‘Instagram Is for Girls’: Elon Musk Reignites Feud With Meta
Elon Musk has repeated his 'Instagram is for girls' remark on X after venture capitalist Geiger Capital said it had deleted the app. The post has drawn mixed reactions and revived the Musk vs Meta rivalry.
Elon Musk has once again taken a dig at Instagram, posting "Instagram is for girls" on X on October 1 and reigniting his long-running rivalry with Meta and its social-media platforms. The billionaire was replying to a post by venture capitalist Geiger Capital, who had said he "officially deleted Instagram" and described the platform as an "inherently female app". Musk's reply was brief, but it was widely circulated on X, with thousands of users reacting to it within hours.
The remark has also revived a wider debate over gender stereotypes on social media, with users split on whether Musk was making a joke or a point.
Elon Musk Says 'Instagram Is for Girls' Again on X
Instagram is for girls
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2026
How Netizens Reacted to Musk's Post
Some users sided with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, with one writing, "X is for the boys."
Others pushed back on the idea that Instagram is meant mainly for women. One user wrote, "I don't agree. I think Instagram is a welcoming space for all genders, and I generally see much more body positivity, inclusivity and diverse representation there as well!"
Another user took a lighter jab at Musk, saying, "Bro realized that after creating an Insta account for himself." Meta, YouTube Reverse Rejections and Restore Paid Advertising for Alex Gibney's Upcoming Elon Musk Documentary.
Not the First Time Musk Has Said This
This is not the first time Musk has targeted the Photo-sharing platform. In May, he made a similar comment while responding to a viral discussion about social-media habits, writing "Instagram is for girls" before separately mocking men who send him links to their Instagram profiles. That post had also drawn criticism and split opinion online. Elon Musk's X Lures Meta Employees With 'Snack' Perks Following Layoffs and Low Morale.
How the Musk vs Meta Rivalry Began
The feud between X and Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, intensified in July 2023, when Meta launched Threads, a text-based platform built by the Instagram team. Meta pitched it as a service for sharing text updates and joining public conversations, with users able to sign in using their Instagram accounts.
The launch was widely seen as a direct challenge to X, then still known as Twitter, which Musk had acquired the year before. Reuters reported at the time that Meta was looking to capitalise on the turmoil around Musk's ownership of Twitter, and the two billionaires traded online jabs as Threads went live.
Threads' link with Instagram gave Meta access to a huge existing user base. Meta has since kept building the platform, adding a web version, keyword search, trending topics and interoperability with parts of the 'fediverse'.
Why Instagram Remains a Target for Musk
Musk has repeatedly pitched X as an alternative to Meta's services while criticising Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The rivalry has now moved beyond social media, with Musk's xAI and Meta competing in artificial intelligence, even as Musk integrates AI products such as Grok into his wider technology businesses.
X itself was acquired by xAI in a USD 33 billion deal announced in 2025, bringing Musk's social-media and AI operations under one corporate umbrella.
For now, the latest exchange remains a social-media spat, but it adds one more chapter to the years-long Musk-Meta rivalry that started with X versus Threads and has since grown into a broader fight over social media and AI.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 02, 2026 12:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
