FT News Briefing

Peak social media: Trouble at Twitter

Jul 1, 2023

Evan Henshaw-Plath, one of the original creators of Twitter, dives into the stormy landscape following Elon Musk's takeover of the platform. He discusses how Musk's vision clashes with Twitter's established culture, raising questions about the company's survival. The conversation addresses Twitter's revenue struggles and the impact of recent leadership changes on employee morale. Henshaw-Plath reflects on the platform's origins, highlighting its evolution and the increasing challenges of user trust and misinformation as it gears up for the approaching election season.

29:28

Creator website

Episode guests

Evan Henshaw-Plath

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Episode notes

Intro

3min

Navigating the Decline of Social Media

2min

The Birth of a Social Media Giant: The Story of Twitter

2min

The Rise and Revenue Struggles of Twitter

2min

Elon Musk's Twitter Turmoil

8min

Twitter's Financial Struggles and Future Outlook

13min

Elon Musk took over Twitter with the promise of promoting free speech and making the loss-making platform profitable again. But his critics say he’s destroying Twitter’s culture and driving it to bankruptcy. How much danger is the company really in? In the first episode in a new series of Tech Tonic, Elaine Moore, deputy editor of the FT’s Lex column, asks whether Musk will save Twitter or destroy it.

In this episode we hear from Evan Henshaw-Plath, one of the original creators of Twitter; Rumman Chowdhury, Twitter’s former head of machine learning, ethics, transparency, and accountability who was laid off by Elon Musk; and FT tech reporter Hannah Murphy.

Presented by Elaine Moore. Produced by Edwin Lane and Josh Gabert-Doyon, Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Hannah Murphy

Clips: TED Conferences, CBS, Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, MSNBC, CNN

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Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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