Reddit CEO criticizes Elon Musk for being backward about Internet culture

  "If he bought Twitter, Elon Musk would be in a bad situation, because he was not prepared," the former CEO of Reddit asserted.

In a post on Twitter, Yishan Wong, CEO of Reddit from 2012-2014 shared about the reality of operating a social networking platform, and said that Musk knows nothing about Twitter. According to Wong, the world's richest billionaire is outdated and doesn't understand the current Internet culture.

Musk's Internet Vision Is Outdated

The former CEO of Reddit thinks that many Gen X tech moguls, including Elon Musk, grew up in a very different cyber world than they do today.

“For them, the Internet symbolizes freedom, a new land and an ideal place where people can be sublimated. They believe that this platform will help humanity enter an era of brilliant development," Wong wrote on his personal page.

The former CEO of Reddit thinks that Elon Musk should not take over Twitter. Photo: AFP.

However, Wong thinks that image is outdated. According to him, the world has changed and freedom of speech is now not simply speaking up, but fighting and defending one's point of view to the end.

“The Internet is not a place for people to speak freely now. It is the world in reality, where cultures collide and clash with each other,” he said.

The former CEO of social network Reddit also said that Elon Musk was slow to Bitcoin and if he really understood the current Internet culture, he would know it sooner. “All day, just hanging around with electric vehicle technology and rockets, it was really difficult for him to understand social networks,” said Wong.

Elon Musk will turn into a criminal for Twitter

Commenting on the Tesla CEO's decision to take over Twitter, Wong said that the more Musk tries to fix things that he considers wrong, the more problems he creates. Wong thinks this will waste Musk's time, concerns and even mental torture.

Former CEO of Reddit, Yishan Wong thinks that managing a social network is not as ideal as others imagine. While not sitting in the CEO seat, Elon Musk will have to be blamed for Twitter's shortcomings.

“The process of running a social network is very hard, so I don't think Elon Musk should do this. It is too time consuming and in my opinion his time is very valuable and limited,” Wong wrote.

On the other hand, when it comes to social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, Wong said they are not interested in politics or free speech. Basically, the platform is created so that people can share anything without any consequences to social networks. Therefore, people began to show the dark side of themselves and create a world of social networks, the Internet like today.

Responding to the post by CEO Yishan Wong, Elon Musk only commented that Twitter really needs a longer post feature.

Elon Musk has just offered to buy all of Twitter for $43 billion. In an email to the Twitter board, the world's richest billionaire said the platform "cannot thrive and serve (freedom of speech) in its current state". Musk also echoed this comment in his TED 2022 talk.

In order to prevent billionaire Elon Musk from buying the entire company, Twitter decided to apply a defensive tactic of "poison". This mechanism gives shareholders the right to buy back shares at a lower market price, with the aim of diluting the intended acquirer's shares. In the case of Twitter, the "poison" defense tactic will immediately dilute Musk's stock, making the ambition to buy all of Twitter more difficult.

At TED 2022, Elon Musk revealed he had a backup plan prepared but declined to elaborate.