A lesson in how to handle a rampaging Elon Musk on Twitter? 7 points to redemption!

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Elon Musk’s unsolicited bid to buy Twitter Inc. is a triggering event for me and my former colleagues. In 2019, I was working as the digital editor of the London-based New Scientist, the weekly science magazine, when Musk tweeted idly about how much it would cost to buy it.

Occasional interactions with @ElonMusk weren’t new to me or my team. One coworker used to direct-message him every few months asking for an interview—and to sneakily promote my colleague’s book. Sometimes Musk even responded, claiming “New Scientist is my favorite periodical.” Little did we know this flirtation would lead to a takeover offer, on Twitter, for our science magazine one spring day in 2019.

After complaining about our publication’s paywall, Musk asked how much it would cost to just buy New Scientist outright. Ultimately, a deal didn’t happen—though the company was later sold to the Daily Mail Group for about 70 million pounds ($92 million). But Musk’s offer sent management scrambling over how to respond.

Here’s what my team learned from the experience:

The early warning sign of an impending buyout offer from Musk is that he’s following your account. Is he @-ing you with cryptic tweets? Does he DM you? These are the key indicators of a Musk hostile takeover that you and your social media managers should be looking for.

Good advice in any circumstance. Particularly one where the fate of your company rests on the whims of the world’s richest man—with a Twitter following of 81.7 million—who seems to enjoy chaos.

That underpaid and frustrated person who sits in a corner of your office all day thinking of the best GIFs to send on Slack? They are now the most important person in your entire corporation.

Musk is known as a “memelord,” a person who