Elon Musk has a 'real question'. Chetan Bhagat has an answer. A Twitter exchange

Both Elon Musk and Chetan Bhagat are active users of Twitter.

Billionaire Elon Musk and best-selling author Chetan Bhagat have one thing in common, apart from being famous: their love for Twitter and using the platform as a conversation starter.

The Tesla and SpaceX chief on Monday directed his attack on the media, questioning why negative news is often highlighted on mainstream platforms.

“Why is the ‘traditional’ media such a relentless hatestream? Real question,” Elon Musk tweeted, drawing in over 15,000 responses and over 20,000 retweets in a matter of hours.

Among those who responded to the entrepreneur’s question was Chetan Bhagat. The author of “Five Point Someone” and “The Three Mistakes Of My Life” blamed the state of the media on ad revenues and gave his take in his reply to Musk.

Because they are desperate for attention. all ad revenues have gone to goog/fb/amzn. U don’t need these media outlets for most news (think weather/celebrity - all avail outside). Hence to get viewers media fear mongers and scrapes bottom of the barrel. They r not evil, just sad.

— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) February 7, 2022

Musk, a supporter of controversial anti-vaccine podcaster Joe Rogan, had earlier responded to a satirical piece about Rogan.

Musk, who has over 73 million followers on Twitter, is among the active business leaders on the social media platform. He regularly shares his insights and opinion on topical issues on Twitter. He overtook Jeff Bezos to become the world's richest person in 2021.

Bhagat, meanwhile, is among the most active Indian authors on Twitter, who often shares his thoughts of a range of issues. He has over 12 million followers on the platform.