Twitter supposedly lost around 80% of its work force. What ever the real number is, there are whole teams with out engineers on it now. Yet, the website goes on and the tweets keep coming. This left a lot wondering what exactly was going on with all those engineers and made it seem like it was all just bloat. I’d like to explain my little corner of Twitter (though it wasn’t
An interesting look "behind the curtain" of a high volume social networking platform. Regardless who's in charge, Twitter is an impressive service, thanks in no small part to the brilliant engineers behind the scenes.
Wonderful look at one small corner of an enterprise like Twitter. I don't think anyone believes that EVERYONE at Twitter or the other companies spend their days in Zen rooms and sipping herb tea, or whatever. But it does seem that Twitter demonstrates that there was a LOT of fluff throughout the company that many PEOPLE LIKE YOU made it possible for others to work 10 hours out of a 40-hour week. Wild guess on my part that maybe 15% of the people make it possible for 85% to live those fluff jobs. Thanks again for the insight.
Great piece! Pretty fascinating, even to a layperson. Other than personal computing for 32yrs (post DOS) I know nothing, really, BUT I know what a cache is, what one does, what servers & racks do, and I was astonished I was able to actually understand a lot of this. Even with automation services it’s not a job for today’s average gamer, obviously. I guess it’ll take some time to see if lack of staffing & tech oversight at Twitter (we assume) results in service interruptions or chaos other than in content moderation.
Glad to hear that you were part of the team that really made you work like this, essentially, encouraging you to make an effort and put it to work. In some places (read: companies), the SRE teams are treated just like an unwanted child!
Really interesting inside-out pov. Hard to see how it can continue with engineering hollowed out. Small problems slowly accumulating will be the problem. Engineering is like gardening: you need to do a little often to keep the garden looking good.
The fact that Qatar world cup started while all these changes were pushed and the web holds it talks a lot about your work. Hope you find a better job in the near future, some place where all this would be appreciated.
When everything works fine, they wonder why they hired you. When everything stops working, they wonder why they hired you.
I.T. in a nutshell.
An interesting look "behind the curtain" of a high volume social networking platform. Regardless who's in charge, Twitter is an impressive service, thanks in no small part to the brilliant engineers behind the scenes.
Wonderful look at one small corner of an enterprise like Twitter. I don't think anyone believes that EVERYONE at Twitter or the other companies spend their days in Zen rooms and sipping herb tea, or whatever. But it does seem that Twitter demonstrates that there was a LOT of fluff throughout the company that many PEOPLE LIKE YOU made it possible for others to work 10 hours out of a 40-hour week. Wild guess on my part that maybe 15% of the people make it possible for 85% to live those fluff jobs. Thanks again for the insight.
Jeez, imagine you weren't there and implemented those changes. Twitter would likely be dead by now. Very interesting read, thank you!
Great piece! Pretty fascinating, even to a layperson. Other than personal computing for 32yrs (post DOS) I know nothing, really, BUT I know what a cache is, what one does, what servers & racks do, and I was astonished I was able to actually understand a lot of this. Even with automation services it’s not a job for today’s average gamer, obviously. I guess it’ll take some time to see if lack of staffing & tech oversight at Twitter (we assume) results in service interruptions or chaos other than in content moderation.
AN OLD IT JOKE: You guys start writing the code. Meanwhile, I'll go upstairs and find out what they want...
Great explanation. Thanks.
Glad to hear that you were part of the team that really made you work like this, essentially, encouraging you to make an effort and put it to work. In some places (read: companies), the SRE teams are treated just like an unwanted child!
This is a very interesting article for a Twitter user like me!
how long can twitter keep running smoothly under the current conditions, whatvis your assessment?
Thanks.
Leon Musk would be wise to re engage your services Matthew at a higher rate of pay!
Why don't you send this article to him for a start?
Really interesting inside-out pov. Hard to see how it can continue with engineering hollowed out. Small problems slowly accumulating will be the problem. Engineering is like gardening: you need to do a little often to keep the garden looking good.
Looks like Twitter is running up against the law in other jurisdictions too: https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2022/1125/1338351-twitter-injunction/
Absent 'at will' employment contracts, it's not possible to summarily dismiss employees without due process.
"There was a few before me..."
"Well for now at least, I’m sure there’s some bugs lurking somewhere..."
It seems distinguishing between singular and plural tense is a major bug.
Bring in the robot engineers!!
The fact that Qatar world cup started while all these changes were pushed and the web holds it talks a lot about your work. Hope you find a better job in the near future, some place where all this would be appreciated.
Honestly amazing. I somehow managed to learned more from this article then my entire textbook