Musk vs Zuck: Let the games begin – Times of India

In school, a common quip heard among boys on the playground was “tu mujhe baahar mil (meet me outside)” which was followed by “dekh loonga tujhe (will settle your score)”. These were at their best hollow, empty threats. And even at their worst, it was followed by a meek fight where some senior (some “Bobby compro” type) would intervene and settle it.
A similar scenario is being played out but — not between silly schoolboys — between two billionaires or the ultimate “tech bros”, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
How did it all start?
Musk, in response to a tweet about Meta starting a Twitter rival, said “I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options. At least it will be “sane”. Was worried there for a moment.” Someone in an off-hand tweet replied to Musk and said he should be careful as “Zuck” knows jiu-jitsu. Musk LOLed and said “I am up for a cage fight he is”.
Now, Zuck who is generally not too combative — perhaps he needs a visit to the Indian capital and learns to use the quintessential Delhi flex “tu janta nahi mein kaun hoon” — surprisingly responded. In one of his Instagram Stories, “Send Me Location,” was his response over a “cage match” tweet.
Over to Musk was Zuck’s message. This was like music to Musk’s ears. Musk being Musk, the twit-in-chief, the master at dropping tweets that generate reams of copies on the internet, promptly gave the location — Vegas octagon and dropped a few hilarious tweets, “I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus’, where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing.” Musk is a social media legend at the LOLs, lulz and social media banter. Money can buy a lot of things but sense of humour doesn’t know any currency, right?
Social media has been abuzz with tweets, memes and so on about the Musk vs Zuck fight.
The governor of Texas has also quipped with a “do it, biggest fight in the history” tweet. Madhav Sheth, former CEO of Realme India, also tweeted, “Interesting! Team Elon v/s Team Zuckerberg. Who are you supporting?” And the common folk on Twitter are absolutely reveling in delight at the prospect of the two men getting out and taking on each other.

And in shades of the old “Sehwag ki maa ka phone” commercial for Reliance in the early 2000s, Musk’s mother has apparently joined the conversation. “No joking,” Maye Musk wrote on Twitter. “Fight with words only. In armchairs. 4 feet apart. The funniest person wins.” Well, not exactly “kar lo duniya muthhi mein” like Sehwag ki maa but you get the drift.
The real fight?
While all this might be just bluster and nothing but a war of tweets, stories and memes, Musk will soon be under pressure. Twitter has been bleeding money and the return of investment for him in one year has been quite low. People have been asking for a Twitter alternative for a while now. Mastodon hasn’t really made the cut whereas other alternatives haven’t gained momentum to put a dent in Twitter’s dominance.
In such a situation, if Meta is readying its answer to Twitter, it will be a curveball for Musk. Meta — for all its flaws — does command a huge user base across its family of apps. Be it Instagram or Facebook or Messenger, there are billions who use Meta’s apps daily. On paper, Meta has a readymade audience who might be ready to test the waters with its Twitter alternative. It is tentatively rumoured to be called “Threads”.
Musk has this image of an alpha male. The “cool bro”, the man on whom Tony Stark is supposed to be based. He has a cult fan following who are convinced that the man is destined to change the world. His stint at Twitter has shattered some of those illusions but still, he is the saviour-in-chief for many.
The real fight will be in the social media space where Meta could emerge as a real challenger to Twitter. Meta might be not setting the metaverse on fire, but its social media game is on point. The company does know how to do social media, and it knows how to do it well. Threads or whatever it may be called could turn out to be an “epic fail” moment but the idea that it could succeed might have got Musk worried and the “cage fight” gives him the opportunity to set the narrative on social media as of now.
Will the fight happen? Dana White who is the CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship believes that both men are “dead serious”. Bets are being taken, odds are being shortened in either men’s favour, and it is content that has gone “viral”. It may or may not happen. Such is the divide on social media that it is being billed as a battle between good and evil. Good and evil depend on whose side you are on.
Where should smart money go on in this fight? Right where it is, in your pockets. Just like every school fight, get a few laughs because like the fighters, the audience also knows, there’s nothing serious going on here.