Musk vs Zuckerberg Business and politics the clash of giants

Elon Musk he is succeeding in the arduous task of getting them back Mark Zuckerberg “cool”as titled the Wall Street Journal. At least outside the galaxy of hard-core Trumpists, who don’t hear reasons anyway and therefore it is useless to hope to convert them. And this not so much for the technical qualities of his new creature, Threads, which sets out to kill Twitter, as for the sudden reversal of the table, which made Elon the champion of the most sinister conservatism. So he reopened the door for Mark to once again be the standard-bearer of progressivism, or at least of those who believe that life shouldn’t inevitably consist of a perpetual brawl based on insults, fraud, malice, and perhaps assaults on Congress to hang the vice presidents not inclined to violate the Constitution to achieve the boss’s ambitions.

Mark’s beginnings

In the beginning, Mark was a brilliant kid who had escaped from Harvard, who had screwed the idea of ​​two father’s sons like the Winklevoss twins to create a digital empire. Clean face, hooded sweatshirt over his shoulders, informal manner, he seemed to embody the new man of the Silicon Valley. And the conservatives hated him, because they suspected all cybernetic innovators, but accused him in particular of dealing with the enemy. Indisputable proof, the town hall where he hosted President Obama in April 2011, confirming that social media was only a tool to facilitate the magnificent and progressive fortunes of the corrupt global left. A protagonist of the conspiracy, in other words.

However, things were not exactly like this, because despite donations to liberal causes such as the funding of public schools, Zuckerberg had a business to lead and he had to do it according to entrepreneurial criteria. So the relationship had cracked, both for tax issues, as for the fallout from the Edward Snowden case, because he had revealed a state digital surveillance system that offended Zuckerberg: “We invest a lot of resources because we think we have to guarantee the safety of our users from the bad guys, not from the government.” The situation had come to a head when the lo Cambridge Analytica scandal, perceived as Facebook selling its user data to unscrupulous crooks to do with whatever they wanted. Specifically, helping Trump move into the White House. After all, during a November 2016 meeting in Lima, Obama had rebuked Zuckerberg, because he had ignored warnings that Russia was using social media to spread disinformation, in order to scuttle Hillary’s campaign. But Mark didn’t want to be a Facebook policeman: I built the highway, I’m not responsible for whoever uses it. From then on, his image had reversed, with attacks and problems, including technical ones, in the evolution towards Meta, which he himself had described as “waking up every morning to be hit by a punch in the stomach”. A traitor to the liberal cause, if he ever championed it.

The boy from South Africa

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Elon Musk has unveiled xAI, an artificial intelligence “to understand the universe”

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Musk by contrast was the underprivileged boy from South Africa, victim of Asperger’s syndrome, who had made it through everything and against everyone. He had founded PayPal with the German friend Peter Thiel, but then it had expanded from space to satellites, focusing on the chimera of the electric car when no one imagined it as a solution for the future. And what better could exist to seduce the progressive galaxy, if not the bet of transforming the car industry into a tool to protect the environment and fight climate change? In addition, Elon had children left and right, including a transgender one; she frequented Hollywood stars, engaging in dangerous relationships; he smoked weed on radio shows in which he participated, and was invited to host the legendary NBC comedy show “Saturday Night Live”. A transgressive, sympathetic and direct. The exact opposite of the Zuck calculator. There is generally nothing more deceptive than appearances, which even in Musk’s case were lying. It took a while to figure it out, because in the 2020 elections he had confessed to having voted for Biden, saying he was enthusiastic about his success. Perhaps the friendship with Thiel, who in the meantime has become a faithful Trumpist financier of right-wing extremist candidates, could have served as an alarm bell. However, the relationship with Joe had gradually deteriorated, initially because Elon did not feel considered enough by the White House, then due to profound political differences ranging from the tax line to that on gay rights. Musk has clarified that he had changed sidesannouncing that he wants to vote for the Republican presidential candidate next year. So she took to Twitter because she thought she could resurrect it entrepreneurially, but also to make it a consensus machine. First, he announced that he would readmit Trump, despite the fact that the reason for his exclusion lay in the lies with which he had fomented the assault on Congress. Then he hosted the launch of the presidential candidacy of Florida Governor DeSantis, with an interview that didn’t respect the basic rules of journalism, because it was actually a propaganda event. So he became a hero of the most extreme conservatives, a political activist.

Social networks

Threads vs Twitter: the political challenge between Zuckerberg and Musk

by our correspondent Paolo Mastrolilli

07 July 2023

Zuck the calculator

Zuckerberg, in addition to accepting his challenge to go to the Colosseum like gladiators, understood that this offered him aunique opportunity to rehabilitate. For sure launched Threads because he believed it was a good deal, but the words with which he did it also betray other ends: «I think there should be an app for public conversations with a billion or more people inside. Twitter had the opportunity, but it failed. We hope to make it.” Musk responded thus: “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than not to settle for the fake happiness of Instagram to hide the pain”. So he has canceled subscription to Instagram, Meta app linked to use of Threads, and threatened to sue because the new social network copies his. Talking to the New York TimesInstagram chief Adam Mosseri admitted: “There was an opportunity, or demand, to allow more people to play in the public space.” It depended «not only on the new ownership, but also on product changes. The idea is to build an open and friendly space for communities». This statement means at least three things. First, the technical aspect: By limiting the number of visible tweets to force users to pay, Musk has reduced the space and openness of his app, creating an opportunity for competitors. Second, the sociological aspect: Twitter is now a battleground, often dominated by insults, disinformation and demonstrations of hatred. Threads can become the alternative, if it can avoid this pitfall. Third, the political case: Elon has weaponized Twitter for his conservative crusade. Zuckerberg understood that this mistake opened up an unexpected business and political opportunity for him, and he decided to exploit it. Challenging the alter ego on this terrain, in addition to the Colosseum.