The year Twitter died: a special series from The Verge

Twitter was so many things. Elon Musk killed Twitter. First, he did it figuratively: firing most employees, destabilizing it as a technology and a business, leaving the platform virtually unusable for those who remained. Then, he killed it literally:...

The year Twitter died: a special series from The Verge

Twitter was so many things.

Elon Musk killed Twitter. First, he did it figuratively: firing most employees, destabilizing it as a technology and a business, leaving the platform virtually unusable for those who remained. Then, he killed it literally: renaming it X, giving Twitter a final ending after 15 years of chaotic existence. 

But in death, there is understanding — now that it’s over, we can reckon with what Twitter really was: a news cycle accelerator, a tool of mass harassment, an idealistic money-losing workplace, and an infinite joke machine.

2023 will go down as…

THE YEAR TWITTER DIED

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Editors Kevin Nguyen and Sarah Jeong

Senior creative director William Joel

Art direction and design Studio Elana Schlenker

Illustrators James Kerr, Erik Carter, Charles Desmarais, and Rui Pu

Engineer Graham MacAree

Editorial operations Kara Verlaney

Engagement editor Esther Cohen

Copy editors Liz Hickson and Adia Watts

Sound design Andrew Marino

Creative director Kristen Radtke

Fact-checker Becca Laurie

Editor-in-chief Nilay Patel

Publisher Helen Havlak