Amidst all the commotion surrounding the edit button on Twitter, Elon Musk, had decided to buy shares in the company and join the board. He stepped down only to buy the whole of Twitter two days ago for $44 billion. The mega-billionaire, who is also now the wealthiest person in the world, has tweeted his plans of purchasing another company — Coca Cola, the reason being:
Next I’m buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2022
Cocaine was legal in 1885 when John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, first brewed the drink. His recipe included a cocaine extract from coca leaves. He described the drink as a “patent medicine” and “brain tonic and intellectual beverage.”
The tweet is now the second most liked tweet ever, only after the announcement of Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman’s death. Musk’s Coca Cola tweet surpassed former American President Barack Obama’s tweet about racism.
Twitter remains, to this day, one of the most political social media platforms. Even before his proprietorship, Musk had a massive influence on Twitter with an alarming 87.4 million followers on his account. As active a tweeter as he is, Musk has now gained a larger hold on American and Global politics. He had also said in a letter to the board that Twitter is “the platform for free speech around the world” but cannot achieve this “societal imperative” in its current form and “needs to be transformed as a private company”. Critics are sceptical about what this ownership could entail; what is the extent to which users can exercise freedom of speech on the platform?
Indians are even worried about Parag Agarwal’s future as the CEO of Twitter, with netizens joking that ‘he should’ve joined TCS instead’.
Communicating with the younger generation is probably more convenient in the form of memes but with a following that large and impressionable, Musk ought to think twice about the impact his “funny” tweets may have on political opinions and essentially, policy making. Here are a few chaotic (irresponsible) Elon Musk tweets that have people torn on whether or not his acquisition is a great idea for the platform:
The Covid Rants
The coronavirus panic is dumb
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2020
Something extremely bogus is going on. Was tested for covid four times today. Two tests came back negative, two came back positive. Same machine, same test, same nurse. Rapid antigen test from BD.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2020
This tweet that led to the harassment of a Twitter executive
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 27, 2022
This Tweet about the Taliban
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 20, 2021
Mocking Socialism
Those who proclaim themselves “socialists” are usually depressing, have no sense of humor & attended an expensive college. Fate loves irony.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2018
Marx was a capitalist. He even wrote a book about it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2018
His impact on Stock prices
Tesla stock price is too high imo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2020
SpaceX is going to put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2021
I kinda love Etsy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 26, 2021
Buying McDonald’s
Listen, I can’t do miracles ok pic.twitter.com/z7dvLMUXy8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2022
This Tweet
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2022
