Op-Ed: To tweet or not to tweet, now that Elon’s the boss
While it may seem counterintuitive, it makes perfect sense when you take a step back and think about it. It’s not as if Mark Zuckerberg spent most of his life taking pictures of the future before moving in the present. Or even trying to. Instead, he spent his days talking about the future, then moved back home to Harvard in pursuit of his dreams.
The question, then, is whether we should apply Zuckerberg’s thinking to Elon Musk, the richest person on the planet, who seems to be running around in his pajamas, going on Twitterstorms and Facebooking his way to the top.
The answer is, well, we need to think about it.
Musk, 41, has had a lot on his plate in the past few months, which is why he started Twitter in May as a way to connect with his fans so he can share his perspective about the space, the future and his favorite subject. Musk has kept up with his Twitter activity almost from the start, and you can see what he’s sharing here:
Musk’s tweets have gotten a lot of attention, he’s been interviewed by hundreds of millions of people and he’s even drawn comparisons to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who made a similar effort to create a following early in his career.
It is no surprise that Musk’s first tweet was about the Tesla Model 3, which is up for a major redesign that will be released in 2016, and which the Tesla CEO is already talking up as a vehicle that will redefine the electric car segment.
“Tesla Model 3 is coming and I don’t have high hopes for it. It is ugly, underpowered, slow and expensive. Not fun to drive. It will be a niche market product in my lifetime.” Musk tweeted in June.
It is no surprise to anyone that Musk’s second tweet was about the same product — which has since been updated to include Musk’s criticism of the new version of the car.
“Tesla Model 3 is coming and I don’t have high hopes for it. It is ugly, underpowered, slow and expensive. Not fun to drive. It will be a niche market product in my lifetime,” Musk said.
While these tweets are more of a public relations move than anything else,
