Elon Musk's contentious relationship with the media has not been a secret. It has been exacerbated in recent years, as Musk's perceived bias against certain journalists becomes more apparent with his strong public declarations.
Musk's Cheeky Dispute with the Fourth Estate: Twitter's Poop Emoji Response
But now, twittering Musk has brought a new cheeky attitude to his feud with the fourth estate. On Sunday, Musk announced on Twitter that any inquiries sent to press@twitter.com would be met with rolling eyes in the form of a colorful poop emoji.
This announcement follows a problematic instance between Musk and former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal last May. Musk was displeased with Agrawal's explanation of the number of bots on the platform.
Elon Musk's Antagonistic Relationship with the Press Exacerbated by Automated Reply Using Poop Emoji
According to the story by Interesting Engineering, the move to put an automated reply with a poop emoji when people direct inquiries to press@twitter.com is just the latest sign of Elon Musk's antagonistic relationship with the press.
According to an article by Electrek, in 2020, he notably got rid of Tesla's press department, suggesting instead that people could trust the product, with Musk suggesting that other companies were manipulating public opinion.
Musk's Use of the Poop Emoji as a Response to Press Inquiry
When Parag Agrawal, Twitter's ex-boss, gave Musk an explanation of why it would be difficult to estimate how widespread bots are on the platform, Musk famously responded on Twitter with the same poop emoji.
This isn't the first time the tech mogul has made his feelings about the press public. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether or not the poop emoji response will be enough to deter people from using the press inquiry function of Twitter.
New Twitter Leadership Likely to Bring Changes to Press Relationships
With Musk recently assuming the position of CEO of Twitter, this could be the start of a new and much more vocal stance against journalists, who he has long held grievances against. It's also likely that the poop emoji response isn't the only mechanism for limiting inquiries from the press.
With Musk at the helm, it wouldn't be surprising to see further changes implemented in the future to make things more difficult for journalists.
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A Shift in the Attitude of Twitter towards the Press: Musk's Contemptuousness Stunt
For now, the only way to guarantee a response from press@twitter.com is to get accustomed to the poop emoji response. With Musk in charge, it would be wise to expect further changes, leaving the press department to wait and see what comes next.
Musk's poop emoji reply suggested that he is on the same page with Twitter these days, and his "contemptuousness stunt" is a form of pranking the press, who are often critical of his actions. As the new CEO of Twitter, such a tweet could mark a shift in the attitude of the social media platform towards the press over the coming years.
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