media giant — including reports that up to 75 percent of Twitter employees’ positions were at risk.
While that number seems dubious — and, indeed, Bloomberg reported Musk himself has said that isn’t the case — it’d be difficult to argue there isn’t some redundancy and waste that needs to be reduced for the sake of efficiency.
One can get an idea about inefficiency at the company by an automated email sent to none other than new owner Musk, telling him he had 30 days to complete a course titled “Managing @Twitter 101.”
“M101 covers what it means to be a good manager at Twitter by showing you how to create opportunities for impact, help your Tweeps grow their careers, and demonstrate care for your team.”
But there’s a stick along with that carrot: “Psst… you’ve only got 30 days to finish this mandatory course,” the email read, bolded text in the original. “And once you’re done, we’ll enroll you in Managing @Twitter 201.”
“Just received this email from Twitter. This is an actual, real email that was autogenerated,” Musk tweeted on Sunday, along with a few ROFL emojis.
Just received this email from Twitter. This is an actual, real email that was autogenerated 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/7DQp4sNINX
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2022
“So demanding to allow a mere 30 days to learn this priceless information!” Musk continued. “But Management 201 is such a tantalizing carrot…”
But Management 201 is such a tantalizing carrot …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2022
It’s not just the hilarity of sending the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX — as well as the “Chief Twit” at Twitter — an email about taking a basic management course on the company’s online portal. (Although that is indeed hilarious.)
My title is Chief Twit right there in the bio. No idea who the CEO is.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2022
In a reply thread, Musk was asked what the “most messed up” thing at Twitter was.
“There seem to be 10 people ‘managing’ for every one person coding,” Musk responded.
There seem to be 10 people “managing” for every one person coding
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2022
Pretty much
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2022
Yet, the prospect of layoffs at Twitter has been greeted with shock and despair in mainstream media outlets, which are treating the impending job cuts like “Roger & Me” for rich Silicon Valley types.
Take one of the best trolling jobs in the past year, for example.
There was a flurry of media attention when two men identifying themselves as “Rahul Ligma” and “Daniel Johnson,” seen outside corporate HQ with cardboard boxes, said they were part of a social media team that had been laid off from the company upon Musk’s arrival.
“It’s happening,” CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa tweeted on Friday. “Entire team of data engineers let go. These are two of them. #TwitterTakeover.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t “happening.”
The two were pranksters, which anyone with half a brain would have noticed if they googled the individuals’ last names (“Ligma” is a fictitious internet disease), paid attention to the too-good details in the pranksters’ stories (one said he was afraid of missing his Tesla payments, another held up a copy of Michelle Obama’s autobiography) or considered that it might be shoddy journalism to take a guy at face value when he said he needed to “touch base with my husband and wife.”
and deleting the original so this doesn’t continue to spread. screenshot here for transparency pic.twitter.com/wNeXUOAgTe
— Deirdre Bosa (@dee_bosa) October 31, 2022
.@dee_bosa I think you buried the story… As this former Twitter employee departs he says he has to “get home to his husband and wife” pic.twitter.com/UmpJMnbWQx
— Chaos Station (@ChaosBrewingNB) October 28, 2022
Beyond all this, however, is why the mainstream media is so appalled that Twitter people might be losing their jobs. Aside from the fact that no one can tell them to “learn to code,” given that they likely already do, this hardly seems like something to get huffy over.
Part of the issue, of course, is that the mainstream media will grab ahold of anything to tar and feather Musk for purchasing Twitter in the first place, given his dedication to free speech on the platform. Beyond that is who will be likely to get the boot first: Those whose jobs specifically involved tinkering with the knobs of free speech in the first place.
They’re the real heroes to the mainstream media. Let the implications of that sink in.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
