Inside Twitter’s Turmoil: Former Product Manager’s Explosive Revelations on Corporate Culture, Elon Musk, and the Future of ‘X’

Editors‘ Note:

This article was compiled and written by OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus and reviewed by the human editors of Eat News.

Former Twitter Blue product manager, Esther Crawford, who joined Twitter in 2020 following the sale of her startup, has shared an expansive commentary on her experience within the social media company before and after its recent shift in management and direction.

Crawford described Twitter’s previous state as an intricate balance of awe-inspiring talent and exhausting bureaucracy. Often, she claimed, the company’s operations felt siloed and distracted by superficial changes and power plays that were more about ego than advancing the platform. She was surprised to find that the company’s infrastructure was old and bespoke, with a seemingly unanimous acceptance that even small product changes could take months to roll out due to Twitter’s fixation on its mDAU and revenue growth.

Although she was surrounded by immense talent in product, design, engineering, research, and other divisions, Crawford noted that Twitter’s management had become bloated to accommodate career growth. The culture, in her opinion, seemed too entitled, replacing healthy debate and criticism with defensive and territorial responses.

When Twitter’s acquisition deal closed in 2022, many colleagues openly expressed their belief that the company was being sold due to a lack of confidence from its leadership to rectify longstanding issues. Despite having limited knowledge about Elon Musk, the new owner, Crawford remained optimistic, hoping his experience with building companies like Tesla and SpaceX could breathe new life into Twitter.

Crawford confessed that working under Musk brought with it numerous challenges, from his unpredictable mood swings to the lack of a data-driven approach to decision making. She perceived a culture of fear brewing, which was compounded by a management style that lacked process and empathy.

Despite this, Crawford was also appreciative of Musk’s boldness and passion, his drive for speed, and his audacity to make big changes. She remains hopeful that Twitter, under its new ownership, will eventually find a balance that satisfies its wide user base, advertisers, and employees.

Crawford also candidly discussed her viral ‘sleeping bag incident’, where she slept on a conference room floor to meet a project deadline. She stated that this was a reflection of her dedication and willingness to lead by example, not an indication of poor work-life balance.

Reflecting on her departure from Twitter following the company-wide layoff, Crawford stated that the time away has been beneficial for decompressing and that she was grateful for the growth and learning opportunities she had while at the company. She emphasized the need for leadership that combines both the head and heart, warning against the isolation that can occur at the top.

Crawford ended her reflections with an optimistic perspective on the future of consumer social media and expressed her curiosity about what comes next. She remains open to the potential success or failure of the new direction that Twitter is heading under Musk’s leadership.