The founder and CEO was quite busy on Twitter last Friday.
How do you get the founder and CEO of two trendy companies with strong Facebook pages to delete those pages from the social network? Just ask him, on Twitter.
Among the many casualties of the uproar over Cambridge Analytica and user data, the Facebook pages for Tesla and SpaceX have been nonexistent since Friday, following a series of tweets involving Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of both companies.
Those pages had more than 2 million followers apiece and were fairly active.
Last Tuesday, WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, who is no longer with Facebook, sent out this tweet encouraging people to delete Facebook:
It is time. #deletefacebook — Brian Acton (@brianacton) March 20,2018
Musk replied to Acton’s tweet Friday, saying, “What’s Facebook?”
What’s Facebook? — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23,2018
Twitter user @serdarsprofile replied to both, “Delete SpaceX page on Facebook if you’re the man?”
Delete SpaceX page on Facebook if you’re the man? — ㅤ (@serdarsprofile) March 23,2018
Musk then replied, “I didn’t realize there was one. Will do.”
I didn’t realize there was one. Will do. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23,2018
Tesla was next up, as Twitter user @Bryson_M tweeted, “This should be deleted too, right?” with a screenshot of Tesla’s Facebook page, and Musk replied, “Definitely. Looks lame anyway.”
this should be deleted too right? pic.twitter.com/1llNaXS0CC — bryson (@Bryson_M) March 23,2018
Definitely. Looks lame anyway. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23,2018
Shortly thereafter, both Facebook pages were gone, and they had still not been reinstated at the time of this post.
Speaker manufacturer Sonos announced last week that it was pulling its ads off Facebook and other tech platforms this week as a reaction to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and Musk poked fun at the company, responding to a tweet from The Verge by replying, “Wow, a whole week. Risky…”
Wow, a whole week. Risky… — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23,2018
Instagram appears to have escaped Musk’s wrath, however. Twitter user @martinapennisi tweeted at Musk shortly thereafter, “What about Instagram?” and he replied, “Instagram’s probably OK IMO, so long as it stays fairly independent. I don’t use Facebook and never have, so don’t think I’m some kind of martyr or my companies are taking a huge blow. Also, we don’t advertise or pay for endorsements, so … don’t care.”
What about Instagram? — Martina Pennisi (@martinapennisi) March 23,2018
Instagram’s probably ok imo, so long as it stays fairly independent. I don’t use FB & never have, so don’t think I’m some kind of martyr or my companies are taking a huge blow. Also, we don’t advertise or pay for endorsements, so … don’t care. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23,2018
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David Cohen
David Cohen is editor of Adweek’s Social Pro Daily.
