Elon Musk: The X boss gets too much attention

Opinion

Sorry, the following text is paradoxical.

On the one hand, he criticizes the quality and, above all, the intensity with which we, “the media”, report on Elon Musk. On the other hand, of course, that’s exactly what he does. This contradiction cannot be resolved without convenient double standards.

Despite it. It’s worth a try.

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Kneeling into Butler

When the former and possibly next president of the world’s largest economy cuts through the foundations of democracy in capital letters, that is important – in the vast majority of cases. If an entrepreneur confuses the right to their own opinion with the right to their own facts, it doesn’t matter – in the vast majority of cases. Of course there are always exceptions.

Like on Saturday. The two came together. In the involuntarily famous town of Butler, in the politically shaky state of Pennsylvania, the Tesla, SpaceX and X boss hopped like a six-year-old on glucose to the side of his new best friend Donald Trump. The fact that the stage held up under the weight of so much concentrated ego – an impressive example of American engineering. However, Musk’s six-minute speech was more baseless. “The other side wants to take away your right to free speech. They want to take away your right to bear arms. They basically want to take away your right to vote,” he claimed. Apparently he didn’t have it any smaller. Once again.

How (not) to deal with Elon Musk?

If you want to understand what Elon Musk doesn’t understand and where he gets his “information” from, you don’t have to look far. On Sunday he shared a screenshot of the X user “DogeDesigner” (presumably his own second account). You can see it: The Appstore charts in the “News” category. X took first place – ahead of the “New York Times”, the “Wall Street Journal” and the “Washington Post”. “The truth will set you free,” preached the fiber optic messiah. Equating 280-character hell and Pulitzer journalism – as if a father saw a Rembrandt in his offspring’s crayon scrawls.

Twitter has always been a dumping ground for anything half-thought out. Under Musk’s rule, the platform has finally degenerated into a bulletin board of nonsense. The boss himself is the personification of “That must be true, I read that on the internet.” As an entrepreneur, Elon Musk is certainly an exception, at least a pioneer, perhaps even a genius. Other than that, he’s just a wuss in the spotlight. Not more.

Just an ordinary troll

When the richest person pays court to the most powerful person on the planet in front of thousands upon thousands of jeering disciples in a church service atmosphere, the media has to report on it – like the recent appearance in Butler. It’s not about sympathy, but about relevance. But Musk rarely has them unless he is acting in his role as a tech giant. It’s also about resisting the hope of quick clicks that the mere mention of your name promises – even with the most outlandish claims.

When an angry citizen from a suburb of Hildesheim, forgetting to spell, agitates against refugees from the social media penumbra after work, it’s disgusting, sad – and, above all, mostly doesn’t matter. So what is the difference between a forest and meadow troll and Elon Musk? In 260 billion dollars and 200 million followers. But otherwise: nothing. That’s the problem.

So how do we report on Troll King Elon I, who is dragging millions into the abyss as he drifts to the right? The answer, which is as uncomfortable as it is unsatisfactory: as much as necessary and as little as possible.