Elon Musk tweeted this weekend that he “to think seriously” to build his own social media platform.
“Given that Twitter serves as a de facto public marketplace, failure to uphold the principles of free speech fundamentally undermines democracy,” said the billionaire serial entrepreneur who is CEO of Tesla and Space X tweeted. “What is to be done?”
If your blood pressure has skyrocketed reading these tweets, you are not alone. But let’s take a deep breath. We probably won’t be seeing an app called DogeSociælX any time soon.
Musk has a history of tweeting absurd memes, thoughts, and even material information about Tesla, then feigning shock when US regulators respond with more than a raised eyebrow. However, when it comes to Musk actually executing his crazy Twitter ideas, his track record isn’t great.
This isn’t the first time Musk has publicly fantasized about his dreams of being the next Jack Dorsey (although he might be getting closer by a twitch?).
After journalists criticized Musk for his questionable Tesla management decisions in 2018, he said praised to launch a website called Pravda, the Russian word for “truth,” which is also the name of a historic Russian communist newspaper. Musk’s website would allow the public to rate journalists, editors, and media outlets on their “core truth” and “credibility.” Fortunately, that idea didn’t materialize, but as all journalists know, Twitter already works very well as a vehicle to let you know when others disagree.
Musk’s sudden deep and genuine concern about the fairness of Twitter “as the city’s de facto place” is just like his concern about media accuracy/objectivity in 2018: a deeply hypocritical ploy to make his (and his followers) absurd support fantasy of pursuit. https://t.co/cZIicOVTZb
— EW Niedermeyer (@Tweetermeyer) March 27, 2022
Traditionally, when Musk’s Twitter-backed ideas get off the ground, they’re far from becoming the next SpaceX.
Also in 2018 — a big year for his antics — Musk announced his “new intergalactic media empire‘, a comedy company called Thud (punctuated with an optional exclamation point). After Elon Musk was tapped to host SNL last year, I embarked on a Sisyphean journalism task: I contacted all 13 former employees of Thud, Musk’s forgotten foray into comedy media.
No one was willing to speak to me on file. Driven by former editors of The Onion, Thud flopped and then became a conversation starter on a resume (former Theranos employees can relate to this). It’s no wonder these writers and designers didn’t want to revisit Thud, which now describes its minimalist site as “ephemeral” and “appropriately named.”
Musk initially poured $2 million into Thud, but he abruptly left the company, leaving the editors with no plan to monetize the project.
“A quick transition from a billionaire-backed project to an independent media company is… you know,” editor Cole Bolton told The Verge at the time.
Given his history of making outlandish statements online for fun, there’s no need to panic about Musk’s sudden interest in building a social media empire (it’s not even intergalactic!). And even if there’s a big name behind a new platform, there’s no guarantee it’ll take off. Donald Trump’s own new app, Truth Social, may feel poised to become a mainstream 4chan, but weeks after launch, we’re still on the waitlist at number 976,985. And once you’re let in, the party doesn’t seem too exciting (unless you’re into “hot chicks golfing“).
Even if Musk were to develop his own social media platform, he wouldn’t have the reach he has on Twitter. He has 79.4 million followers, putting him firmly in the site’s top 10 most-followed users, behind only the likes of Barack Obama and Justin Bieber. But unlike Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, Musk uses his following to tease Hitler and to compare Twitter’s new CEO Parag Agrawal to Joseph Stalin. As Musk complains about not being able to speak freely, these offensive tweets have not been removed from the platform; He deleted his Hitler meme himself, and the excavation of Agrawal is ongoing.
This is not a free speech issue; It’s just Musk’s aversion to any form of regulation. It’s doubtful that Musk’s nearly 80 million followers would migrate to his theoretical new platform, but even if they did, the SEC could still hold Musk accountable for any inside information he shares.
Musk’s most powerful tool has always been Twitter, and like Trump, he seems to gain nothing by trying to start a new company that the SEC would still be monitoring anyway.
That’s not to say we shouldn’t worry about the threat posed by egomaniacal rulers rich enough to make their fever dreams come true.
After all, Musk seems to be slightly better at business than Trump. But sometimes, Musk’s outbursts on Twitter do nothing more than create polarizing, charged dialogue, and we forget that while Musk’s tweets can move markets, sometimes they just drop with a thump.