Four words were enough. “Instagram is for girls”, Elon Musk wrote, and the entire internet started arguing.
It all began on October 1, 2026, on X, the social network Musk himself bought and runs. A user announced that he had deleted Instagram from his phone because, according to him, it was an “essentially female” app and offered him no benefits.
The owner of X, Tesla, and SpaceX didn’t just reply: he did so with a brief, unequivocal statement, the kind that goes viral before anyone has finished reading it.
And here’s a detail many people overlooked: this isn’t the first time. Musk had already made mocking comments about men who share their Instagram profiles and about the way certain people use the platform. It’s more of a habit.
The reactions came quickly. Some applauded the remark and agreed that Instagram is aimed primarily at a female audience. Others disputed it: digital platforms don’t have a gender, they said. And the perennial comparison between Instagram and X was revived, too, as the two giants compete for the same attention from millions of users.
What do you think? Is Instagram a network more geared toward women, or do comments like these only reinforce stereotypes?