Op-Ed: Elon Musk’s Twitter shows its dark side
Elon Musk, founder of the private space exploration company SpaceX, appears to have used his Twitter account as a way to vent to his 1.4 million followers about an article he read in the New York Times about some bad news. He even sent a photograph of himself wearing a black T-shirt to prove it.
Many of his 1.4 million followers expressed displeasure at Musk’s Twitter account, saying they were annoyed by his constant ranting against the media.
Elon Musk and SpaceX have become embroiled in a media firestorm over what has been, for the most part, a very good year for the company. Last month, it won the $10 million prize for the first private spacewalk. The company has, in addition, become the first private company to get a rocket into orbit and the first private company to send a payload into orbit from Florida.
This success hasn’t gone unnoticed. The company’s share price has risen by 60 percent on its way to its highest level in more than a year.
But now Musk has taken the Twitter war into the realm of the dark side, saying on Twitter that he has “messed up” and “hurt people” with his tweets about the article in the Times. He said, “I’ve been looking for a ‘publicity mistake’ to cover for a month. Maybe next week I’ll find one.”
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His Twitter account has since been shut down, though you can still see his tweets here.
The Times published the piece on Oct. 29, an article entitled “Elon Musk: Inventor or Liar?” It detailed how Musk, who is also the chief executive and the head of SpaceX, said he was not responsible for an incident in November 2010 involving a Falcon 1 rocket carrying rocket-fuel that exploded during a test.
The Times quoted Musk, “SpaceX is not at fault,” as the company said it was not responsible for the accident.
The Times