Yesterday Motherboard editor Sarah Jeong pointed out the painfully obvious: Despite being notoriously active on the site, Elon Musk doesn’t follow any women on Twitter. At press time, he follows 55 people, brands and news outlets total, 21 of which are men. One of which is Ryan Reynolds. Can’t fault him on that.
In true Elon style, he wasted no time firing back on Twitter:
I use twitter for news orgs. My Insta has same women as men. What's up with the phoney PC police axe-grinding?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2016
Shortly after, he followed his first-ever Twitter Woman: GQ Magazine’s Caity Weaver. “I’ve always considered myself one of the top women in the world, so I would say this shows excellent judgement on his part,” she said in a very important and revealing interview with the magazine.
Of course, it’s not a requirement to follow any particular demographic on social media, but being exposed to a wide variety of voices from all backgrounds and experiences benefits everyone. Especially when you’re running three companies shaping how our future will look: SpaceX, Solar City and Tesla. And especially when your industry has such a diversity problem.
As a friendly reminder to diversify your feeds — for Elon and all of us — here are a few suggestions for people to follow on Twitter:
Emily Lakdawalla
“Senior Editor & Planetary Evangelist, The Planetary Society. Planetary scientist, writer, public speaker. Writing a book on Curiosity mission. Asteroid 274860.”
Here's my quick and dirty version of the final, out-of-focus series of OSIRIS WAC images taken by @ESA_Rosetta. pic.twitter.com/Nc7BW6EbuP
— Emily Lakdawalla (@elakdawalla) September 30, 2016
Ellen Stofan
“Planetary geologist, STEM advocate, Chief Scientist of NASA”
An inspirational #quote from former Right To Play #WomensNetwork speaker, NASA Chief Scientist @EllenStofan. #ThoughtfulThursday pic.twitter.com/RjIajsMYD1
— Right To Play UK (@RightToPlay_UK) September 29, 2016
Dr. Mae Jemison
“First woman of color in space, Physician, Scientist, Engineer, Explorer & Futurist. Leader 100 Year Starship. Someone who proves that daring makes a difference!”
Tomorrow is the opening of the Mae Jemison High School in Huntsville, Alabama! @hsbk12 @NASA_Marshall @Astro_Jan #DaringMakesADifference
— Dr. Mae Jemison (@maejemison) August 1, 2016
Dava Newman
“@NASA Deputy Administrator. Engineer. Explorer. Educator. Advocate for#STEAMD – science, technology, engineering, arts, math, design.”
Still so excited about the incredible @OSIRISREx launch last week. On to Bennu! pic.twitter.com/Ve98wGVDQG
— Dava Newman (@DavaExplorer) September 13, 2016
Dr. Camille Alleyne
“Rocket Scientist | Speaker | Humanitarian |S.T.E.M. Ambassador”
Test firing of engine that will propel @NASA_SLS, largest rocket being built to send humans on a #JourneyToMars 🚀 pic.twitter.com/3sn7nsi8mM
— Dr. Camille W Alleyne (@camillelisa) August 19, 2016
Sam Cristoforetti
“Samantha Cristoforetti. European of Italian nationality. Lived on ISS Nov’14-Jun’15. Now adjusting back to being an Earthling on our beautiful spaceship Earth.”
Beautiful pictures of this morning's #Soyuz landing. Welcome back to Earth! https://t.co/pnu3WgsBlX
— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) September 7, 2016
Jenn Gustetic
Public Sector Innovator & Aerospace Engineer. Passionate abt partnerships & engagement. Current & former tribes:@NASA @whitehouseostp @MIT @UF.
Interesting perspective on the difference: "Scientists study the world as it is, engineers create the world that never has been." https://t.co/b1TClMsUrn
— Jenn Gustetic 🚀💪🏻 (@jenngustetic) September 28, 2016
Katie Mack
“(a.k.a. Dr Katherine J Mack) astrophysicist, occasional freelance science writer, connoisseur of airplane food”
[50 years with no Nobel Prizes for women in physics]
"Hey here are some women who should get the prize"
"OMG GENDER SHOULDN'T BE A FACTOR"— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) October 3, 2016
Sarah Jeong
“contributing editor @Motherboard. nested deep inside #toomanyfolders.”
When your company's diversity doesn't even reflect the diversity of tech (ex.: demographics of CS graduating classes), you're bad at hiring
— sarah jeong (@sarahjeong) September 29, 2016
Talulah Riley
“My first novel ACTS OF LOVE from@HodderBooks is on UK bookshelves August 11th! Co-founder: @joinforgeInstagram: @talulahrm“
Type-cast, clearly 😉 https://t.co/jgfFG581Au
— Talulah Riley (@TalulahRiley) October 2, 2016
BONUS FOLLOWS: Black Women in STEM, Latinas in STEM, STEM Women
