--- title: "When Elon Musk First Saw His Wife Using Twitter, He Thought It Was a Waste of Time" description: "A forthcoming book about Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter includes a telling anecdote about his first thoughts upon encountering the site. " date: "2024-08-28" modified: "2024-08-28" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-twitter-time-waste" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "justine musk" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # When Elon Musk First Saw His Wife Using Twitter, He Thought It Was a Waste of Time ![A forthcoming book about Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter includes a telling anecdote about his first thoughts upon encountering the site. ]() *\Image: Richard Bord / WireImage via Getty / Futurism\* ## Days of Yore A forthcoming book about Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter includes a hilariously telling anecdote about the billionaire's first impression back when he initially encountered the site. In their soon-to-be-released book "[Character Limit]()," the *New York Times*' [Ryan Mac and Kate Conger recounted]() that Musk wasn't a huge fan of the site when his [first wife](), Justine Musk, began using it during its early days. When the serial entrepreneur's then-wife encouraged him to join the site, Musk initially dismissed it. While Justine used the site "constantly," per the *NYT* reporters' book, it seems that her husband considered it a waste of time. Even after taking over the @ElonMusk account from an imposter in 2010 — this was back before the days of Twitter's original blue check verification system that he [later destroyed]() — Musk still seemed to have little use for the service. "Not sure I can handle just doing 140 char missives," the future Twitter owner [wrote in a December 2011 post](). Ironically, Musk added that he'd be putting his "longer thoughts" on Google Plus, which was [shuttered in 2019](). The jokes write themselves. ## Turn Tables Anyone who's ever suffered a Twitter addiction knows that once you start tweeting, it's hard to stop. That seems to have been the case for Musk, who [by the end of 2011]() was tweeting all manner of nonsense. Soon after, the multi-hyphenate billionaire seemed, as the *NYT* reporters noted, to realize how powerful Twitter could be and sought to harness it for his own ends. As Conger and Mac report, Musk soon seemed to figure out that with Twitter, he could provide his increasingly adoring public with updates on Tesla and SpaceX and control his narrative in the face of the mainstream media he'd grown to distrust. The rest, as they say, is history. While far from the first or last time this particular entrepreneur [radically changed his mind](), his Twitter about-face is perhaps one of the more conspicuous in Musk's [storied flip-flopping history](). From ramping up his use of the site [in late 2011]() to outright purchasing it in 2022, the ensuing decade saw massive growth for both Twitter and its eventual owner. And as their paths further dovetailed, so too did the [demise of the OG Twitter]() we once knew and loved. **More on Musk reversals:** [*As He Realized His Mistake, Elon Musk Begged Twitter Staff to Turn Off the New Feature He'd Pushed For*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()