“Your role is no longer needed”

At 5:21 p.m. Pacific time on November 3 2022, dozens of Twitter employees were hanging out at The Lodge, a pair of real Montana hunting cabins that Twitter’s architects had purchased off Craigslist and installed in the office. Then all their phones started going off.

“By 9AM PST tomorrow, everyone will receive an individual email with the subject line: Your Role at Twitter,” the email read. “To help ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data, our offices will be temporarily closed and all badge access will be suspended.” The memo was signed, simply, “Twitter.”

After months of uncertainty, many employees were relieved to know the end was in sight. Across the globe, tweeps converged on the #social watercooler Slack channel to say goodbye. Hundreds posted the salute emoji and a blue heart, the unofficial symbols of Twitter 1.0.

“Your Role at Twitter”

Brian Waismeyer, a data scientist on the health team, posted a final message to Twitter’s leadership. 

“I think you could have done better than a vacuum followed by an email signed from “Twitter”, he wrote on Slack.

Waismeyer was laid off at 12:34 a.m. Pacific time.