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A vapor trail of broken Musk promises and failed predictions, all of which became news stories, have been documented by the elonmusk.today website. Musk vowed to build an everything Twitter app, but hasnt. A full-time litigation shop? No sign of it yet. To convert atmospheric CO2 into rocket fuel? A no-show. The list continues: To create a super-fast Starlink service. Produce ventilators. Build a flying car. Distill a Tesla liquor (Teslaquila). Start a candy company. Sorry, not yet. When not making news by making promises, Musk enters our news diet by insulting people. Hes knocked a U.S. senator with a vulgar tweet, called a Thai cave rescuer a pedo guy, ridiculed Bill Gates beer belly and mocked a disabled Twitter employee. When predictions and insults fail to win him publicity, Musk has gained public attention by sharing conspiracy theories, signaling his support of the presidential candidacy of Ye, better known as Kanye West (and then withdrawing it), endorsing hydroxychloroquine as a Covid-19 treatment and by making a poop emoji the auto-response to questions the press sends to Twitter.

This unbroken stream of Musk blarney and BS should be enough to deter the press from automatically reporting the tycoons publicity hounding. But as with Donald Trump, the press seems unable to resist splashing coverage on Musks unnewsworthy high jinks, even though the stories have now become as common as dog-bites-man. Reporters on the Musk beat have a point when they say you never know which one of Musks outrageous stabs at grabbing attention will actually blossom into genuine news. For instance, when he first said he was going to buy Twitter, who among us could look at his track record and think he would actually complete the deal? Few of the acorns Musk tosses out there end up sprouting into a tree, but enough of them do that maybe his every burp does justify coverage.

But that cant be the main reason the press covers every Muskism that comes over the transom. This column suggested late last year that journalists wean themselves from the Musk habit. But instead of giving the once-over twice to his antics, the press corps has further devoted itself to his promotion. He offers reporters table scraps. They turn it into a banquet. He picks a petty fight. They report it as if it were a global war. Hes got the media machines number, and keeps pressing it.

Heres how it works: Too many editors are eager to assign an easy-to-assemble story from the components of a Musk prediction, threat or stunt. And readers seem to love the copy. Its Musk-press synergy all the way down. Musk didnt invent the mock news event, hes only perfected it. Con men, pranksters and publicity agents have been jamming the press for more than a century with bogus stories like him. In recent decades, hoaxers have persuaded the press to chase the story that Paul McCartney was dead. Another time, a man made worldwide news by claiming to have cured his arthritis by injecting cockroach hormones. Not that long ago, Volkswagen pranked the press with a press release to publicize its electric car by saying it was changing its name to Voltswagen. And in 2009, a Colorado family claimed a helium balloon wafted their son into the heavens.

Some of these pranks can be dismissed as good-natured fun. But most of them stand as critiques of the press, showing how credulous and easily manipulated journalists can be. When Musk engages in his kind of publicity hounding, he consciously exploits the medias frailty and appetite for copy. His promises, his kayfabe Twitter spats, his controversy-mongering offer the press a preassembled cast of characters, an element of conflict and questions to answer. A grateful press appreciates how the wow factor of a Musk publicity stunt makes the routine coverage of quarterly reports, city council meetings and weather seem mundane. If Musk isnt on the press corps payroll, he should be.

Whats in it for Musk? He has long disdained advertising, believing that the unearned media of a stunt (or the quality of a great product) is advertising enough. According to Ashley Vances book, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Musk ordered his Tesla staff to produce at least one barnburner of a public relations announcement a week to stimulate interest in the companys cars. But in a 2021 court appearance, Musk made transparent how he keeps playing the press. If we are entertaining, then people will write stories about us, and then we dont have to spend money on advertising that would increase the price of our products, he said.

Naming one of his children X A-12, as he did in 2020, or pushing a Tesla roadster into space or challenging Vladimir Putin to single combat or issuing a Ukraine peace plan or selling 20,000 flamethrowers are prime examples of how Musk garners notice for his brands and his products. These advertisements for himself, to pinch a phrase from Norman Mailer, create a buzz about him and his ventures, and project the image of an omnipresent, charismatic guy who makes hot copy. When the press briefly turned against him in 2018 for some of his business miscues, Musk went all meta on reporters by announcing a press-watch site called Pravduh.com. Like so many Musk projects, it arrived stillborn and was soon forgotten, but not before he got a burst of publicity out of it. Which was the point, anyway.

Since acquiring Twitter, Musk has made media stunt-work one of his prime occupations announcing plans, ending them, releasing Twitter files to Matt Taibbi and other journalists, and even tweeting from the toilet. Hell do anything to keep it and himself in the news, and every day the news media rewards his showboating with an avalanche of running coverage and commentary. But youve got to wonder. Is Elon Musk the problem here? Or is it the press, which understands how its being manipulated by Musk but just cant quit him?

******

Every journalist on the Musk beat should read Edward Niedermeyers Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motor. Send your favorite empty Musk stunt to [emailprotected]. No new email alert subscriptions are being honored at this time. My Twitter feed is all about regenerative braking. My Mastodon and Post accounts wish Musk would buy them. My Substack Notes is less than inspired. My RSS feed says Venus, not Mars, should be our destination.

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Elon Musk Figured Out the Media's Biggest Weakness - POLITICO

What do the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reigning New York rap princess Ice Spice and Twitters eminent st-poster Dril have in common?

They got Elon Musks blue check sometime this weekend, in what appears to be the Twitter CEOs attempt to reverse-engineer the initial reasons behind the blue check in the first place. But none of them seem especially happy about receiving the now-checkered distinction.

Who tf subscribed me to [this], tweeted Ice Spice, who, prior to tweeting about it Saturday, did not have one. Neither didDril, who found a loophole to get de-verified that seemingly kept on getting reapplied.

We did not subscribe to Twitter Blue,MIT tweeted in perhaps the most diplomatic response.

Many other high-profile figures, like model and once-prolific Twitter poster Chrissy Teigen and knighted actor of screen and stage Ian McKellen, also chimed in. Teigen joked that they're getting them as punishment, while McKellenbristled at the suggestion that he had paid the $8 for the check. (Teigen and Dril no longer have their checks, while McKellen, Ice Spice and MIT do.)

The message: Blue checks on Twitter no longer hold any cultural cachet or value a mark of fame or some semblance of notoriety turned into a mark of allegiance to Musks enterprise.

These blue checks, prior to their mass removal on Thursday, were bestowed by Twitter upon prominent movie stars, musicians, athletes, political figures, journalists and many other people of varying influence for whom impersonation would be deleterious to their livelihoods. The status symbol of it all was just a plus. But for Musk and his acolytes, the badge proved to be another case of haves and have-nots people (mostly journalists) who undeservedly were given the tick by an arbitrary, seemingly opaque selection process. (For what its worth, this writer received his now-disappeared blue check by filling out a Google spreadsheet at a previous reporting job.)

Musks initial solution the very, very consequential outcome of democratizing blue checks by letting anyone with $8 access the same distinction as, say, a multinationalpharmaceutical company or a titan of the gaming industry blew up in Twitters face.

And, for now, it seems like this solution giving bluechecks to the folks who paid and, once it was clear most people would not pay even when their checks were removed, those who reportedly have more than 1 million users has stuck. Where it gets a bit dicey is that nearly every accounts checkmark comes with the explanation that the user subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number. (That includesactive accounts of celebrities who are now deceased.)

That said, some multimillion-follower users coughed up the $8 prior to the abrupt rule change and are also unhappy with Musk.

So u mean to tell me I coulda stalled Elon out I already had paid fa my st, Chicago rapper Polo G (who boasts 3.4 million followers and seemingly did pay the fee) tweeted Sunday.

Read more:

Elon Musk's Twitter Blue check getting celebrities riled up - SFGATE

Claim:

After a haphazard reversal of who would lose blue checkmarks on Twitter, CEO Elon Musk tweeted, Ahh fuck it, Im closing this site, fuck you and fuck Twitter, I can never post a single goddamn thread in here without you tweeters making tweets in some way or another. [...] Thanks for running me out of my own goddamn website.

Twitter descended into chaos in April 2023 with the final rollout of the Twitter Blue paid verification system, as some prominent accounts unexpectedly received blue check marks while others didn't, and many poked fun at the haphazard verification process on the social media platform.

Twitter Blueisan opt-in paid subscription that gives any user who pays $8 per month a blue check mark on Twitter. Previously, the check mark was free and granted to those who went through an identity verification process, particularly journalists, famous people, and companies.

OnApril 20, Twitter began stripping blue check marks from public figures who chose not to opt into the paid service, including celebrities and journalists who had been verified before Musk's takeover. Then, in a partial reversal, Musk announced that he was personally paying for some high profile users to retain their check marks, whether they requested it or not. By late April, it became apparent that blue check marks were simply being returned to specific accounts with more than a million followers.

The haphazard processresulted in many celebrities opting to cancel their accounts instead of retaining check marks they didn't ask for.

On April 23, a screenshot of a very irritated Musk apparently tweeting his frustration at the rollout went viral, in which he allegedly wrote (among other things), "Ahh fuck it, I'm closing this site, fuck you and fuck Twitter, I can never post a single goddamn thread in here without you tweeters making tweets in some way or another. [...] Thanks for running me out of my own goddamn website."

The full screenshot of the tweet is visible below, as shared by Twitter user @SA__moment:

There is no evidence that Musk tweeted this out in the first place. Nor does the wording of the alleged tweet match Musk's usual ways of expressing himself. Furthermore, if Musk did announce that he was closing the social media platform, it would be a much bigger news item than a screenshot gone viral. Such an announcement would have an impact on the stock market and also make headlines worldwide. Nothing of the kind happened.

"About Twitter Blue." Twitter, https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-blue. Accessed 25 Apr. 2023.

Falconer, Sara Fischer, Rebecca. "'Verified' Becomes a Badge of Dishonor after Twitter Checkmark Confusion." Axios, 23 Apr. 2023, https://www.axios.com/2023/04/23/verified-checkmark-twitter-badge. Accessed 25 April 2023.

Jayshi, Damakant. "Did Elon Musk Increase the Fee for Twitter Blue to $15 a Month?" Snopes, 3 Apr. 2023, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/musk-increase-fee-twitter-blue-15-month/.Accessed 25 April 2023.

Morrison, Sara. "Twitter's Old Blue Checks Are Finally Gone." Vox, 4 Nov. 2022, https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/11/4/23438917/twitter-verifications-blue-check-elon-musk.Accessed 25 April 2023.

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Did Elon Musk Tweet He Was 'Closing' Twitter? - Snopes.com

A new controversy has developed in Elon Musk's ownership of Twitter after the accounts of dead celebrities and politicians were given blue check marks.

The Twitter CEO has made a number of changes to the company's verification process following his $44 billion acquisition of the company in October 2022.

Following the takeover, Musk introduced an $8-a-month Twitter Blue subscription service that he claimed would reduce the impact of bots on the website.

Many who had been verified prior to the buyout had "legacy" check marks, although Musk stated these would be removed in the future. On Thursday, April 20, check marks were removed from "legacy" users and several media outlets and personalities bought subscriptions to Twitter Blue.

But several celebrities discovered they had received a Twitter Blue check mark, despite not having subscribed.

The Lord of The Rings actor Sir Ian McKellen stated on Twitter: "Despite the implication, when you click the blue badge that has mysteriously re-appeared beside my name, I am not paying for the 'honour.'"

An unusual development was also uncovered when it was discovered that some celebrities and public figures who had died were also subscribed to Twitter Blue.

Among those who have passed and were found to have Twitter Blue check marks were Brazilian soccer icon Pele, comedian Norm MacDonald and fantasy author Terry Pratchett.

Pratchett's daughter Rhianna Pratchett said in a Saturday, April 22, Twitter post: "Just to be clear @terryandrob has not paid for Twitter Blue. If Mr. Musk is a fan then I suggest a rereading of the books might be in order."

Other dead people with Twitter Blue check marks included chef and TV presenter Anthony Bourdain, Republican Senator John McCain, and actress Kirstie Alley.

In response to Newsweek asking a number of questions including whether family members of dead people were asked about the assignment of the Twitter Blue checkmarks, Twitter sent an email with a "" emoji as an automated response.

Musk's handling of the social media company has been controversial since he took over the platform last year.

The billionaire said in November that Twitter needed to become "by far the most accurate source of information about the world."

Context tabs were introduced for some tweets and would give a deeper explanation of a topic related to the tweet and identify some cases of false information.

But the platform also recently stopped tagging some accounts as "government-funded" media or China or Russia as "state-affiliated" media.

Read more here:

Elon Musk Is Dishing Out Blue Ticks to Dead People - Newsweek

Serving as CEO of Twitter, SpaceX, and Tesla has Elon Musk stretched pretty thin, and Tesla investors are not happy about it.

A group of investors that hold $1.5 billion in shares in the EV maker sent a letter to the Tesla board last week, accusing it of meager oversight of Musk and his management at Tesla.

The board has allowed the CEO to be overcommitted at a time when the company faces critical challenges, including increased competition, regulatory scrutiny, and a stock slide, the investors wrote in an open letter(Opens in a new window).

Letter signees include 17 groupssuch as Amalgamated Bank, United Church Funds, and SOC Investment Groupthat tout ethically responsible investments. In their letter, the investors fault Teslas board for allowing Musk to run multiple companies, leading to an inability to address the multiple strategic and competitive issues facing Tesla.

Meanwhile, Tesla is increasingly losing market share in the high-performance EV market as legacy automakers launch comparable EV models at similar or lower price points, the letter says. Other challenges cited include various lawsuits and regulatory probes facing Tesla, along with accusations of poor labor practices.

As a result, investors are urging Teslas board to rein Musk in. This could include enacting a policy that limits his "outside commitments or a CEO succession plan.

However, Amalgamated Bank tells(Opens in a new window) CNN it isnt necessarily calling for Musks ouster. Rather, the larger problem is Teslas board failing to maintain independence to oversee Musks decisions at the EV maker.Due to the boards failure to restrict the CEOs outside commitments and ensure he is focused on solving the many challenges the company faces, we have lost confidence in its members, they add.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But it's not the first time Musk has faced accusations of abandoning Tesla. In December, the company's third-largest individual shareholder, KoGuan Leo, also called on(Opens in a new window) Musk to step down from the EV maker to make way for a full-time CEO. Over the past year, value in Tesla's stock has fallen close to 50%.

So far, Musk has publicly said hes looking to find a new CEO to replace him at Twitter, possibly by years end. But hes also indicated he may get even busier. Last week, Musk said he's trying to develop his own AI chatbot, TruthGPT, to counter the rise of OpenAIs ChatGPT and Googles Bard.

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Tesla Investors: Elon Musk Is 'Overcommitted,' Needs to Be Reined In - PCMag