Prolific writer Stephen King is once again dragging Elon Musk for his disastrous management of Twitter, which has already pushed the platform into chaos in just under two weeks. On Thursday morning, King fired off his blunt thoughts about Twitter, and that was before the site turned into a brand-impersonating free-for-all thanks to Musk’s controversial new method of providing blue checks to anyone who bought an $8 subscription to Twitter Blue.
“I think I liked Twitter better in the pre-Musk days,” King wrote. “Less controversy, more fun.”
I think I liked Twitter better in the pre-Musk days. Less controversy, more fun.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) November 10, 2022
Despite the simplicity of his tweet, King became a trending topic on the platform that has largely turned on Musk. As of this writing, King’s missive has racked up just shy of 300,000 Likes as his replies filled with users agreeing that the Tesla owner has ruined the platform.
It didn’t help that Thursday included several humiliating moments for Musk. As several key executives abruptly quit the company after attempting to convince advertisers that their brands are safe, Musk told employees that bankruptcy is on the table, according to Reuters. But that wasn’t even the bad part.
As the day went on, several accounts now armed with easily obtained blue checks began impersonating major brands and firing off highly damaging tweets that emphasized how Musk’s approach to verified accounts is rife for abuse. Brand safety it is not. As of Friday morning, CNBC reports that Twitter Blue is no longer available as the company scrambles to retool its check mark system.
Of course, all of this could’ve been avoided had Musk listened to Stephen King from the start. The author warned Twitter’s new owner about messing with the verification process, and here we are.
(Via Stephen King on Twitter)