Tesla is hiring dedicated support workers to handle angry tweets directed at Elon Musk

[Polycount]

Facepalm: Tesla CEO Elon Musk gets quite a lot of attention on social media -- much of it is positive, but a fair portion of it is rather critical. To stem the tide of complaints Musk receives on any given day, Tesla will be hiring dedicated employees who will (among other tasks) "address social media escalations directed at the CEO," and respond to them with "critical thinking."

It's rather unusual for a company to hire workers specifically for a purpose like this, but then again, Tesla is an unusual company with an eccentric CEO. Perhaps that sort of environment demands a different approach to customer service (though Tesla does, of course, still have its own full support department).

This news comes courtesy of a job listing published on Tesla's official website. The position is remote but full-time, and those approved for it will be formally known as "Energy Customer Support Specialists."

The job comes with full benefits, and the requirements are surprisingly lax -- aside from the usual "team player spirit" qualifications every company asks for, you'll only need a year of call center experience (or "equivalent") to meet Tesla's standards.

The job listing makes it clear that "professionalism" will be key for any applicants, which is just as much for the employee's sake as it is Tesla's. Musk has plenty of detractors, and it will probably take an iron will to stand up to the inevitable tide of vitriol you'd face in a position like this.

Image credit: Vasilis Asvestas

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/88339-tesla-hiring-dedicated-support-workers-handle-angry-tweets.html

 

[Vulcanproject]

If Trump had an organisation for that he would have easily been the largest single employer in the world

 

[mailpup]

If Trump had an organisation for that he would have easily been the largest single employer in the world

It may yet happen.

 

[FF222]

""address social media escalations directed at the CEO," and respond to them with "critical thinking.""
And with "address" they actually mean "bury them" and with "with critical thinking" they actually mean "pointless spam and trolling". Because people are not supposed to be faced with well-founded criticism of Musk, just praises and approvals.

Tell me again, how will this job / division at Tesla be different from what for ex. Russian and Chinese trolls and troll farms are doing?

 

[McKocoa]

PR teams are nothing new, however this bring up questions about the reliability and long-term quality of telsers

 

[VitalyT]

Social bouncers.

 

[captaincranky]

So basically what you're you're saying is, that I"m not the only person in the world who thinks that Musk is a complete a**hole.

 

[Uncle Al]

If Trump had an organisation for that he would have easily been the largest single employer in the world

I don't believe there are enough bodies in this hemisphere to handle that job!

 

[koblongata]

This is why I don't want to be famous

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

All of the best run companies with a social media presence will address complaints and provide technical support on social media as well, I don't know why it's considered "unusual". The only thing that's unusual is that they'll be looking for messages directed at the CEO as well as the company (only because he's well known). Some examples of this include restaurants/fast food (ie. Wendys), banks, and pretty much anything that provides service via their website.

There are tons of articles on this, here are the first few I found:

• https://www.zendesk.com/blog/customer-service-through-social-media/
• https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-...-to-use-social-media-in-it-technical-support/
• https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5917-social-media-customer-service.html

 

[captaincranky]

Elon Musk is, the Donald Trump of techno;logy". In the same manner Trump today, gave himself credit for "creating vaccines", Elon Musk would have you believe "he invented the rocket".

Thousands of people work tirelessly and diligently to, "embody his vision", but a reasonable person might say, "dude, we read the same comic books and watched the same sct-fi movies that you did, why not share the credit.

Instead, he chooses to hog the spotlight, and bullsh!t the press, with nonsense he obviously drew from watching "The Matrix". "Why we might be living in a computer simulation", he says in his best in front of the camera voice.

He's not Galileo, he's not Thomas Edison, he's not Sir Isaac Newton, he's not even Buckminster Fuller, he's a major windbag and camera hog.

I do give him credit as one of the greatest fund raising leeches the world has ever produced.

There, I've said it. I feel much better,without the need to talk to some jacka** apologist by tweet or phone, or any other means of communication.

 

[duckofdeath]

Excellent plan. Because feeding the trllls has always worked to stop them. They're after all known for being exceptionally reasonable.

 

[sac39507]

Follow Microsoft support's model. Just hire high school kids minimum wage to respond to every inquiry or complaint with a scripted response. Done!. Easy peasy.

 

[terzaerian]

Energy customer? I'll have to try that one out sometime

 

[lipe123]

Elon Musk is, the Donald Trump of techno;logy". In the same manner Trump today, gave himself credit for "creating vaccines", Elon Musk would have you believe "he invented the rocket".

Thousands of people work tirelessly and diligently to, "embody his vision", but a reasonable person might say, "dude, we read the same comic books and watched the same sct-fi movies that you did, why not share the credit.

Instead, he chooses to hog the spotlight, and bullsh!t the press, with nonsense he obviously drew from watching "The Matrix". "Why we might be living in a computer simulation", he says in his best in front of the camera voice.

He's not Galileo, he's not Thomas Edison, he's not Sir Isaac Newton, he's not even Buckminster Fuller, he's a major windbag and camera hog.

I do give him credit as one of the greatest fund raising leeches the world has ever produced.

There, I've said it. I feel much better,without the need to talk to some jacka** apologist by tweet or phone, or any other means of communication.

Except you are quite wrong. He never claimed to invent rockets but he helped design and brought to life rocket engines that are much better than any other existing options.
Also he is far from stupid, he created paypal and ebay while he was still young and sold those off for lots of cash.

You just sound like a typical person that's jealous of the success of others.

No one is saying Musk is a nice guy or some kind of saint, he can be an ******* but he's not stupid or taking credit for the work of others.

 

[FF222]

Also he is far from stupid, he created paypal and ebay while he was still young

No, he didn't do any of that.

You just sound like a typical person that's jealous of the success of others.

More just somebody who can't stand when some egomaniacs take all credit for things actually created by others. Which perfectly describes the situation of Elon Musk.

 

[lipe123]

No, he didn't do any of that.

Ok he didn't personally code it I'll give you that sure.

More just somebody who can't stand when some egomaniacs take all credit for things actually created by others. Which perfectly describes the situation of Elon Musk.

Show me one instance where Musk is boasting about how he himself made something?
In every news article and interview he says "my team" "we" "us" etc.

Honestly not sure anything can change a mind that's not willing to do so but it's worth a try I guess.

 

[FF222]

Ok he didn't personally code it I'll give you that sure.

No. He literally had nothing to do with the creation neither of that eBay, nor that of PayPal. He was never involved in the former at all, and the only relation he had with PayPal was that the actual creators of the online payment system we know now as PayPal (and which was originally named Confinity) acquired one of his companies.

Show me one instance where Musk is boasting about how he himself made something?

You've it backwards. Show me one example when he names the actual individuals behind a project for which he's credited for, even though he clearly haven't and couldn't have possibly done that alone, let alone be the major contributor in it, for obvious time and physical constraints. When was the last time he actually refused to take credit for any development at Tesla, SpaceX, etc., said that it wasn't his achievement, and named the actual key engineers, inventors, etc. behind said project? Can you point me to such interviews?

In every news article and interview he says "my team"

No he doesn't. Also using "my team" in such a context is a prime example of somebody subtly, but clearly attributing an entire group of people and all their achievements to ultimately himself. That's the exact meaning of using "my people" instead of for ex. "we at Tesla" or "the people at Tesla".

"we" "us" etc.

Just like kings referred to themselves centuries ago (see majestic plural).