Tesla CEO and Trump-like tweeter Elon Musk said in a tweet Sunday that he had “just deleted” his Twitter account.
Just deleted my Twitter account
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 17, 2019
After changing his user handle to “Daddy DotCom” on Father’s Day, Musk immediately baffled many of his 27 million followers on the social-media site that for years he has used as a soapbox to inspire his employees, attack his detractors, and brand his brains out. However, earlier in the day, he tweeted out: “Model 3 arriving in UK.”
Musk’s Twitter account was still active late Monday morning; Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Musk’s move, of course, stirred up a real social-media tempest. A blog post on Gadget360 pointed out that while Musk didn’t give a reason why he was deleting his Twitter account, “scores of Musk’s followers spiralled into a frenzy of reactions ranging from surprise and disappointment to joy and confusion.” It said Musk also changed his profile photo, “ditching the photo of an astronaut sitting on a car in favour of a pitch black image.” And the post explained that “Daddy DotCom (read Daddy.com) is a website that doles out advice for expecting fathers on how to handle, well, fatherhood. But this is not the first time that Musk has changed his Twitter username. Back in February, he changed his Twitter username to ‘Elon Tusk’ after launching into a tweetstorm.”
Musk, of course, is not the first celebrity to dump his account with great fanfare. Others, like OJ Simpson did recently, launch a Twitter account with great fanfare.
Still others dump and then re-launch all over again. Here are a few:
Who: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
What: Dumps her personal Facebook page
When: April 2019
Why: Calling social media a “public health risk to everybody,” the Bronx Democrat said on the Yahoo News podcast Skullduggery: “I personally gave up Facebook, which was kind of a big deal because I started my campaign on Facebook. And Facebook was my primary digital organizing tool for a very long time. I gave up on it. Social media poses a public health risk to everybody. There are amplified impacts for young people, particularly children under the age of 3, with screen time. But I think it has a lot of effects on older people. I think it has effects on everybody: Increased isolation, depression, anxiety, addiction, escapism.”
Who: Meghan Markle
What: Closed down her Instagram and Twitter accounts before joining the royal family
When: Early 2018
Why: Just before marrying Prince Harry in May 2018, the former actress deleted her social media accounts, in part because of royal rules. The Sun reported that she had also been subjected to online abuse and, according to a source, wanted to “protect her mental health. She felt very isolated and alone.”
Who: Alec Baldwin
What: Baldwin quit tweeting in late 2017
When: Late 2017
Why: CNN reported that the actor quit Twitter after his criticisms about Harvey Weinstein’s accusers drew dramatic backlash. “He posted a series of tweets apologizing for his remarks,” it said “and saying he would refrain from using the platform for a while in the current ‘climate.”’ These days, Baldwin sometimes tweets through his family foundation’s account.
Who: Miley Cyrus
What: Unexpectedly cleared out all her social media channels
When: Early 2018
Why: While many fans guessed that the move was to generate publicity for an upcoming surprise album, a source close to the singer told Entertainment Tonight that there was nothing nefarious or exciting behind the social media purge — she just wanted a break. “When Miley removed all the photos from her Instagram, she knew everyone would wonder why,” the source told ET. “But her decision to do it wasn’t earth-shattering. Miley says she simply likes to change things up! She is taking a long needed break and she feels it’s healthy.”
Who: Pete Davidson
What: The controversial “Saturday Night Live” star deleted his Instagram account
When: December 2018
Why: Davidson posted a disturbing message stating he doesn’t “want to be on this earth anymore” and then deleted his Instagram account. In the post, Davidson wrote, “I’m doing my best to stay here for you but i actually don’t know how much longer i can last. all i’ve ever tried to do was help people. just remember i told you so.” Davidson has been open about his diagnosis with borderline personality disorder (BPD), according to Variety, and the difficulties that poses. “No there’s nothing wrong,” he wrote on Instagram before deleting it. “No nothing happened. No there’s nothing cryptic about anything. I just don’t wanna be on Instagram anymore. Or on any social media platform. The internet is an evil place and it doesn’t make me feel good.” The comedian has since returned to Instagram.
Who: Kanye West
What: The superstar rapper has famously jumped off and back on to the social-media bandwagon, quitting in early 2018 and then reactivating his Instagram for Valentine’s Day before deleting his account again. After also quitting Twitter, West was back tweeting again — until he wasn’t.
When: 2018
Why: In October, after a raucous week that included what USA Today called a “pro-Trump rant and head-scratching tweets about abolishing the constitutional amendment that prohibits slavery,” West again shut down his Twitter and Instagram accounts. “It isn’t the first time that West, 41, who also announced that he was changing his name to ‘Ye,’ has opted out of social media. He previously abandoned Twitter for the better part of a year, but returned this past April with a vengeance,” the newspaper reported.
