The social network Twitter has seen a lot of upheaval since it was acquired by billionnaire and SpaceX \/ Tesla owner Elon Musk last month.\u00a0 Recently the disruption and major changes have even led to questions of whether\u00a0it will survive.<\/p>\n
With Twitter having such a crucial role in most airlines and airports\u2019 communications and customer service functions, what should you be doing now?<\/p>\n
Bearing in mind\u00a0that the situation is changing every day, we\u2019ll first of all summarise things as they stand at time of writing (November 18th).\u00a0 We\u2019ll then provide some guidelines that we think airlines and airports active on Twitter should be following.<\/p>\n
Most Twitter employees have been fired or have left<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simpliflying.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/2b757150f12d965a59e18403932c0489.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSoon after taking over, Elon Musk let around 50% of Twitter staff go.\u00a0 Some departments saw huge cuts, for example the communications team was cut from 80+<\/a> right down to two people.\u00a0 This matters, Twitter is <\/a>as much a communications business with a lot of PR-related content issues worldwide as it is a technology business.<\/p>\nAs a result, Twitter will no longer be able to effectively reply to media queries.\u00a0 As an aside, this\u00a0mirrors Musk\u2019s approach at Tesla<\/a>, which also has no PR department and generally does not respond to press queries.<\/p>\nFollowing that, there were a series of high profile resignations<\/a>, including Twitter head of safety Yoel Roth, along with\u00a0chief privacy officer Damien Kieran and chief compliance officer Marianne Fogarty.<\/p>\nMusk then sent an email to all remaining staff, telling them to commit to \u201chardcore\u201d work by 5pm PST on Thursday 17 November, or take three months severance pay.\u00a0 It appears most chose the latter route,<\/a> and many staff who did agree, were ones on work visas, who are of course tied to their employer.\u00a0 Following that, Twitter closed its offices for the day<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simpliflying.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1d32c15a9c6f40893d6e45d0ec8e7af4.png\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simpliflying.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1d32c15a9c6f40893d6e45d0ec8e7af4.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThat inevitably led to a lot of speculation that the network, now missing most of its staff including in critical areas,<\/a> might go down.\u00a0 This comes as the New York Times<\/a> reported tonight that some core teams are down to zero.<\/p>\nWe agree with commentators who say that\u2019s unlikely, and that a more realistic scenario is that <\/a>we start seeing failures here and there.\u00a0 It\u2019s like having a car, but no one to repair it.\u00a0 It will run for a while, before things start failing and breaking.<\/p>\nThe latest that we\u2019ve heard is that Musk sent out an email on Friday morning (PST),<\/a> saying\u00a0 \u201cAnyone who can actually write software, please report to the 10th floor at 2pm today. Before doing so, please email me a bullet point summary of what your code commits have achieved in the past 6 months\u201d. <\/em>This was followed up <\/a>by another enail, encouraging staff to fly to San Francisco.<\/p>\nJournalist Zoe Schiffer who broke the news, remarked<\/a>, \u201cI am having a difficult time believing this is real and I am looking at the emails.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nThe key thing to look out for is the World Cup<\/a>, which starts on Sunday. This will be one of the most active days on Twitter, will anything go wrong?\u00a0 Almost certainly there will be minimal to no content moderation due to the lack of staff.\u00a0 The traffic Twitter will get will also apparently \u201ctest every system.\u201d\u00a0 <\/a>Who will be there to fix things?<\/p>\nThe blue tick fiasco \u2013 a lesson for airlines<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simpliflying.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/3fecc3aa71784a586807980c95019ac2.png\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simpliflying.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/3fecc3aa71784a586807980c95019ac2.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSoon after taking over, Musk decided to revamp the blue tick verification system, saying that this created a \u2018lords and peasants\u2019 type regime. Instead he wanted this replaced by an $8 monthly subscription charge, basically an extension of the existing Twitter blue system.\u00a0 Of course, verification is important to airline customer services departments as the consumer knows they are talking to a real brand.<\/p>\n
Following that, there were reports that fake airline accounts were being set up, asking passengers to DM their booking information. This is a recipe for fraud and could very much hurt airline brand reputations.\u00a0 Musk has temporarily withdrawn his $8 plan, with a view to relauncing it later, but the damage was done.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also worth noting that a fake, but \u2018verified\u2019 Eli Lilly account tweeted out that insulin would now be free. Shortly afterwards the stock price<\/a> of the pharmaceutical giant dropped.\u00a0 As a result, the potential for\u00a0harm to your reputation is high, with possible financial consequences.<\/p>\nIn the New York Times, the recently departed head of safety Yoel Roth questioned whether<\/a> Musk\u2019s plan even involved keeping brands happy \u2013\u201cHis ability to make decisions unilaterally about the site\u2019s future is constrained by a marketing industry he neither controls nor has managed to win over.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nWhat should you be doing?\u00a0 Five steps for aviation brands to take<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simpliflying.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ravi-sharma-rnw1tavzqm8-unsplash.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simpliflying.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ravi-sharma-rnw1tavzqm8-unsplash.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
With all this in mind, this is what we think aviation brands should now be doing:<\/p>\n
1 \u2013 If you haven\u2019t already done so, pause all Twitter advertising<\/h4>\n
As it is\u00a0questionable whether very much of the moderation team is left, your promoted tweet could be running under inflamatory content.\u00a0 With all the changes and disruption that has been going on, we recommend for now diverting your online spend to other networks<\/p>\n
2 \u2013 Keep your Twitter feeds going, but pin a safety tweet to your feed<\/h4>\n
People are still tuning in, in fact Musk claims that user numbers are higher than ever <\/a>(which could be that people are attracted by the controversy and spectacle).\u00a0 However, it would be wise to pin a tweet to the top of your feed about safety \u2013 for example, about how you will never ask for personal credit card details, and that customers should be wary of fake accounts that do.\u00a0 We would also recommend requesting your complete Twitter archive<\/a><\/p>\n3 \u2013 Make sure your other social networks are active<\/h4>\n
Make passengers aware of Facebook and other social networks as an alternative to Twitter for service announcements and customer services queries.\u00a0 Do you have WhatsApp enabled as a customer services channel?\u00a0 Now would be a good time to do so if not<\/p>\n
4 \u2013 Monitor Twitter alternatives<\/h4>\n
Some users are migrating to Mastodon, which looks and feels a little bit like Twitter.\u00a0 However, we agree with the assesment<\/a> that Mastodon is not really user friendly enough to appeal to the mass of non tech users.\u00a0 But, you should register your domain here if you\u2019ve not already done so, in case it does take off.<\/p>\nThere also appear to be other networks on the horizon, one in beta is \u201cPost.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 It\u2019s worth monitoring them to see if these develop and become popular.<\/p>\n5 \u2013 Adopt a cautious wait and see approach<\/h4>\n
Twitter has been an invaluable tool for airports and airlines over the past decade.\u00a0 Though things don\u2019t look too good for the social network right now, we don\u2019t know what the landscape will be like in the next month or even week.\u00a0 Musk has talked about bringing in a new CEO<\/a>, s\/he might right the ship.\u00a0 Or, he may even get bored of it and sell it on at a loss.\u00a0 Or perhaps Musk\u2019s plan will actually work. But for now, follow the other steps we\u2019ve suggested<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nSoon after taking over, Elon Musk let around 50% of Twitter staff go.\u00a0 Some departments saw huge cuts, for example the communications team was cut from 80+<\/a> right down to two people.\u00a0 This matters, Twitter is <\/a>as much a communications business with a lot of PR-related content issues worldwide as it is a technology business.<\/p>\n As a result, Twitter will no longer be able to effectively reply to media queries.\u00a0 As an aside, this\u00a0mirrors Musk\u2019s approach at Tesla<\/a>, which also has no PR department and generally does not respond to press queries.<\/p>\n Following that, there were a series of high profile resignations<\/a>, including Twitter head of safety Yoel Roth, along with\u00a0chief privacy officer Damien Kieran and chief compliance officer Marianne Fogarty.<\/p>\n Musk then sent an email to all remaining staff, telling them to commit to \u201chardcore\u201d work by 5pm PST on Thursday 17 November, or take three months severance pay.\u00a0 It appears most chose the latter route,<\/a> and many staff who did agree, were ones on work visas, who are of course tied to their employer.\u00a0 Following that, Twitter closed its offices for the day<\/a>.<\/p>\n That inevitably led to a lot of speculation that the network, now missing most of its staff including in critical areas,<\/a> might go down.\u00a0 This comes as the New York Times<\/a> reported tonight that some core teams are down to zero.<\/p>\n We agree with commentators who say that\u2019s unlikely, and that a more realistic scenario is that <\/a>we start seeing failures here and there.\u00a0 It\u2019s like having a car, but no one to repair it.\u00a0 It will run for a while, before things start failing and breaking.<\/p>\n The latest that we\u2019ve heard is that Musk sent out an email on Friday morning (PST),<\/a> saying\u00a0 \u201cAnyone who can actually write software, please report to the 10th floor at 2pm today. Before doing so, please email me a bullet point summary of what your code commits have achieved in the past 6 months\u201d. <\/em>This was followed up <\/a>by another enail, encouraging staff to fly to San Francisco.<\/p>\n Journalist Zoe Schiffer who broke the news, remarked<\/a>, \u201cI am having a difficult time believing this is real and I am looking at the emails.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The key thing to look out for is the World Cup<\/a>, which starts on Sunday. This will be one of the most active days on Twitter, will anything go wrong?\u00a0 Almost certainly there will be minimal to no content moderation due to the lack of staff.\u00a0 The traffic Twitter will get will also apparently \u201ctest every system.\u201d\u00a0 <\/a>Who will be there to fix things?<\/p>\n Soon after taking over, Musk decided to revamp the blue tick verification system, saying that this created a \u2018lords and peasants\u2019 type regime. Instead he wanted this replaced by an $8 monthly subscription charge, basically an extension of the existing Twitter blue system.\u00a0 Of course, verification is important to airline customer services departments as the consumer knows they are talking to a real brand.<\/p>\n Following that, there were reports that fake airline accounts were being set up, asking passengers to DM their booking information. This is a recipe for fraud and could very much hurt airline brand reputations.\u00a0 Musk has temporarily withdrawn his $8 plan, with a view to relauncing it later, but the damage was done.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth noting that a fake, but \u2018verified\u2019 Eli Lilly account tweeted out that insulin would now be free. Shortly afterwards the stock price<\/a> of the pharmaceutical giant dropped.\u00a0 As a result, the potential for\u00a0harm to your reputation is high, with possible financial consequences.<\/p>\n In the New York Times, the recently departed head of safety Yoel Roth questioned whether<\/a> Musk\u2019s plan even involved keeping brands happy \u2013\u201cHis ability to make decisions unilaterally about the site\u2019s future is constrained by a marketing industry he neither controls nor has managed to win over.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n With all this in mind, this is what we think aviation brands should now be doing:<\/p>\n As it is\u00a0questionable whether very much of the moderation team is left, your promoted tweet could be running under inflamatory content.\u00a0 With all the changes and disruption that has been going on, we recommend for now diverting your online spend to other networks<\/p>\n People are still tuning in, in fact Musk claims that user numbers are higher than ever <\/a>(which could be that people are attracted by the controversy and spectacle).\u00a0 However, it would be wise to pin a tweet to the top of your feed about safety \u2013 for example, about how you will never ask for personal credit card details, and that customers should be wary of fake accounts that do.\u00a0 We would also recommend requesting your complete Twitter archive<\/a><\/p>\n Make passengers aware of Facebook and other social networks as an alternative to Twitter for service announcements and customer services queries.\u00a0 Do you have WhatsApp enabled as a customer services channel?\u00a0 Now would be a good time to do so if not<\/p>\n Some users are migrating to Mastodon, which looks and feels a little bit like Twitter.\u00a0 However, we agree with the assesment<\/a> that Mastodon is not really user friendly enough to appeal to the mass of non tech users.\u00a0 But, you should register your domain here if you\u2019ve not already done so, in case it does take off.<\/p>\n There also appear to be other networks on the horizon, one in beta is \u201cPost.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 It\u2019s worth monitoring them to see if these develop and become popular.<\/p>\n Twitter has been an invaluable tool for airports and airlines over the past decade.\u00a0 Though things don\u2019t look too good for the social network right now, we don\u2019t know what the landscape will be like in the next month or even week.\u00a0 Musk has talked about bringing in a new CEO<\/a>, s\/he might right the ship.\u00a0 Or, he may even get bored of it and sell it on at a loss.\u00a0 Or perhaps Musk\u2019s plan will actually work. But for now, follow the other steps we\u2019ve suggested<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/p>\nThe blue tick fiasco \u2013 a lesson for airlines<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat should you be doing?\u00a0 Five steps for aviation brands to take<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n1 \u2013 If you haven\u2019t already done so, pause all Twitter advertising<\/h4>\n
2 \u2013 Keep your Twitter feeds going, but pin a safety tweet to your feed<\/h4>\n
3 \u2013 Make sure your other social networks are active<\/h4>\n
4 \u2013 Monitor Twitter alternatives<\/h4>\n
5 \u2013 Adopt a cautious wait and see approach<\/h4>\n