Elon Musk has again poked fun at Meta's Instagram, writing on X that 'Instagram is for girls'. The reply came to a post by venture capitalist Geiger Capital, who said he had deleted Instagram and called it an 'inherently female app' with 'zero benefit'. The remark drew tens of thousands of likes and thousands of replies and quotes within hours.
Not the first time
It repeats a jibe from May, when Musk replied to a viral thread comparing social media platforms to phases of life with 'Lmao Instagram is for girls'. In a follow-up, he said grown men sometimes send him their Instagram profiles and he wonders whether they are 'transitioning'. That follow-up drew particular criticism.
The latest post continues Musk's long-running rivalry with Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. He has often used X to comment on rival platforms and to present his own as a venue for open, unfiltered discussion. Meta has not responded in the coverage I found.
Netizens split
Reactions on X were mixed. Some users agreed or joked about differences between the platforms. Others called the comment sexist and a reinforcement of gender stereotypes, noting that Instagram has around two billion users, many of them men. Some responses said the platform is for people of all genders.
Memes take over
As usual, humour filled the replies. Memes riffed on the line with jokes such as "X is for boys." One user suggested men need their own app called "Brostagram," while another woman wrote that plenty of girls spend all day on X rather than Instagram.
