Stephen King Is Not A Fan Of Elon Musk’s Twitter, And He’s Not Alone

Horror author Stephen King offered his opinion on the chaotic state of Twitter, which has become a weird, wild place ever since the site was taken over by billionaire Elon Musk.

King tweeted that he’s not a fan of the social media platform these days, writing: I think I liked Twitter better in the pre-Musk days. Less controversy, more fun.” Musk responded directly, with a playful ghost emoji.

King did not respond, and Musk replied again, with what seemed to be a tepid peace offering: “I’m still a fan of you tbh.” Again, King didn’t bother to respond, and eventually, Musk deleted the comment.

King has complained about Musk’s management of Twitter before, previously comparing him to Tom Sawyer, a fictional con artist who tricks the gullible into paying to do chores.

King also threatened to leave the site if Musk’s much-mocked proposal to charge Twitter users $20 for verification came to pass, which led to Musk’s now-infamous response, in which he suggested that $8 might be a more reasonable price (as has become clear, verification exists to filter out scammers and copycat accounts, not as a status symbol for the extremely online).

Again, King didn’t respond to Musk.

In a later tweet, Musk appeared to reference his recent exchange with King, but really, he could have been alluding to several of the site’s high-profile users, many of which, such as Mark Cuban, have criticized the changes.

King is far from the only Twitter user concerned with the way the site is being managed, as Musk actually followed through with his ill-advised plan, launching Twitter’s new verification system on Wednesday. As expected, paid verification soon attracted trolls and pranksters, who created verified profiles to mimic brands, celebrities and politicians, wreaking havoc across the site (and the stock market) with misinformation and jokes.

The paid verification system was then halted, as the site grappled with the very problem that every single critic had warned about.

But while many are troubled by the fluctuations of the site, and its uncertain future, others are reveling in the chaos.

Twitter has always been an explosive arena of information exchange, silly feuds and absurd witticisms, but the paid verification checkmarks armed pranksters with a new and powerful weapon.

Brands are, understandably, spooked, and being advised to pause ad spend on the platform, even as the site’s user growth spikes, as Twitter users gawk at the ongoing drama.

Musk’s Twitter has been compared to the last day of school, or the sinking Titanic; there’s a sense that it all might end abruptly, but before it does, anything could happen.

Some celebrities have already flown the bird’s nest, fearing the worst, such as Whoopi Goldberg, Shonda Rhimes, Gigi Hadid, David Simon and Stephen Fry. Steven King, however, is still on Twitter.

Perhaps King, revered storyteller, can talk some sense into Musk; that is, if Musk is still “a big fan” after that one-sided exchange.