Twitter bankruptcy speculations; Signal introduced Stories feature; Meta's massive layoffs
A weekly recap of major marketing and tech news you may have missed
Hi there! Happy Monday to you!
Here is your weekly edition of “5 Minutes of Marketing,” a newsletter delivering the latest marketing, business, and technology news.
The three main stories from Week 45 are - Musk warns of Twitter bankruptcy, Signal introduced a Stories feature, and Meta is laying off 11,000 of its staff worldwide.
So, grab a cup of coffee ☕️ and let’s go!
🤯 Musk warns of Twitter bankruptcy
Last week, Elon Musk warned of the possibility of Twitter going bankrupt as more and more senior executives left the company.
In his first company-wide email, Musk warned that Twitter would not be able to "survive the upcoming economic downturn" if it fails to boost subscription revenue to offset falling advertising income. 💸
It comes as no surprise that more and more advertisers are leaving Twitter due to its chaotic management and new policies put in place. ⛔️ This has a tremendous impact on the company’s financials.
More and more advertisers have paused their Twitter advertising due to uncertainties in the direction that Twitter was going. 🤔 Many of them are worried that their ads will appear next to tweets promoting hate speech and misinformation, which may negatively impact their brands.
Earlier in November, Musk tried to fix the situation by blaming activist groups for Twitter’s misfortunes. 😀
While it may be true that the pressure from activist groups is rising, Musk has done little to nothing to bring the confidence in the platform back.
There are multiple reports where fake accounts impersonate him and other well-known people, buying the blue badge for $8 a month. This was done purely to showcase how untrue Musk’s narrative about the controls implemented was.
He has pushed hard on the idea of paying $8 per month for the Twitter-verified blue badge, which, according to a new report from the New York Times, would not involve Twitter verifying the user's identity. This raises a huge red flag for both users and advertisers. 😡
Given the pace of these controversies and the likelihood they'll only continue to increase, it appears many brands have calculated that continuing to advertise on Twitter may result in alienating consumers — and that would be bad for their businesses.
As a result, we are where we are - Twitter may even get bankrupt. 👀
😀 Signal has introduced a Stories feature
End-to-end encrypted messaging app Signal is rolling out a new Stories feature to all users on Android and iOS, the company announced on Monday. The official launch comes a few weeks after the company first beta-testing the feature with selected users. Signal plans to release its Stories feature on the desktop soon. 👌🏼
As with other platforms’ Stories features, Signal Stories allow users to create and share images, videos, and texts that automatically disappear after 24 hours. Signal reassured that Stories are end-to-end encrypted like everything else in its app.
According to the Signal team, Stories happened to be one of the most commonly requested features by its users. As a result, they decided to introduce it to the platform. ✌🏼
Signal is aware that not everyone will see Stories as a welcome addition to the app, which is why it’s offering an opt-out setting for the feature. If you’re not interested in seeing or posting Stories, you can opt out by going into your settings and selecting the “Turn off stories” option. 👍🏼
Signal is a little late to the game with Stories, which first rose to popularity through Snapchat. Over the years, nearly every popular platform has adopted the feature, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, Twitter, and LinkedIn. 🥱
😬 Meta to cut 11,000 jobs worldwide
More bad news comes from Meta, Facebook’s parent company. Mark Zuckerberg has announced that the company will have to cut 11,000 jobs worldwide, which is the biggest layoff in its history. 😢
Last week I wrote about Meta losing US$650 billion in market value, which proves how bad the situation inside the company really is. 😨
Facebook owner Meta Platforms told employees on Friday that it would stop developing smart displays and smartwatches and that nearly half of the 11,000 jobs it eliminated this week in an unprecedented cost-cutting move were technology roles.
Meta executives also said they were reorganizing parts of the company, combining a voice and video calling unit with other messaging teams and setting up a new division focusing on tough engineering problems. 😕
Meta aggressively hired during the pandemic amid a surge in social media usage by stuck-at-home consumers. But business suffered this year as advertisers and consumers pulled the plug on spending in the face of soaring costs and rapidly rising interest rates. 💸
The company also faced increased competition from TikTok and lost access to valuable user data that powered its ad-targeting systems after Apple made privacy-oriented changes to its operating system.
An economic slowdown and a grim outlook for online advertising – by far Meta’s biggest revenue source – have contributed to the company’s woes, as well. 📉
This summer, Meta posted its first quarterly revenue decline in history, followed by another, bigger decline in the fall. Meta’s profits fell to $4.4 billion in the last quarter, a 52% decrease year-on-year.
Other interesting stories:
Vietnam Introduces 24-Hour Take-Down Requirement for Social Media Platforms
How Brands Are Using TikTok, BeReal, and Roblox This Holiday Season
Twitter growth prospects flatten, but few are spared from pummeling digital downturn
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