Tech Titans Tank: Americans Turn Cold Shoulder to Musk and Zuckerberg

The numbers are in, and they're not pretty for Silicon Valley's most prominent figures. A fresh Pew Research survey shows Americans have grown weary of tech's poster boys, with both Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg facing significant disapproval ratings.

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 22 - Musk, now sporting a government ID badge alongside his Tesla credentials, has managed to alienate 54% of Americans. Perhaps running a car company and a country simultaneously isn't the best strategy for winning hearts and minds. His new role as Trump's efficiency czar has turned him into a partisan lightning rod, with 85% of Democrats giving him the thumbs down while 73% of Republicans still believe he can walk on water – or at least drive a Cybertruck on it.

Zuckerberg, meanwhile, has achieved something remarkable in our divided times: bipartisan disapproval. A whopping 67% of Americans view him unfavorably, proving that some things can still unite the country. His recent decision to make Facebook a fact-checking-free zone hasn't helped his popularity, though it has certainly made family dinners more interesting.

The generation gap adds another layer to this tech drama. Young adults under 30 are particularly unimpressed, with 67% viewing Musk unfavorably and 70% giving Zuckerberg the digital equivalent of an unfollow. It seems the youth aren't buying what these former wunderkinds are selling anymore.

Why this matters:

• The tech industry's "move fast and break things" mantra has finally broken something significant: public trust
• The transformation of tech leaders from innovation heroes to political players has fundamentally altered their public perception
• When both Republicans and Democrats agree someone's unpopular, it might be time to update more than just the privacy settings

Read on, my dear:

• pew research: How Americans view Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg