There are a lot of potentially offensive emojis to use if you're looking to target someone, but it was the pregnant man Elon Musk opted for when he took to Twitter to mock Bill Gates this week.
Obviously the pregnant man is not designed to be an offensive emoji, but it's the context of this particular usage that turned what could otherwise be considered a happy image into one of criticism.
Personally, I'd probably opt for the 'about to be sick' face, maybe the 'yawn' or perhaps the devil if the person the message was aimed at particularly deserved it for some reason. Not the smiley poo though – he's never hurt anyone.
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Anyway, Musk didn't use this emoji in the words of the tweet itself; instead he used it to create a side-by-side comparison showing the golden man, wearing a blue shirt and holding his stomach, and Gates himself.
The Microsoft co-founder is also wearing a blue top in this particular image used by Musk, with the comparison to the pregnant man drawing attention to his stomach.
Musk made no effort to hide the fact he was implying Gates' stomach made him unattractive as he wrote alongside the image: "in case u need to lose a b*ner fast".
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The SpaceX founder didn't bother to tag Gates in the tweet, making it a very obvious indirect post.
It's unclear exactly what sparked this particular outburst, but it proved very controversial with Twitter users as while the post received thousands of likes, many people also responded to criticise Musk for the post.
One Twitter user implied the tweet was childish as they wrote, "What the f**k is this the 7th grade?", while another commented: "Okay... That's slightly petty. Not even sure why you'd tweet something like that."
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A third person responded: "Did he attack you, though? Just trying to figure out the motivation for the post. And not being overly-sensitive or holier than thou or anything like that. But something about attacking appearance has a high-school-age "bully" kind of feel to it."
Musk acknowledged the mixed responses in a follow-up tweet in which he shared an image of hooded figures gathering together, writing: "shadow ban council reviewing tweet …"
The post came after Musk offered to buy Twitter itself for $54.20 a share and laid out his financing plan with the Securities and Exchange Commission, explaining he would use $46.5 billion worth of loans provided through two debt commitment letters as well as $21 billion paid by Musk himself to cover the cost.
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Topics: Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Twitter, Viral, Life
Emily Brown