• Elon Musk became the owner of Twitter on Oct. 27, paying $44 billion for the social network.
  • Many Twitter employees were fired on Friday, part of Musk’s plan to shrink its workforce by at least half.
  • While Musk worries about Twitter revenue, many users are concerned about its online culture and consider leaving the platform.

Twitter just finished its first full week with new owner Elon Musk at the helm. How are things going? Well, the social network is in turmoil.

As Musk laid off an estimated half of Twitter’s staff, he also acknowledged that advertisers are fleeing the platform.

And the first signs arrived that the social media site’s iconic verification system is set to turn into a subscription service: an update to Twitter’s iOS app mentions a Twitter Blue $7.99 offering that includes the blue checkmark and will soon have “half the ads & much better ones,” as well as the ability to post longer videos.

An Android update is in the works, Musk said Saturday, replying to users on Twitter. He also said it would be a “couple months” until current verified users with blue checkmarks lost their verification status.

Twitter users should expect big changes to the site as Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, attempts to boost revenue. 

“Trash me all day, but it’ll cost $8,” Musk tweeted Friday, in reference to his plan to turn verification into a paid service.

Musk’s Twitter bio Saturday read “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator” and his location as “Hell.”

Here’s what to know about Twitter’s chaotic week:

How did Elon Musk wind up buying Twitter?

Back in April, the world’s richest man offered to buy the social media company for $43 billion. Musk said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission at the time: “Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company. … Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”

He tried to back out of the deal and Twitter sued him in July to force the completion of the acquisition. 

Eventually, Musk offered to buy Twitter at the original price of $54.20 a share.

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Mass Twitter layoffs happened fast

Layoffs were expected upon Musk’s takeover at Twitter. On Thursday, employees got an email saying the company planned Friday to start job cuts.

About half the company’s staff was cut, prompting a lawsuit from some employees. 

Musk tweeted there was “no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day.”