Elon Musk Initially Thought His Wife Constantly Using Twitter Was Such a Waste of Time

Elon Musk, renowned for Tesla and SpaceX, was not always a fan of Twitter. It was discovered that when he initially encountered the platform, he completely ignored it. A recent book "Character Limit" by York Times reporters Ryan Mac and Kate Conger contains some interesting information on Musk's early days with the platform now known as "X." Musk's first wife, Justine Musk, introduced him to this platform. She used it "constantly," but Musk was not really impressed, as per The Byte.

Musk reportedly thought Twitter was a silly waste of time. He didn't see the point in the brief texts and regular updates. It's a far cry from his current status as Twitter's owner and most prolific user. Even after claiming the @ElonMusk handle from an impersonator in 2010, Musk remained skeptical. He rarely posted and didn't see much use for the platform. In December 2011, he wrote, "Not sure I can handle just doing 140 char missives." Ironically, he added that he'd put his "longer thoughts" on Google Plus, a now-defunct social network.

But something changed. By the end of 2011, Musk was tweeting regularly. He began to see Twitter's potential as a powerful communication tool. Mac and Conger note that Musk realized he could use Twitter to update the public about Tesla and SpaceX. A more important fact was that he could control his own narrative. This shift in perspective signaled the start of Musk's Twitter obsession. Both Musk and Twitter experienced exponential growth over the next decade. Musk became one of the platform's most powerful users, with millions of followers hanging on his every word.

The plot took an unexpected turn in 2022. It was when Musk bought Twitter entirely. That sudden action stunned the IT community. The man who once believed Twitter was pointless now owns the entire company. It was not the first or last time he's done a complete 180 on an issue. But it was certainly one of the most public and consequential flip-flops in his career.

When Musk took control of the site Twitter, a slew of controversial accusations surfaced. It didn't stop him from making changes to the platform he now owns. He went on to modify the name to "X" and made a change in the verification system. These developments prompted individuals to discuss free speech online. Musk was once discovered taking recommendations from rightwing online friends on which leftist accounts to block next. It looked like he was purposely restricting links to news sites that he dislikes. According to former Twitter employees, when confronted with commercial pressure, Musk made an abrupt change in his professed values, switching from a leave-everything-up to a take-everything-down posture.

The most terrible example was the issue over @ElonJet, an account that monitored Musk's private plane. First, Musk stated that he would accept it. The minute he felt remotely threatened, he rebranded the private aircraft data, which had been publicly available for decades for all planes, as "assassination coordinates." Then he suspended without notice any journalist who had tweeted about the account, as per The Hill.