I don't see these as fully symmetric. I see them as oppositional, and indeed a long will do the things which improve their position. But since thats constructive not destructive, there appears to me to be a useful distinction.
What did I get wrong here?
Your assumption that corporate PR is “emerging reality”. Shorts are also capable of revealing reality.
I think musk is a very flawed capitalist, but I think Tesla is interesting as a company. Panasonic is huge. Their decision to invest in the battery plant speaks to me more than the shorts do. Likewise the Chinese decision to invest in the gigafactory. These are not short positions, they are major long-term capital investment which is continuing.
I don't think all shorts do this. I do think a lot of Musk shorts (relatively speaking) do this.