update: I work at Twitter … what do I do?

by Alison Green on December 19, 2023

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past.

There will be more posts than usual this week, so keep checking back throughout the day.

Remember the letter-writer who worked at Twitter while it was imploding? The first update was here, and here’s the latest.

I’m very happy to report that I got a new job! After months of applying and not really getting anywhere, I reached out to a career development coach who used to work at Twitter with me and who specializes in folks in my industry. She really helped me with how to prepare for interviews, how to put my best foot forward, and how to not be discouraged/take it personally when I received a rejection. I hadn’t been in the job market for almost 10 years so I was pretty rusty, and working with someone who knew how to highlight my skill set was so helpful.

In July, I got a job offer at a company I fell in love with during the interview process, and I started in August! I now work at a smallish startup (not so small that I feel like we’ll go out of business any day, not so giant that I feel like I have no ability to have an impact) and I’m really loving it so far. The role is a great match for my skills, but also lets me learn about a whole new field. I have a great manager who trusts my judgement and gives me really interesting projects to work on, and a team full of the nicest group of smart and funny nerds – a team dynamic I love.

One of the best parts is that since joining I’ve been able to successfully refer two members of my former team, and it feels really great to be helping my former colleagues move on from Twitter.

I still miss my old team and the Old Twitter — it’s been really hard to see news story after news story reporting on some new and sad development at the company, but as I’m getting more distance from my time there, it does sting a little less (when Twitter was renamed ‘X’ that did provide a good amount of closure for me since it truly felt at that point like Twitter was gone and the new company had nothing to do with it anymore).

I want to thank you for your reply to my initial letter and the kind responses from your readers — I have such a clear memory of writing that with this pit of dread in my stomach because I felt so hopelessly stuck, and it’s quite nice to look back on that and realize how differently I feel now. I’m so appreciative!

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{ 42 comments }

{ 42 comments… read them below }

    1. AnonInCanada*

      Don’t insult elongated muskrats like that! They’re kind, special creatures, unlike (worst boss of 2022 who deserves dishonourable mention in 2023 as well!) :-P

      1. ConstantlyComic*

        That’s fair. I’m sorry, elongated muskrats (but not to the person to whom I was referring, as he deserves exactly 0 apologies)

      2. Grizabella the Glamour Cat*

        LOL @Elongated Muskrat!

        My personal nickname for him is Eloon (lots easier to type), but that is pretty darned funny!

    2. Aggretsuko*

      I’d love to hear the reaction about worst boss and whether or not OP got severance–I assume never, though.

  3. Katie*

    Congrats! I think the name change was good too. As a recovering Twitter addict, I miss it less and less.

    1. Sloanicota*

      I miss the role it used to serve – up to the minute news and way more low-key interaction than other sites. But it hasn’t done that in so long that I guess I’ve moved on. Glad OP has too!

      1. esra*

        Same! I used to check my feed daily for the news and to keep up with friends, but now that it doesn’t really serve those features, it feels like something completely different. I’m glad to hear former Twitter staff are bouncing into something good.

    2. Generic Name*

      Yeah, I deleted my account when Musk took over. I did enjoy the live event coverage (the 2013 flash flood in Colorado unfolded in real time over Twitter) and science Twitter.

    3. stratospherica*

      Same! When it rebranded to X, it kind of flipped a switch in me, and I deleted my account and never looked back. I don’t know if it’s because I just found the name ugly and didn’t want to harm my street cred by being associated with it or what, but it was like a psychological barrier just disappeared overnight.

    4. Britpoptarts*

      I agree. I was very active on Twitter, but migrated to Threads and am happy there. It’s not Twitter, but that’s mostly for the best.

    5. Katara's side braids*

      Yup, I magically got the burst of motivation needed to delete the app when the logo finally changed on my phone.

    6. Elizabeth West*

      I’m mad about it because it made up a large part of my advertising (free) and marketing AND networking, and I was just starting to like it. I’m gonna be salty about it for a while. >:( Still on it as of now. If they try to make me pay, I’m gone.

  4. Raul Pudd*

    Congrats OP!

    I can’t wait for X to just die a painful death once and for all. I’ve already deleted my account.

    1. Rainsomg*

      100% same! I honestly think it might restore my faith in the universe (which is badly battered right now) if Space Karen finally got some sort of comeuppance.

      1. Fishsticks*

        It would be nice to see the Muskrat fail at something badly enough that he can’t buy his way out of it.

  5. Yes And*

    I went to reread the original letter, and this line of Alison’s response was particularly prophetic: “Really, to any question about whether there’s a risk Elon will do X, the answer at this point has to be yes.”

    2. borealis*

      My thought exactly when I re-read it!

      Congratulations, OP, and thanks for sending this update. It’s great to see that you found such a good place to work, after all that craziness.

  6. Richard Hershberger*

    Serious question: Did they pay severance? I have not heard about this in the news, which suggests they did, but it could also mean that journalists got bored with the story.

    1. Procedure Publisher*

      Based on articles from TechDirt and ArsTechnica, X forced employees to arbitration over the severance and X just keeps doing everything to not pay the severance. I think niche journalists are still interested in this issue.

  7. Not A Raccoon Keeper*

    Thanks to OP for this update, as well as for your original letter that provided a look behind the curtain to all of us watching that play out on the news. So glad you ended up in such a great spot (and three cheers for smart and funny nerds!)

  9. Other Alice*

    Rereading the original letter, I’m extremely amused by Alison’s wording:
    “Really, to any question about whether there’s a risk Elon will do X, the answer at this point has to be yes.”
    Musk literally did X…

    OP, congrats on your new job!

  10. WhyAreThereSoManyBadManagers*

    Glad for OP that it worked out. Now is there anyone left at TwiX who can help to permanently get rid of the super spammy never ending torture ads of the 70 yr old grandmother who invented a bra? First it was knockoff Louis Vitton bags, now grandmother bras, thousands of spam accounts flooding timelines all day with the exact same ads. How can that possibly be positive for TwiX business, it may be what pushes me out for good.

    1. Kara*

      Given Musk has pushed so many advertisers away, perhaps the bras are what’s left? At least you’re not getting literal hate-speech ads! Honestly, I’d suggest an adblocker as your best solution. It’s for security purposes as well as annoyance value. With Twitter’s staff being gutted, I’m betting they don’t have the staff to secure the ads they run, which leaves them vulnerable to embedded malware.

  11. Epilogue*

    Good for you and thank you for giving us an update! I think there were a lot of us here that were hoping to hear that things worked out for you.

  15. I miss the birdie logo*

    Commenting as a Japanese, “X” implies not only past relations, but “no”, or “wrong” in Japanese. If top Twitter users were Japanese as I’ve heard, Musk’s decision was thoughtless to say the least.

    Why change anything when so many people loved Twitter? Why self inflict deterioration?

    1. Shanshan310*

      I agree. It shows very little thought for the international user base – especially such a large base like Japan!

      The strangest thing to me (and there are a lot…) is changing “tweet” to “post”. It is so difficult to create a new word that becomes something everyone knows and uses, and in multiple languages! To just throw those efforts away for a generic word is bizarre. It must be so disappointing for former employees.

    2. Fishsticks*

      You know, people made jokes about how he purposefully planned to destroy the platform to “punish” it for forcing him to hold his end of the deal in buying it after he tried to wiggle out of it, and some of the choices he’s made really strike me as seeming like he is purposefully playing jenga trying to find the last block that makes it all collapse at once.

      I don’t actually think he is doing it on purpose any longer, but for a while… yeah, I kind of considered it.

    3. JustaTech*

      Why “X”?
      Because it’s Musk’s favorite letter and he has always wanted to call everything he’s made “X”. (To the point that I’m surprised his kids aren’t all X, XI, XII etc.)
      He’s so self centered that he would never consider any view other than his own – let alone people with a different language.

      I was watching the recent John Oliver piece on Musk last night and Musk himself was saying things about wanting to destroy Twitter.
      He just wants to watch it all burn.

  16. Irish Teacher*

    Really glad to hear you’ve moved on and sorry things ended the way they did for your old company.

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