Can Your Social Media Feed Destroy You?

This is a picture of Elon Musk. Musk is the founder and CEO of SpaceX; co-founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; co-founder and CEO of Neuralink; and co-founder of PayPal. He’s a very wealthy business man and is worth about $20.4 billion dollars. But with wealth and fame comes extreme criticism.

Elon Musk was recently negatively criticised by multiple people online for smoking weed in an interview in a state where it was legal. Tesla stock started to drop soon after.

Have you ever thought about how people may think of others because of the way they’ re portrayed in social media? Many people have their careers and lives ruined because of a negative criticism on social media. In this investigation, I will explore the question: Does social media have a positive or negative impact on a person’s reputation?

Interview with Mr. Otto

Who is Elon Musk to you?

“So to me, Elon Musk is just another rich billionaire, who spends his money in extravagant ways and has all types of businesses…”

How much do you think Musk means to the world of science and engineering?

“I think to the world of science and engineering, he’s pretty important. I mean he has a lot of money to do things a lot of other people can’t do and we’ve already seen so far in the last year, he had his SpaceX successful launch with reusable rockets” ... “he has done a lot of different things that have helped pushed tech and science in a pretty good direction…”

Have you heard about him smoking weed in an interview? What do you think of this?

“If he wants to do that in his free time, I don’t see any issue with that.”

Do you think he deserves the negative attention he’s receiving?

“No, I don’t think so” ... “He’s a person who can make their own choices, he has a lot of money, he owns a lot of businesses” … “I don’t think he deserved all the negative backlash.”

Example of Someone's Life Being Ruined by Social Media

TO the left is a video about a man who was portrayed as someone he wasn’t and social media helped spread the lie.

What does this mean for students at Carver?

I believe that this should show students how powerful social media is when other people post things and their followers repost them. I think our generation as a whole under values the power of the “like button” and the ability to share anything rather it be fake or real.

What are the implications for future investigations?Again to just be mindful of what you or others say on social media. Think about how what you share may affect others.