Table of Contents
One of the most well-known entrepreneurs in the world today is Elon Musk. He has maintained a consistent presence on social networking platforms for many years. The multibillionaire businessman frequently uses his different social media accounts to express whatever is on his mind, whether politics, the economy, business initiatives, or random thought, and has the propensity to stir up controversy. Social media platforms have altered human interaction and consumer information and made it possible for businesses, individuals, and organizations to connect and exchange information quickly. Platforms have distinct goals with many functions available. Elon Musk has made Twitter his favorite social media network. Hence, the uproar surrounding Elon Musk’s social media remarks on Twitter has spread far and wide. Elon Musk has amassed a sizable fan base due to his tweets. He has also caused asset prices to soar and plummet, political uproars, sparked legal actions and regulatory inquiries and made himself the seventh most followed user on Twitter. Now, more than ever, users are dissecting Musk’s tweets to predict what the future holds for one of the most popular websites on the internet.
We can do it today.
Social Media Controversy
Musk is an individual who is not hesitant to speak his thoughts in public or to cause offense. For example, he once criticized Democrats for their plans to enact a wealthy tax and for downplaying the COVID-19 pandemic. In opposition to lockdowns, Musk compared Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler for his mandatory vaccination policies. A recent tweet that has brought much controversy for Elon Musk is a tweet concerning the political unrest between Ukraine and Russia that is currently ongoing. Elon Musk has demonstrated that he is different from other international leaders who have mainly refrained from opining on how Ukraine should conduct the conflict. Instead, he tweeted about the delicate subject, drawing attention from worldwide. Elon Musk asked his enormous Twitter following to vote “yes” or “no” on his proposal for a four-part peace deal to end the conflict in a tweet (Serafin, 2022). Rerunning Russia’s staged referendums under U.N. supervision is among the ideas, as is considering Crimea as part of Russia.
Public Reaction
Elon Musk, a billionaire entrepreneur, faced criticism for tweeting several times regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His most recent post on the conflict sparked a widespread outcry on Twitter from his followers and non-followers. He said that in four eastern Ukraine regions that Russia had illegally invaded, new elections should be conducted “under U.N. supervision” to bring peace between Ukraine and Russia. “Russia leaves” those regions, according to Musk, “if that is the will of the people” (Serafin, 2022). Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, and Dmytro Kuleba, the minister of foreign affairs, are two well-known officials that responded to the internet comments. However, even louder in his response to Musk, the foreign minister of Ukraine did not specifically name the South African-born entrepreneur.
Kuleba said that people who advocate for Ukraine to give up on its people and land must stop using the word “peace” as a colloquialism to “let Russians murder and rape thousands more innocent Ukrainians and grab more land.” The foreign minister said that Musk was not doing it to soothe Putin’s bruised ego or save Ukraine from suffering (Sheppard, 2022). The envoy of Ukraine to Germany responded to Musk’s remark in an undiplomatic manner as well. Musk’s statements about Ukraine have received mostly unfavorable replies on Twitter, with many people asking him to refrain from commenting on topics he has insufficient knowledge about (Willett, 2022).
Conclusion
Social media, defined as online social networking sites like Facebook that enable individuals to interact and communicate with one another, has drawn billions of users. According to a growing body of literature, social networking enables business owners to learn more about potential clients, influence world decisions or market prospects, gather resources to further their endeavors, and maintain client relationships after the business has launched. Through the expansion of the internet, the world is changing in terms of expressing opinions on controversial issues today. Consequently, following the recent posts by Elon Musk concerning the political unrest in Ukraine and Russia, different individuals have reacted differently concerning this tweet. The public has developed an opinion of Musk as a rebel, free thinker, and occasionally a humorous influencer because of his frequently controversial tweets. There are countless interpretations of what he says on social media platforms and what that implies about his personality. Some of Elon Musk’s tweets, though, at least give users a hint of what a Musk-owned Twitter may look like.
- Serafin, T. (2022). Ukraine’s President Zelensky takes the Russia/Ukraine war viral. Orbis, 66(4), 460-476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orbis.2022.08.002
- Sheppard, B. (2022). Musk, social media, and the national security state. Green Left Weekly, 1345, 15. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.471892962521491
- Wang, W., Liang, Q., Mahto, R. V., Deng, W., & Zhang, S. X. (2020). Entrepreneurial entry: The role of social media. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 161, 120337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120337
- Willett, M. (2022). The cyber dimension of the Russia–Ukraine war. Survival, 64(5), 7–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2022.2126193