The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →According to a reported account of the book Character Limit, Elon Musk first considered Twitter a waste of time, even though his then-wife, Justine Musk, used the service constantly in its early days and encouraged him to join. The anecdote reaches readers through Futurism’s August 28, 2024 article about the book. It is not a firsthand quotation from Musk or from Justine Musk, and it should be read as the book’s reported account rather than as verified testimony.
Where the anecdote comes from
The story appears in Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, written by New York Times reporters Kate Conger and Ryan Mac and published by Penguin Random House on September 17, 2024. Futurism’s Noor Al-Sibai picked up the early-days anecdote in a piece titled “When Elon Musk First Saw His Wife Using Twitter, He Thought It Was a Waste of Time,” published August 28, 2024. Futurism attributes the account to the book, so the chain of attribution runs from the reporters to the book to Futurism to readers. Musk is not quoted saying the words “waste of time” in any verified original, and the reporting does not give a year for the early period described.
What the early reaction shows
The contrast at the center of the anecdote is simple. Justine Musk was an enthusiastic early user who pushed her husband toward the platform. Musk, as Futurism describes the book’s account, saw little value in it. The reporting presents this as an early impression, not a considered position that lasted. That framing matters: the anecdote describes a first reaction, and the article’s later material describes how his use changed.
The 2011 remark about the 140-character limit
Futurism also reproduces a December 2011 post in which Musk complained about the service’s 140-character limit. The sentence Futurism quotes is: “Not sure I can handle just doing 140 char missives.” Futurism adds that he said he would put his “longer thoughts” on Google Plus. Futurism is the only source for this wording in the material available here, and the original post was not re-examined, so the quotation and its date should be read as Futurism’s report of the post.
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From skeptic to frequent poster
Futurism’s account traces a shift in how Musk used the platform. The timeline below lists each reported step and the basis for it.
| When | Reported event | Basis for the claim |
|---|---|---|
| Early days of Twitter (year not stated) | Justine Musk uses the service constantly and encourages her husband to join; he initially dismisses it as a waste of time | Futurism, August 28, 2024, describing Character Limit |
| 2010 | Musk takes control of the @ElonMusk account from an impostor | Futurism, describing Character Limit |
| December 2011 | Musk complains about the 140-character limit and says he would put longer thoughts on Google Plus | Futurism’s reproduction of the post; original not re-examined |
| Late 2011 | Musk posts frequently and uses Twitter to communicate with audiences around Tesla and SpaceX and to shape his public narrative | Futurism’s account of the book; no separate figures on post volume are given |
What the anecdote does not establish
The anecdote describes an early reaction and a later change in use. It does not establish Musk’s private motives for either. Nothing in the reported material shows why he dismissed the service at first or why he later used it so heavily, and the reporting does not claim that his first impression explains his later conduct on the platform. Readers who want to interpret the change should treat the timeline as a description of what happened, not as evidence of intent.
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Reading the book alongside the anecdote
The anecdote is one early passage in a much larger account. According to the publisher’s description, Character Limit draws on interviews, documents, and internal Twitter recordings, and it covers Musk’s takeover of Twitter and its consequences. The book’s listed length is 480 pages. Readers looking for the first-impression story will find it in the early part of the book’s narrative as Futurism describes it; the rest of the book concerns the takeover itself, which is a separate subject.
The book is the only source discussed here for the anecdote, so it is the natural place to check the account in full. Confirm the current edition and availability with your preferred bookseller before purchasing.
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