Twitter is being sued by the Crown Estate over alleged unpaid rent for their London headquarters.
The Estate - which oversees a property portfolio belonging to the King - filed a claim against Twitter in the High Court in London last week, according to Reuters news agency.
The alleged arrears relate to office space near Piccadilly Circus in central London, the BBC has been told.
The social media giant has not responded to requests for comment.
The Crown Estate took legal action after previously contacting Twitter about rental arrears over office space at Air Street.
The Estate is one of the UK's largest landowners and an independent commercial business, generating profit for the Treasury for public spending. The monarch is then given 15% of the annual surplus of the estate, known as the Sovereign Grant, to support official duties.
Yes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first (The Platformer, February 14) […] I missed this because I was on vacation, but I probably wouldn’t have seen it anyway...
Biden’s tweet, in which he said he would be supporting his wife in rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles, generated nearly 29 million impressions. Musk, who also tweeted his support for the Eagles, generated a little more than 9.1 million impressions before deleting the tweet in apparent frustration.
In the wake of those losses — the Eagles to the Kansas City Chiefs, and Musk to the president of the United States — Twitter’s CEO flew his private jet back to the Bay Area on Sunday night to demand answers from his team.
Within a day, the consequences of that meeting would reverberate around the world, as Twitter users opened the app to find that Musk’s posts overwhelmed their ranked timeline. This was no accident, Platformer can confirm: after Musk threatened to fire his remaining engineers, they built a system designed to ensure that Musk — and Musk alone — benefits from previously unheard-of promotion of his tweets to the entire user base.
[…]
After Musk’s timeline takeover caused an uproar Monday, he seemed to suggest that the changes would be walked back, at least in part. “Please stay tuned while we make adjustments to the uh .… “algorithm,” he tweeted.
The artificial boosts applied to his account remain in place, although the factor is now lower than 1,000, we’re told. Musk’s handful of tweets Tuesday reported around 43 million impressions, which are on the high end of his recent average.
I missed this because I was on vacation, but I probably wouldn’t have seen it anyway due to mostly using the realtwitter.com redirect.
Twitter’s Trust and Safety Head Ditches Protocol for Musk Whims (Bloomberg) This is a long article on Ella Irwin, twitter's new head of "Trust & Safety", as well as the complicated/chaotic...
This is a long article on Ella Irwin, twitter's new head of "Trust & Safety", as well as the complicated/chaotic internal politics at the company, so it's difficult to quote. There are a few rather concerning revelations in the article, such as leaked internal documents showing how Irwin appears to be a rubber stamper for Musk's whims, and also how she is problematic in her own right. So it's worth a read if you're interested in any of that.
I deleted mine a few months before Musk started showing interest in Twitter so that was not the motivation, but my mental well being was. I created an account early on, 2008 I think, so it was...
I deleted mine a few months before Musk started showing interest in Twitter so that was not the motivation, but my mental well being was. I created an account early on, 2008 I think, so it was tough giving up my user name. But I've been feeling better and better about my decision over the last year/months.
I deleted it the day Elon became CEO. Not that I was a particularly active user or anything but I did follow many Ukrainian news agencies and people so I have had to use other sources since then....
I deleted it the day Elon became CEO. Not that I was a particularly active user or anything but I did follow many Ukrainian news agencies and people so I have had to use other sources since then. Telegram mostly
I did around the time it looked like he was seriously going to buy it (but before he did). It was really the final nail in the coffin, though tbh. Tweeting felt pointless (just shouting into the...
I did around the time it looked like he was seriously going to buy it (but before he did). It was really the final nail in the coffin, though tbh. Tweeting felt pointless (just shouting into the void) and I wasn't following anyone important. My interest in twitter peaked a couple years ago, admittedly, so it wasn't that hard for me to leave it.
I really don't miss it. Most of the worthwhile stuff gets posted to various subreddits a day or two later and that's good enough for me. I do kind of miss having a place to just spout out whatever is on my mind at a given moment, but like I said before it was just shouting into the void anyway.
My account is reserving my username in Twitter's namespace. It has zero activity; I'm not sure I've ever logged in since I created it. So, random question: should I delete it? The cost to Twitter...
My account is reserving my username in Twitter's namespace. It has zero activity; I'm not sure I've ever logged in since I created it.
So, random question: should I delete it? The cost to Twitter if I maintain it is negligible (just a row in an accounts table), but I'm sure I don't count as an "active user" in any stats, and I don't like the idea of leaving my username open to squatting or cooption. (I've reserved this username on e.g. hacker news and Reddit, too.)
I still use mine to read. I've never posted much, but I sometimes reply to other people and boost a post now and then. If I stopped using it, I wouldn't delete it. I wouldn't want someone else to...
I still use mine to read. I've never posted much, but I sometimes reply to other people and boost a post now and then.
If I stopped using it, I wouldn't delete it. I wouldn't want someone else to take my username. Also, although I don't think I've posted much of interest, I wouldn't want to leave gaps in some of the conversations I've been in unless there's a good reason. I hate it when people do a mass delete, though it's their right.
(And more generally, I believe my actions there have a near-zero effect on what happens to Twitter, so that's not a good basis for making decisions about what to do.)
I have. I had an account since around 2009 and deleted it last year once it became clear that the sale was going through. There were times where I was fairly active (read: addicted) but there were...
I have. I had an account since around 2009 and deleted it last year once it became clear that the sale was going through. There were times where I was fairly active (read: addicted) but there were also some periods where I didn't really use Twitter much at all. I had already mostly quit the site some time in 2021 during a time when I was trying develop some healthier social medial habits, so deleting wasn't as big a step as it might have been for some people.
i didn’t and never will. i don’t use the thing, but i’ve got a great handle that took a long time and some good luck to acquire. i don’t care about Musk or what he’s doing with Twitter. i see most...
i didn’t and never will. i don’t use the thing, but i’ve got a great handle that took a long time and some good luck to acquire.
i don’t care about Musk or what he’s doing with Twitter. i see most of it as the typical outrage of the season a la ellen pao etc. Musk is an idiot, but we only care because he won’t shut up, unlike other idiot CEOs.
I deleted my account a while ago, but I still have people and sources I follow through Fritter, which I guess doesn't use the third party API that was shut down earlier.
I deleted my account a while ago, but I still have people and sources I follow through Fritter, which I guess doesn't use the third party API that was shut down earlier.
You might be wondering why Twitter is disabling SMS stuff. Most recently they disabled using text messages for two-factor authentication, except for Twitter Blue accounts. If this is to improve...
You might be wondering why Twitter is disabling SMS stuff. Most recently they disabled using text messages for two-factor authentication, except for Twitter Blue accounts. If this is to improve security, why make an exception for paid accounts?
It seems it's because there are rogue phone companies that create Twitter accounts and use them to run up Twitter's phone bills. Every SMS message sent is money sent from Twitter to them. I'm guessing paid accounts aren't used that way, so they're exempt.
…I discovered this, basically, about 10 days ago, that Twitter was being scammed to the tune of 60 million dollars a year for SMS texts, not counting North America… Basically, there are telcos who are not being super honest out there, in other parts of the world, who were basically gaming the system and running, like, two-factor authentication SMS texts over and over again, and just creating a zillion bot accounts to literally run up the tab so that Twitter would SMS text them, and Twitter would pay them millions of dollars, without even asking about it
From the article:
Twitter made a loss of USD221mn in 2021, which was significantly less than the previous year, but still large enough to question why USD60mn of fraud would be tolerated.
While I'm not a fan of how Musk has handled Twitter, this is the sort of thing that is far too believable. Especially if the cost of the fraud grew more or less in line with the customer base,...
While I'm not a fan of how Musk has handled Twitter, this is the sort of thing that is far too believable. Especially if the cost of the fraud grew more or less in line with the customer base, it's really easy for the finance people to assume that there are proper controls in place elsewhere to catch any issues. Given the scale I'm sure the payments were automated, and so it could easily become a blind spot where no one was really auditing those costs.
According to The Information, Twitter has been refusing to pay AWS bills for months, which complicates things since the company relies on Amazon’s cloud services for key aspects of its platform. Moreover, there is at least $70 million in outstanding debt that the social media company has not paid.
Twitter and AWS signed a five-and-a-half-year contract in 2020, which AWS is not willing to renegotiate.
The contract states that the social media company is to pay $510 million over the contract period.
It was signed when Twitter was looking to move its main timeline to AWS.
Because things have changed, Twitter is not making full use of what is in the contract, though it is not clear if that is why the company is refusing to pay. What is clear is that the choice not to pay has led to threats of retaliation from Amazon, which has said it would not pay for advertisements run on the social platform.
[...]
While Twitter has a contract with AWS, it uses Google Cloud more. There is even a five-year contract between them to the tune of $1 billion, though the social platform is looking to reduce costs there as well. While Google has not openly agreed to renegotiate to potentially lower costs, the social media company is up-to-date on its payments to Google Cloud.
San Francisco building officials told Twitter’s construction contractor on Tuesday to revise a building permit in order to keep beds inside the company’s headquarters, signaling that the city could potentially sign off on employees sleeping at the downtown office.
The Department of Building Inspection issued a correction notice to contractor Hathaway Dinwiddie, asking for conference rooms to be correctly labeled as sleeping areas in a floor plan. If not, the rooms at 1355 Market St. have to be restored to their original office use within 15 days, according to the notice reviewed by The Chronicle.
Officials found two beds last month in the tech company’s eighth and ninth floor conference rooms after an investigation triggered by a Forbes report about workers sleeping in the office amid long work hours after Elon Musk’s takeover. Multiple people who read the story complained to the city, alleging the rooms were converted illegally.
Twitter could be subject to fines for having an improper permit, but that has not yet been determined. Officials want to conduct a final inspection if the permit is not revised and Twitter must remove the beds.
The city concluded that Twitter’s bedrooms “are outfitted with a full life safety system, including sprinklers and fire alarm” in a letter sent to the company’s architect of record last week. San Francisco Business Times first reported the details of the letter, which requested that the building permit revision be made.
Twitter sued by Crown Estate over alleged unpaid rent at UK HQ (BBC)
Yes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first (The Platformer, February 14)
[…]
I missed this because I was on vacation, but I probably wouldn’t have seen it anyway due to mostly using the realtwitter.com redirect.
Musk claims the story is false and planted by a disgruntled employee. It seems there is data indicating that his posts got more impressions, though.
Twitter’s Trust and Safety Head Ditches Protocol for Musk Whims (Bloomberg)
This is a long article on Ella Irwin, twitter's new head of "Trust & Safety", as well as the complicated/chaotic internal politics at the company, so it's difficult to quote. There are a few rather concerning revelations in the article, such as leaked internal documents showing how Irwin appears to be a rubber stamper for Musk's whims, and also how she is problematic in her own right. So it's worth a read if you're interested in any of that.
p.s. BNNBloomberg version of the article for those who want to avoid the paywall.
So how many of you have actually deleted your accounts?
I deleted mine a few months before Musk started showing interest in Twitter so that was not the motivation, but my mental well being was. I created an account early on, 2008 I think, so it was tough giving up my user name. But I've been feeling better and better about my decision over the last year/months.
I never had one. Does that count?
Abstinence is the best form of corporate social media resistance.
You and me both, but no, it doesn't count.
I deleted it the day Elon became CEO. Not that I was a particularly active user or anything but I did follow many Ukrainian news agencies and people so I have had to use other sources since then. Telegram mostly
I did around the time it looked like he was seriously going to buy it (but before he did). It was really the final nail in the coffin, though tbh. Tweeting felt pointless (just shouting into the void) and I wasn't following anyone important. My interest in twitter peaked a couple years ago, admittedly, so it wasn't that hard for me to leave it.
I really don't miss it. Most of the worthwhile stuff gets posted to various subreddits a day or two later and that's good enough for me. I do kind of miss having a place to just spout out whatever is on my mind at a given moment, but like I said before it was just shouting into the void anyway.
My account is reserving my username in Twitter's namespace. It has zero activity; I'm not sure I've ever logged in since I created it.
So, random question: should I delete it? The cost to Twitter if I maintain it is negligible (just a row in an accounts table), but I'm sure I don't count as an "active user" in any stats, and I don't like the idea of leaving my username open to squatting or cooption. (I've reserved this username on e.g. hacker news and Reddit, too.)
I think that's a good reason to not delete it.
I still use mine to read. I've never posted much, but I sometimes reply to other people and boost a post now and then.
If I stopped using it, I wouldn't delete it. I wouldn't want someone else to take my username. Also, although I don't think I've posted much of interest, I wouldn't want to leave gaps in some of the conversations I've been in unless there's a good reason. I hate it when people do a mass delete, though it's their right.
(And more generally, I believe my actions there have a near-zero effect on what happens to Twitter, so that's not a good basis for making decisions about what to do.)
I have. I had an account since around 2009 and deleted it last year once it became clear that the sale was going through. There were times where I was fairly active (read: addicted) but there were also some periods where I didn't really use Twitter much at all. I had already mostly quit the site some time in 2021 during a time when I was trying develop some healthier social medial habits, so deleting wasn't as big a step as it might have been for some people.
i didn’t and never will. i don’t use the thing, but i’ve got a great handle that took a long time and some good luck to acquire.
i don’t care about Musk or what he’s doing with Twitter. i see most of it as the typical outrage of the season a la ellen pao etc. Musk is an idiot, but we only care because he won’t shut up, unlike other idiot CEOs.
that’s just my view on it.
I deleted my account a while ago, but I still have people and sources I follow through Fritter, which I guess doesn't use the third party API that was shut down earlier.
I never actually used my account to tweet, but like others here, I also deleted it when Elon became CEO.
You might be wondering why Twitter is disabling SMS stuff. Most recently they disabled using text messages for two-factor authentication, except for Twitter Blue accounts. If this is to improve security, why make an exception for paid accounts?
It seems it's because there are rogue phone companies that create Twitter accounts and use them to run up Twitter's phone bills. Every SMS message sent is money sent from Twitter to them. I'm guessing paid accounts aren't used that way, so they're exempt.
Source: Elon Musk Says Twitter Lost $60mn a Year Because 390 Telcos Used Bot Accounts to Pump A2P SMS
Musk quote:
From the article:
While I'm not a fan of how Musk has handled Twitter, this is the sort of thing that is far too believable. Especially if the cost of the fraud grew more or less in line with the customer base, it's really easy for the finance people to assume that there are proper controls in place elsewhere to catch any issues. Given the scale I'm sure the payments were automated, and so it could easily become a blind spot where no one was really auditing those costs.
Musk’s Twitter Refuses to Pay Amazon Web Services Around $70 Million (Grit Daily)
[...]
https://twitter.com/TwitterDev/status/1621026986784337922
S.F. to Twitter: Fix your building permit within 15 days to keep beds at HQ (SF Chronicle)