Why is Elon Musk always on my Twitter feed?

There has been a post circulating on social media describing Elon Musk and his girlfriend, Grimes, as "the Kardashians for people who watch Rick & Morty". One quarter of the Paypal Mafia, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, serial entrepreneur Musk might have reason to feel slighted by this description. The Kardashians are best known for being reality TV stars and social media influencers, a far-cry from Musk's engineering background, so how does this comparison make sense? It is on Twitter where the boundaries are blurred. Elon Musk deliberates on the content of his tweets about as much as Donald Trump, in that it seems neither of them ever even give them a second thought before posting. It only takes a cursory scroll down Musk's personal account to see evidence of this.
    Example 1: Musk tanks Tesla's stock with 7 words. "Tesla stock price is too high imo". One tweet managed to wipe $14bn off Tesla's value. This effect, in any circumstance, is insane to consider, let alone being a direct result of the actions of the CEO. This comes even after Musk's 2018 agreement to have all his future tweets checked by lawyers. If this was enforced, it seems he needs new lawyers. 
    Example 2: The baby name. One aspect of Musk's life that could fit seamlessly into an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians is his relationship with Canadian singer Grimes. Their relationship has often played out key moments on social media but none have captured public attention more than their announcement of their newborn baby's name.


This name just defies all baby-naming logic and tradition. Firstly, how would one even begin to pronounce it? Secondly, how do you explain to a child that their name is an ode to artificial intelligence, a military aircraft and a popular song all at once? I already sympathise for the future teacher of the child, not just for dealing with that name on the register but also, parents evening might be a tough time too. 
    Example 3: Musk and JK Rowling debate Bitcoin online. This is an interaction which is pretty much impossible to happen in any offline setting. A Bitcoin enthusiast describes the honour they would have in explaining bitcoin to Rowling. Rowling, who was tagged in the tweet, then replies asking for an explanation; this reply was probably more intended to please a fan rather than a sincere request. The entire bitcoin community bombards JK Rowling with varyingly accurate descriptions of what Bitcoin actually is and a summary of blockchain currencies in general. This is the point at which Musk enters the virtual room. He replies to Rowling with a suggestion that the "massive currency issuance by govt central banks" is making Bitcoin, described as "internet money" seem "solid". The content of this tweet is not what makes this significant. The content, a comment on the potential inflationary action of printing money in order to support economies worldwide during the Covid-19 lockdown period and the subsequent effect it can have on the value of Bitcoin, is made far more bizarre by the context. If there was a quiz question to guess the subject of a Twitter interaction between Elon Musk and JK Rowling, I refuse to believe anyone would have guessed correctly. My personal guess would be that he was trying to secure some children's books for his new child but, thinking about it now, that seems far too normal. 
    The final thing to consider is whether this all matters. His investors (and lawyers) would argue definitively that yes, it matters very much. I would argue no. Ever since reading Ashlee Vance's biography of Musk, I have been one of his biggest fans. Deciding early on to pursue technological innovation and progress, he has been responsible for (or part of) companies that have had a positive impact on the world. If Twitter madness is one part of this personality, it should be welcomed. I am writing this on the day of the second attempt of the first manned SpaceX flight. This kind of achievement is the product of both Musk's genius and his refusal to play by the rulebook. It is the latter which has contributed to some of his social media antics but, if anything, these antics give us a unique insight into what makes Musk who he is. I only wish I could have followed some of history's other great, enigmatic innovators on Twitter. 

Luke Sawney

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