Tesla and the Twitter beauty contest
- Alex J. Martin
- Social Engagement Manager- Silicon Valley Business Journal
- Email | Facebook | LinkedIn | Tweets
When Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, tweeted that he thought the Model S was
an “amazing, ugly
car” after test driving a friend’s, he sparked my curiosity — as well as a
slew of tweets from users who were supportive of his statement and an equal
amount of backlash from Twitter dissenters. He also referred to Musk as Steve
Jobs, but “without
taste.” Ouch.
Noticeably absent from the back-and-forth was Elon Musk himself who, one would
assume, has learned something from
his public battle with the New York Times’ John Broder after a Tesla review
gone wild. Sometimes it’s best to just stay out of things.Keith Rabois, former Square COO, added his two cents a few days later, tweeting that he was “impressed” with the Model S and was “in love” with the car’s door handles. Rabois seems to be looking for attention in all the wrong places on Twitter lately, having already gotten into a spat with Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley earlier last week.
All things considered, I don't think Paul's comments were meant as an insult to Musk at all, but a lesson can certainly be learned by all this. First, think before you tweet (or, as Elon Musk wisely chose, not tweet). It would have been easy to defend the design (and subjective beauty) of the Model S, but what difference does it make? Beauty is, after all, only skin deep, and what lies beneath the surface of the Tesla is an industry-changing vehicle – if scaled properly.
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