Elon Musk Dubbed "Space Karen"
The Claim
Tech mogul Elon Musk was dubbed “Space Karen” on Twitter following a controversial tweet about COVID-19 testing.
Emerging story
Elon Musk, the CEO of tech giant Tesla and internet golden boy, recently caused waves yet again on Twitter. After taking four rapid antigen tests for COVID-19, Musk claimed that “something extremely bogus is going on” after two tests came back negative while the other two were positive. Replies to the tweet ranged from cries of Musk being irresponsible, to suggestions that revenue is a motivating factor for testing.
Several days after the tweet was published, the phrase “Space Karen” began trending in regard to Musks’ apparent suspicion of rapid testing. Some users criticized Musk for using his enormous influence to sow doubt in the testing process. Others ran with the tweet and took it as further evidence of a conspiracy linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that Musk’s tweet, as well as the fervor surrounding his “Space Karen” designation, did take place.
As many have pointed out to Musk, the rapid-tests for COVID-19 are not as accurate as lab-based testing. It is very much an exchange of consistency for speed. Alarmingly, news has recently surfaced that rapid-tests are not as accurate as initially believed. These tests have been shown to be somewhat prone to falsely negative or false positive results. This is speculated to be due to rushing tests through the approval process in order to make them available for public use. However, new methods of testing are also being made that may be more secure and accurate.
We at Misbar will continue to investigate the issues involved with COVID-19 testing and track new developments as they appear.
