The Notebook: Victoria Scholar on Muskisms, Barbie and why there’s light at the end of the rate-rising tunnel August 3, 2023 Where the City’s movers and shakers get a few things off their chest. Today, it’s Victoria Scholar of Interactive Investor Little relief from interest rates yet, but there is light at the end of the tunnel The Bank of England is forecast to raise interest rates for the 14th time in a row today, lifting [...]
The X-Phile: What does the Twitter transformation say about Elon Musk? August 2, 2023 Where to even begin? Over the last week Elon Musk changed the name of his $44bn toy from Twitter to, simply, “X”. In doing so he unleashed yet another torrent of confusion and indignation, something the eccentric billionaire must surely be somehow feeding upon, vampire-like, such is the frequency with which he invites it. But [...]
Musk’s mad superapp-etite: Why his ‘everything app’ might miss the mark July 26, 2023 Another week, another Elon Musk melodrama. In yet another episode of his theatrics, the tech-obsessed billionaire unveiled his latest surprise this week: a dramatic overhaul of Twitter and rebrand of it as ‘X’. Musk said the name ‘Twitter’ “does not make sense” after the original short-messaging ethos with a 140 character limit having been scrapped [...]
Elon Musk bids adieu to the Twitter bird as social media giant rebrands to ‘X’ July 24, 2023 Twitter owner Elon Musk revealed the social media giant will bid farewell to its famous blue bird, as a new “X” logo was unveiled this week, in a bid to transform it into an “everything app”. The billionaire Tesla boss announced the revamp, tweeting his desire to “bid adieu” to the Twitter brand and, gradually, [...]
Musk vs Zuckerberg row rumbles on as Twitter threatens to sue Meta over Threads July 7, 2023 Twitter has threatened to sue Meta over its fast-growing rival Threads app, alleging that it stole trade secrets. The Instagram and Facebook owner, which launched Threads on Wednesday, appeared to deny that former Twitter employees worked on the creation of the app and used insider knowledge. Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said more than 30 [...]
Threads: Five million join new Meta app in matter of hours July 6, 2023 A new app billed as a rival to Twitter has seen more than five million people sign up in its first few hours. Threads, created by Facebook and Instagram owners Meta, went live in the UK at midnight on Thursday. Linked to Instagram, it allows users to post up to 500 characters of text and [...]
Facebook vs Twitter: Meta launches rival as Musk locks Tweetdeck July 4, 2023 Facebook owner Meta is launching a new app to rival Twitter this week. Threads, which will be linked to Instagram, is available for pre-order in the Apple App Store and will go live on Thursday. It is described as a “text-based conversation app… where communities come together”. The new app is the latest chapter in [...]
Twitter explainer: What are rate limits and why are they causing advertising headaches July 4, 2023 Twitter advertising troubles may have gone from bad to worse after Elon Musk has put his foot in it again – this time by restricting users’ viewing limits over data concerns. On Saturday, the billionaire ex-CEO of Twitter imposed a temporary ‘rate limit’ on all users, effectively capping the number of Tweets that accounts can [...]
Musk vs Zuck: Twitter and Facebook bosses agree to a… cage fight June 22, 2023 Twitter CEO Elon Musk and Facebook owner Meta’s boss Mark Zuckerberg appear to have agreed to a cage fight. The social media billionaires will scrap it out after Musk, who also owns Tesla, said he was “up for a cage fight” with his tech giant rival. Zuckerberg posted a story on Instagram this morning, showing [...]
Twitter may be worth a third of what Musk paid for it last year, figures show June 1, 2023 Twitter may now be worth one third of what Elon Musk paid for the social media platform just seven months ago, figures show. Financial services company Fidelity has reduced the market value of its equity stake in Twitter for a third time, now putting it at $6.55m (£5.28m). That is down from the nearly $20m [...]