When it comes to social media, some people are just better at it than others. One such person is Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has amassed millions of followers and has become known for his quirky, off-beat tweets.
But according to recent reports, Musk may have allegedly crossed a line as he is accused of manipulating his social media presence.
Elon Musk’s Personal Tweet Traffic Jumps Nearly 740%
Actor Mark Ruffalo, best known for his role as the Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, recently took to Twitter to attack Musk’s credibility after it was reported that apparently he ordered Twitter to change its algorithm to give his tweets more visibility.
According to data from Twitter, Elon Musk‘s tweet traffic jumped nearly 740% after he allegedly ordered his engineers to manipulate the platform’s algorithm to boost his messages.
The move purportedly came after a tweet by President Joe Biden about the Super Bowl received substantially more views than Musk’s own tweet about the game. While President Joe Biden’s tweet announcing his support for the Philadelphia Eagles during the Super Bowl amassed a whopping 29 million views, Elon Musk’s tweet with a similar sentiment only garnered a mere 9.1 views before he removed it.
In response, Musk allegedly threatened to fire his engineers and demanded that they manipulate the system to promote his tweets to all users.
The Results of Elon Musk’s Demand
The results of Musk’s supposed demand were immediately apparent, with Twitter users reporting that his posts were suddenly overpowering their ranked timelines.
Timothy Graham, a senior lecturer in digital media at the Queensland University of Technology, collected data that revealed a massive change in the number of impressions Musk’s tweets were receiving. Graham tweeted-
“Lo and behold, the next morning” after Musk’s demand, there was “this massive increase in his impressions — and then that’s sustained ever since,”
Graham’s graphs showed that Musk’s impressions jumped 737%, and his daily traffic nearly tripled.
Allegations that @elonmusk is forcing his engineers to boost his tweets are fully supported by the data. I did some analysis and here's the total tweet impressions per hour over the past week… Timelines match up perfectly with the reportshttps://t.co/APh81Gc8hv pic.twitter.com/5rBYJVnj9P
— Tim Graham 🌻 timothyjgraham@aus.social (Mastodon) (@timothyjgraham) February 16, 2023
Actor Mark Ruffalo, who is known for being outspoken on social and political issues, was quick to respond to the news about Musk’s Twitter manipulation. He shared an article on Twitter and wrote,
“The numbers support media reports that Musk ordered the change to give his tweets a higher profile after a Super Bowl message by President Joe Biden collected substantially more views than Musk’s tweet for the game.”
The Hulk star’s tweet has since been liked and shared thousands of times, with many users expressing their own concerns about Musk’s actions.
In response to the accusations of manipulating Twitter’s algorithm to give his tweets more visibility, Elon Musk tweeted that the media had incorrectly reported the situation. He claimed that a review of his tweet likes and views over the past six months, especially as a ratio of followers, showed that the reports were false.
However, he did acknowledge a bug that caused replies to have the same prominence as primary tweets, which has since been fixed.
Several major media sources incorrectly reported that my Tweets were boosted above normal levels earlier this week.
A review of my Tweet likes & views over the past 6 months, especially as a ratio of followers, shows this to be false.
We did have a bug that briefly caused… https://t.co/nM3SgUfoM7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2023
There is no doubt that Elon Musk is a master at using social media to promote his brand and ideas, but if the accusations are true, he may have crossed a line.
While accusations of Elon Musk manipulating Twitter’s algorithm to boost his tweets have been made, he has responded with a suitable defense. It remains to be seen whether this will have any long-term impact on his business and reputation, but it’s evident that people are paying attention and expressing their discontent.
Source: Twitter
