Twitter: Breaking the Bird - CNN

Stembolt

March 9, 2025

Four episodes.

Twitter: Breaking the Bird features new interviews with co-founder and former CEO Ev Williams and co-founder Biz Stone, who share their personal experiences of how a group of idealistic friends set out to build a digital utopia, and how that vision morphed into the platform now owned by Elon Musk. Featuring additional insight from numerous Twitter employees from the rank and file to the C-suite, and analysis from journalists like Kara Swisher who have been covering the company since day one, Twitter: Breaking the Bird is the definitive tale of the corporate clashes, revolving door leadership and tech bro hubris hidden behind the scenes at this once-trailblazing company.

RayGeode

That’s nice. I’m all over CNN website and still can’t find the link.

broknsymetry

RayGeode That’s nice. I’m all over CNN website and still can’t find the link.

It is a CNN special airing live on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. EDT. I believe you have to watch it then. It is also available by alternative means.

broknsymetry

Perfect timing…

X is down again – Elon Musk confirms ‘massive cyberattack’ as former Twitter site hit by fourth outage today

Stembolt

broknsymetry Perfect timing…

Cyber Attack related it looks like.

Stembolt

Twitter: Breaking the Bird will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps on Sunday, March 9. It will also be available on demand beginning Monday, March 10 to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps, and Cable Operator Platforms.

https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/02/13/new-cnn-original-series-reveals-insider-story-of-twitter-breaking-the-bird/

Andyross

Maybe it should have been named “Flipping The Bird” given how Musk treated it’s employees.

Stembolt

Andyross Maybe it should have been named “Flipping The Bird” given how Musk treated it’s employees.

I recall Musk fired about 80% of the employees and Twitter kept running. What exactly were all those people doing all day at work?

InternetJeff

Stembolt I recall Musk fired about 80% of the employees and Twitter kept running. What exactly were all those people doing all day at work?

Good question.

Rook

Stembolt I recall Musk fired about 80% of the employees and Twitter kept running. What exactly were all those people doing all day at work?

A lot of the “Trust and Safety” people were fired. I guess he wanted to make the site more friendly to the hateful and the ignorant. Mission Accomplished.

urbanriot

Stembolt

I recall Musk fired about 80% of the employees and Twitter kept running. What exactly were all those people doing all day at work?

There’s a couple videos on YouTube where Twitter employees were flaunting how great they had it at work, how they filled their days with on-campus social events with friends they worked with, napping in pods, having ‘fun’ meetings, going to the gym, going to yoga, etc.. One of those videos was linked in here.

I remember when I saw these videos pre-Musk and was wondering how on earth a company could afford to offer all of this to people who seemed to be putting in about 2 hours of work around idle life experiences at a work site, foolishly believing the company was doing so well financially they could afford all these lavish benefits and idle employees.

… as we later learned, they couldn’t.

Considering CNN’s track record with their version of the ‘news’ I’m skeptical of the coverage but at the same time I’m curious. Anyone watch it yet?

broknsymetry

First episode is boring. It goes from the startup, to the explosive growth, the beginnings of moderation then the removal of Jack Dorsey as CEO.

Stembolt

Rook A lot of the “Trust and Safety” people were fired. I guess he wanted to make the site more friendly to the hateful and the ignorant. Mission Accomplished.

That wouldn’t account anywhere near 80%. There was a lot of censoring and suppression of speech and thought going on at Twitter before Musk bought it. Especially during Covid. Shadow bans, ect. The vast majority of it was going in one direction. I’m not talking about hate speech but opposing political opinions and views. Policy positions and criticism of the Administration. The FBI had setup shop inside Twitter. They had agents assigned work there.

Rook

CNN also did a pretty good original series on the Space Shuttle Columbia last year.
https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2024/03/07/cnn-surveys-space-shuttle-columbia-the-final-flight-in-new-cnn-original-series/

Rook

Stembolt That wouldn’t account anywhere near 80%.

I didn’t say that it would, only that that division saw cuts.

Stembolt The vast majority of it was going in one direction.

The vast majority of the misinformation was coming from one sector, so it makes sense that that sector would see the most consequences. Playing the victim afterwards doesn’t change anything.
Social media users’ actions, rather than biased policies, could drive differences in platform enforcement

In any case, Twitter seems to have become a shittier place since everybody was fired, but maybe that’s just a rather large coincidence? : https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/x-twitter-elon-musk-nazi-extremist-white-nationalist-accounts-rcna145020

Stembolt

Rook The vast majority of the misinformation was coming from one sector, so it makes sense that that sector would see the most consequences. Playing the victim afterwards doesn’t change anything.

A good portion of the misinformation turned out to be…not. Fauci (I am the science) admitted some of the stuff they put out there had no real medical backing. That 6 feet social distancing he pulled out of his ass. When other doctors and scientist started pointing out that some of the policies didn’t have sound medical backing, they were Shadow Band and suppressed. Simply questioning Fauci’s policies was considered misinformation.

The Covid stuff was just a small part of the censoring and suppression of speech and thought. Twitter was weaponized against one political party. The Administration had a pipeline into Twitter via the FBI that was stationed there. Criticism against the Administration and one particular political party was suppressed. Like an infamous laptop computer for example.

Rook

I have to admit, half of what you posted repeats the nonsense talking points that have been spread by a particular group since the pandemic. Like the study said, one group broke the rules more than others, and faced more consequences. Now you are repeating some of that same misinformation.

Stembolt The Administration had a pipeline into Twitter via the FBI that was stationed there.

See?

Anyway, Covid-19 was a novel disease. No one knew exactly what would work and what would not. They all were going by what worked with other similar diseases. Pointing out that scientists could be mistaken before they have more information and their ideas evolve is like pointing out that “water is wet.”

Stembolt

Rook See?

Zuckerberg recently stated publicly he was repeatedly put under great pressure by the Administration to censor content that was critical of them. He said he regretted caving in.

So, why was the FBI stationed inside Twitter? A commercial business. The FBI had a presence in Twitter.

I’m not repeating misinformation. Many Doctors and Scientists who publicly questioned some the Covid policies were censored or suppressed. The Doctors have publicly spoken about their experiences.

What about the suppression of the laptop? The laptop was proven to be real. The owner eventually admitted it was his.

Look, we are never going to agree. Have a good night.

Rook

Stembolt Zuckerberg recently stated publicly he was repeatedly put under great pressure…

Flagging inaccurate posts is not the same as censorship. Zuck had the option to listen to them or not, and in some cases he didn’t.
It’s not like they threatened to put him in prison for life or anything. I forget who did exactly that…

Stembolt So, why was the FBI stationed inside Twitter?

I guess you can’t see. Can you site a reference for the FBI being stationed inside Twitter?

Stembolt I’m not repeating misinformation.

You are, and you don’t seem to know it.

RayGeode

I don’t have a problem with picking 6 ft number out of the air. Infectious disease demands distance. Some adult had to step up and take charge. Someone in that administration encouraged close contact by Easter timeframe. Barely 1 month into the pandemic no one had a handle on yet.

When we were children, our parents set out rules for us and we wanted to know why? “Because I said so became the cliche answer”. We were well taken care of the majority of the time, no matter some inconsistencies.

How much can we expect of government? When our lives are interfered with, it’s too much. When we fall victim to bad circumstances, it’s not enough. Go figure