Mark Zuckerberg mocks Twitter owner Elon Musk with first tweet in 11 years

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has used his first tweet in more than a decade to apparently poke fun at rival tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Mark Zuckerberg’s first tweet in more than a decade was a jab at Elon Musk.

Mark Zuckerberg has used his first tweet in more than a decade to take a subtle swipe at rival Elon Musk.

The Meta founder posted the tweet on Wednesday – his first since 2012 – just hours after the official launch of Threads, which has been described as his platform’s answer to Musk’s struggling Twitter.

It featured a well-known meme of two Spidermen characters confronting each other, which has been widely interpreted as a jab at the similarities between Twitter and Threads – and Musk and Zuckerberg themselves.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta launched Threads this week. Picture: Josh Edelson/AFP

Soon after Zuckerberg’s tweet was posted, Musk shared a tweet of his own criticising Instagram, which is owned by Meta.

“It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram,” Musk wrote.

There has been ongoing beef between the pair and their companies, with Meta’s chief product officer Chris Cox describing Threads as “our response to Twitter” and explaining that it will allow Instagram users to automatically transfer their followers and user information straight to the new app.

Cox also belittled Musk’s handling of Twitter, claiming Meta has “been hearing from creators and public figures who are interested in having a platform that is sanely run”.

Zuckerberg is also reportedly luring celebrities and influencers to promote the app, which some have already dubbed the “Twitter killer”.

pic.twitter.com/MbMxUWiQgp

— Mark Zuckerberg (@finkd) July 6, 2023

Meta has reportedly been negotiating with TV icon Oprah Winfrey and the Dalai Lama to start accounts and prompt a mass influx of new users.

The latest back-and-forth between the two tech moguls comes around a fortnight after Musk, 52, invited Zuckerberg, 39, to participate in a cage fight in Las Vegas, which he accepted.

Zuckerberg has been achieving success in jiu-jitsu tournaments, although Musk claims his upbringing in South Africa reportedly involved “real hard-core street fights”.

Musk is also significantly taller than Zuckerberg, leading to a flurry of speculation as to who would have the upper hand if a fight did end up happening.

It comes amid ongoing turmoil at Twitter since Musk took over the platform last October for a cool $US44 billion.

Since then, thousands of employees have either been laid off or have quit, content moderation has been slashed and Twitter’s blue tick has also been removed from account holders who refused to pay for verification – including countless celebrities.

Twitter has been plagued by chaos since Elon Musk took over. Picture: Joel Saget/AFP

The verification service is now subscription-only, even for legacy accounts that had long been verified, sparking fears that fraudsters and troublemakers will now be able to impersonate famous people or companies with greater ease.

Just this month, Twitter also limited the number of tweets account holders can view per day, sparking a whole new controversy.

“There should be a public conversations app with 1 billion-plus people on it,” Zuckerberg said in a post talking up the importance of Threads.

“Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will.”