Elon Musk Reveals the Reason Why He Left Instagram

Jakarta – In the last year, Elon Musk has been a looming figure in the world of social media thanks to his acquisition of X, formerly Twitter, and his repeated fight challenges aimed at fellow social media pioneer Mark Zuckerberg. 

But before this, he was a regular user of these platforms just like everyone else, sharing selfies on Instagram to his heart's content. In 2018, however, Musk deleted his Instagram account and disappeared from the app.

And now, he revealed the reason why he deleted his Instagram account. He said that he was becoming too vain. 

“There was a time when I was posting on Instagram, but I found myself doing selfies and I’m, like, ‘What the hell is wrong with me?'” the tech mogul revealed on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast Tuesday before he and host Joe Rogan burst into laughter.

“Why am I posing for selfies to get likes?” he added, as reported from Page Six site. 

Musk and Rogan then delve into the societal pressures that come from participating on a social media platform like Instagram that centers around “pretty pictures.”

“I’ve caught grown men using filters on their pictures,” the former “Fear Factor” host said. “It’s very strange.”

Musk added, “I am concerned that Instagram actually leads to more unhappiness, not less, in the sense that it just looks like everyone is just having a great time and is way better looking than they really are.”

Elon Musk concluded: “I think it can make you kind of depressed” and questioned whether Instagram is a net happiness generator or not, noting, I’m not sure it is.

Musk deleted his Instagram account in 2018 after racking up more than 8 million followers.

He tweeted at the time, “Instagram is so thirsty, yet gives you Death by Water,” seemingly referring to a poem featured in T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land.”

Musk bought another social media platform X, in October 2022 for $44 billion.

However, Elon Musk said that people would jump all over you if you tried to share a selfie on X, which is seemingly one of the reasons he prefers his platform.