If you are on LinkedIn or involved with tech news, you’ve probably seen that Meta is laying off 11,000 employees, about 13%, and Twitter’s takeover by Elon Musk has resulted in 3,700 layoffs from Twitter, almost 50% of Twitter’s workforce. Beyond social media, Stripe removed 1,100 people, 14% of their workforce, and Lyft cut about 700 people, 13% of people in their workforce. Also, Salesforce has confirmed laying off hundreds of employees as well.
What Will These Mass Layoffs Within The Tech Industry Result In?
There are a variety of things these layoffs predict and indicate. There are some positive and negative results. This is an indicator of the future economy, this is an indicator of potential startups, there is potential for new social media to spring from this layoff or new software and technology. Lastly, this can be an indicator of Twitter and Meta either having a rebirth or the start of them fading into the background of social media giants.
Social Media Layoffs Can Indicate 2023’s Economy
A lot of articles written by people smarter than me indicate this is directly tied to the unruly and choppy economy we are seeing. It is framed as these being proactive layoffs to keep the tech companies growing. Reading about Lyft and Stripe, it seems like this was not a proactive action; this was a last minute dropping of weight off the ship to stay afloat.
When the economy starts to tank, the first place people start to make budget cuts are in entertainment. The first place businesses start to cut budgets is in marketing, and ad spending, which is typically a large amount of income for tech companies and undoubtedly for social media.
Social Media & Tech Layoffs Can Result In New Tech Companies & Social Media Companies
With so many ex-coworkers that have worked in the tech industry and have insider information they can use as well as a small market of jobs they can quickly jump to, we can expect developers, marketers, and social media gurus to work together to create even more social media, software companies, and tech start-ups.
For social media, I expect us to eventually reach a point where there are a few social media giants like we have presently, with a plethora of niche-based social media. These social media platforms will be localized, industry-based, hobby-based, and more.
I also expect a large number of marketing companies to erupt from the social media layoffs. Larger tech companies might develop past Facebook or Twitter employees into their workforce. Additionally, I expect a lot of these social media experts to start their own social media marketing companies.
Social Media Layoffs Start A New Chapter For Facebook & Twitter
The most significant and most apparent impacts these layoffs will have are on the companies that performed the layoffs. It can either result in rebirth or a slow, painful death. Below are my personal opinions:
Twitter: Rebirth Or Slow Death?
For Twitter, I think it is more likely they will succeed than die. But only a little bit more likely. I’d say 60% likelihood of a rebirth and a 40% chance of a slow death.
Reasons Twitter could be entering a rebirth:
- Elon Musk’s bank account.
- Elon Musk’s big brain (No matter if you like or dislike him, he’s got a big brain).
- Twitter employees were fired because of internal changes, not because their business investments and operation were unsustainable.
Reasons Twitter could enter into a slow death:
- Negative public perception.
- They do not produce something that is useful, unique, user-friendly, or practical.
Let us know your thoughts!
Meta (Facebook & Instagram): Rebirth Or Slow Death?
I believe Meta has a likelihood of slowly dying. I believe Facebook and Instagram are with us to stay, but we can expect them to dissolve, for one to be sold off to keep the other alive, something of that nature. I would say the chances of this are the inverse of Twitter. 60% chance Meta has entered into a slow death, 40% it will find a rebirth.
Reasons Meta could have a rebirth:
- They are far from being at the end of their rope financially and are still widely used.
- Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp are able to work in unison, targeting different age groups.
- It takes a lot for a giant to fall.
- Hopefully, they will learn from their mistakes.
Reasons Meta could enter a slow death:
- While they have made a variety of changes over the past 10 years, they do not seem to be received well. It feels like a lot of their updates are only completed halfway.
- WhatsApp lost a lot of users internationally when it was purchased by Facebook.
- Mark Zuckerberg.
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