Elon Musk as an ongoing case study in audience capture
After following Elon Musk almost religiously over the last 13 years, observing his gradual but stark personality shift from my initial perception of him has been fascinating. Since 2020, I started developing a theory to help contextualize my observations and now feel compelled to write about what I think is easily the most consequential case of audience capture in history. This will be a long one so, strap in.
At its core, audience capture describes the process by which social media users gradually modify their behavior to appeal to their most engaged audience members. While this phenomenon has been widely documented among influencers and content creators, its manifestation in someone of Elon’s stature and resources presents a unique view into how this dynamic can shape even the most seemingly independent actors.
Pre-2016: Elon Musk, the visionary engineer
In the years before 2016...