Following years of controversy, excitement and anticipation, the Qatar World Cup is within touching distance, a mere day away to be precise.
From tomorrow on, it’s all eyes on the Gulf Nation, beginning with the hosts taking on Ecuador at the Albayt Stadium.
Briefing you on the popularity of the World’s biggest sporting event is pretty redundant, and the opener is usually one of the most watched games of the entire tournament.
So you can imagine that the traffic on social media sites tomorrow, and for the month overall, is going to be immense, with a majority of it being Football-centric.
This represents a strenuous, albeit lucrative opportunity for these platforms, as the sheer amount of traffic can easily tank the sites, while the increase in activity will likely lead to more revenue.
Out of all platforms, Twitter in particular is all set to face a majority of the heat, especially since it is the unofficial forum of Football – related discussions.
Unfortunately, the World Cup comes at an unseemly time for the ‘Bird app’, as a massive upheaval is currently underway at the company, led by its new owner Elon Musk.
The transition of ownership has been far from smooth, and according to reliable outlets, Twitter is in one big blue mess.
It all started with Musk culling his workforce, and as many as 50% of the company’s employees were shown the exit door.
The dye didn’t stop there, as yesterday saw a mass-exodus from the remaining employees, on account of Musk sending a ‘hardcore’ email about forthcoming changes to the office culture.
Critical members of important departments reportedly resigned in protest of the changes, and many employees were even locked out of the office buildings without being provided with a reason.
As the startling information was disseminated to every corner of the world, ironically through Twitter, users were left in a state of panic and #RIPTwitter trended as No.1 throughout the day.
Naturally, Football Twitter was also panic-stricken as everything unfolded, and many questioned the site’s capability to survive through the day, let alone host the thoughts of millions when the World Cup kicked off.
Musk himself refuted the notion as it caught traction online, showing belief in his ramshackle platform he said, ‘ First World Cup match on Sunday! Watch on Twitter for best coverage and real-time commentary.’
Being the owner, such a statement is expected from Musk, and only time will if Twitter is able to withstand the World Cup fever.