How Buying Twitter Changed Elon Musk's Public Image

Impact of Twitter on Musk's image

Technology Asked Aug 15, 2026

✓ Top answer Community-sourced, written up by For Users

How Buying Twitter Changed Elon Musk's Public Image

Twitter has reshaped Elon Musk's public image from an admired tech visionary into a controversial figure, according to users discussing his acquisition and management of the platform, now called X. Many say the respect they once had for his futuristic projects has eroded as his posting turned more political and more prone to spreading misinformation.

Users describe a clear shift in what Musk posts about. He talks far less about his companies and far more about immigration, border control, and free speech, which some read as alignment with certain political patrons. His behavior on the platform is frequently called immature and foolish, and one former fan summed up the mood by asking what the hell happened to the guy they admired just five years ago.

Opinions on the platform itself are split. Some users report a decline in content quality, with timelines full of misinformation, hate speech, and gloating from right-wing personalities, pushing them toward alternatives like Mastodon. Others say the experience improved thanks to bot crackdowns and algorithm changes that deprioritize political content. The business side draws criticism too, with the acquisition described as setting 44 billion dollars on fire, and the commercialization of the blue tick mark blamed for removing the credibility of knowing who you are actually interacting with.

Perception shifts

Loss of respect Former admirers say he went from futuristic projects to spending his time spreading nonsense online.
Immature behavior His actions and posts on X are frequently described as stupid and immature.
Political shift Fewer posts about his companies, more about immigration, border control, and free speech.
Content quality decline Users cite misinformation, hate speech, and propaganda filling their timelines.
User experience improvements Bot crackdowns and deprioritized political content improved the platform for some users.
Financial criticism The 44 billion dollar acquisition is described as money set on fire.
Blue tick credibility loss Paying for verification made it harder to tell real people and organizations from fakes.

How Buying Twitter Changed Elon Musk's Public Image — infographic

Perceived Decline in Public Standing

Loss of respect: Many Users believe Musk has lost credibility and respect, moving from a figure admired for futuristic projects to one seen as spreading misinformation. "Man just 5 years ago I was a big fan of the guy setting up all these crazy futuristic projects. Now he's just another conservative muppet dedicating all his time to spreading bullshit online, what the hell happened?"

Increased immaturity and foolishness: Musk's actions and posts on X are frequently described as immature and foolish, contributing to a negative perception. "It's actually impressive how Musk constantly finds new ways to look more stupid and immature."

Shift in political alignment: His online presence shows a notable increase in political commentary, particularly on topics like immigration and free speech, aligning him with certain political patrons. "He posts a lot less about his companies, and a lot more about immigration, border control and free speech."

Divided Opinions on Platform Improvement

Negative impact on content quality: Some Users report a decline in the quality of content on X, citing an increase in misinformation, hate speech, and a chaotic environment. "I'm about to make the switch to Mastodon. My timeline is now stuffed with actual Nazi propaganda, crowing and gloating by every right-wingnut goon from Dinesh D'Souza to Andrew Tate, and non-stop sloppy hand-jobs for Elon by random sycophantic yes-men who claim to work for Twitter who, I'm guessing, are the only people dumb enough to stay."

Perceived improvements in user experience: Conversely, some Users have experienced an improved user experience due to changes like bot crackdowns and algorithm adjustments that deprioritize political content. "But recently in 2026 I felt the user experience for me on the platform has significantly improved"

Financial and Operational Criticism

Questionable business decisions: The acquisition itself and subsequent operational decisions are often viewed as financially reckless, with some Users referring to it as "setting 44 billion dollars on fire." "I have hated twitter since day one and have hated it more and more as time went by. So I'm sure Musk didn't mean to set 44 billion dollars on fire to destroy it, but hey, works for me I guess."

Impact on credibility: The commercialization of features like the blue tick mark has eroded the platform's credibility, making it harder to distinguish authentic accounts. "The commercialization of the blue tick mark is one of the worst things that ever happened to social media. It completely removed the element of credibility of at least knowing that you are interacting with a real person or a real organization."

Has the shift in public perception of Elon Musk affected your view of his other ventures, like Tesla or SpaceX?

Bottom line

Elon Musk's acquisition and management of Twitter (now X) has significantly transformed his public image, shifting perceptions from an innovative tech visionary to a controversial figure.

Community answers 18

What others in the community said:

Do billionaires never sleep?

Would anyone mind if we just turned off twitter in the UK?

I can’t think of anything I’ve done 38000 times in a couple of years guess that’s why I’m broke

Love the fact its "x row", rather than "row over musks complicity in creating, publishing and distributing child porn"

Wasn’t this the same guy who told everyone he worked 16 hours a day? Seems like working for him is posting shit.

98% upvoted

Hi SpaceX fans! I'm an artist who paints a lot of SpaceX related artwork. To my excitement, I recently saw that Elon Musk is actually using one of my paintings as his profile picture on Twitter. I was hoping someone here might be able to help me get in contact with him or somebody at SpaceX. If at all possible, I would like to give him a canvas print of the piece but I have no idea of how to go about doing that. I've tried messaging employees on LinkedIn as well as the main SpaceX Twitter and Instagram accounts with no response yet.

Seeing Elon Musk appreciate my work so much that he is using it on a major platform like Twitter as his picture is an incredible feeling. His work and the company he built inspires my art and vision each day, it would mean a lot to me if I could get him at least a print of this painting.

This is the digital painting of mine that he is using on Twitter and a link to my Instagram so you can see the work is mine.

If anyone could help it would greatly appreciated! Thanks!

DeLuceArt on Instagram

I painted this last year after the Tesla Roadster was launched into space with the Starman on board

82% upvoted

Twitter or X was bought by Elon Musk back in 2022, and has kinda become a bit of a controversial website and platform in the public eye.

And I am not going to pretend that things were not chaotic at first with Elon trying out and often times breaking things

But recently in 2026 I felt the user experience for me on the platform has significantly improved

I struggle with depression so social media is a bit rough for me with how much doom, rage baiting and bots is everywhere nowadays. It gets especially frustrating during major controversies or around election season (Which these days it's basically always election season)

Originally there was this sense that X took Twitter which had a left wing lean and just made it the same slop but with a right wing lean and yeah for a while I think that criticism holds water

But recently they implemented some major changes that have me for the first time in a while actually finding myself enjoying social media again. For one they exposed everyone's countries, which exposed a very significant amount of grifter accounts and engagement farms. It turned out MAGAGeneralHayasaka69 was actually in India and NoKingsOfficial was actually in Canada or Europe both pretending to be Americans, both stirring up troublemaking, both making money off of fake news, ragebait and gross deepfake images created by machines

The second thing they did was they went absolutely nuclear on bots, it's still an issue yes but they banned so many bot accounts I lost probably 30% of my total followers count

The third thing they did was reprioritize accounts reach to other countries and algorithm changes to deprioritoze accounts who excessively post about politics

For about the last month my experience on the platform went from doom scrolling to wholesome quality content that I find myself now actually enjoying

I speak Japanese so one of the things that was most fun was the automatic translation feature which lead to a lot of very fun interactions between the American and Japanese users, it lead to an absolute flood of posts about food, restaurants, cultural exchange, and just general nerd and otaku stuff that still floods my timeline now

Like how it's not a perfect platform by any means and Elon makes mistakes and breaks things all the time but for me it's become a significantly less depressing platform to use lately

I remember using social media back in the early 2010s which was more about just messing around and coming across someones art or their webpage or just something generally interesting, and at one point it felt like social media transformed more into a tool being used by malicious people to socially engineer our beliefs

And IDK the interactions between Americans and Japanese posts on X have for me captured a tiny piece of why I feel in love with the Internet all those years ago

On the other hand, yes it is funny

Man just 5 years ago I was a big fan of the guy setting up all these crazy futuristic projects.

Now he's just another conservative muppet dedicating all his time to spreading bullshit online, what the hell happened?

Sounds exactly like elon, are we sure it's not him?

This was the best outcome for Twitter it's kinda like old yeller in a way

Because Twitter was such a fountain of healthy dialog, lucid discussion and productive thought before he arrived?

I feel like it couldn't get much worse. I left it years ago, but I haven't heard anything since that made me anything but glad I was gone.

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It's actually impressive how Musk constantly finds new ways to look more stupid and immature.

He posts a lot less about his companies, and a lot more about immigration, border control and free speech.

- Perceived improvements in user experience: Conversely, some Users have experienced an improved user experience due to changes like bot crackdowns and algorithm adjustments that deprioritize political content.

### Financial and Operational Criticism
- Questionable business decisions: The acquisition itself and subsequent operational decisions are often viewed as financially reckless, with some Users referring to it as

I have hated twitter since day one and have hated it more and more as time went by. So I'm sure Musk didn't mean to set 44 billion dollars on fire to destroy it, but hey, works for me I guess.

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