Elon Musk has shaken the world of social media once again as he deletes the Facebook pages of both Tesla and SpaceX following a dare made by a fan from London, England.
On March 20, WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton enjoined his Twitter followers to take their accounts down on Mark Zuckerberg's platform. He tagged the viral campaign as #DeleteFacebook.
How Musk Joined The #DeleteFacebook Challenge
It's unclear what his motivations are. Being a former Facebook executive, he may still harbor some ill feelings toward his ex-employer. However, it can be related to a scandal that Facebook was recently involved in.
Over the past week, regulators have kept a close eye on the company due to Cambridge Analytica's gross misuse of user information, causing Facebook's stock prices to drop dramatically by nearly 12 percent.
Nonetheless, Acton's tweet caught Musk's attention who responded to the tweet with a sarcastic statement, asking what Facebook is.
Delete SpaceX page on Facebook if you're the man? — ㅤ (@serdarsprofile) March 23, 2018
A fan chimes in with a dare to delete SpaceX's Facebook page, then several tech reporters swooped in to take part in all the action. Among the journalists who joined the conversation are Ryan Mac of BuzzFeed and Bryson Masse of The Wire Report.
The space company's chief executive quipped he never knew the pages existed and agreed to take it down. Moments later, Mac reminds him that the audience is waiting. Plus, Masse suggests that he deletes Tesla's page as well.
"Definitely. Looks lame anyway," responds Musk. In a matter of just five minutes, both pages vanished from Facebook.
Mac compliments Silicon Valley's Iron Man but raises the challenge a level higher. He dared Musk to delete SpaceX and Tesla's Instagram profiles next. This time, though, the tech magnet no longer answered and both profiles still exist on the photo-sharing platform.
Reactions To Musk Deleting Tesla And SpaceX Facebook Pages
Musk's move elicited praise from most of his followers. It also sparked a conspiracy that perhaps he is up to a new business venture, a new and secure social media platform. Fans have already suggested names including AnonyMusk and Spacebook.
Whether the tech genius has plans of competing against Zuckerberg or not, a majority is convinced that he's just pulling off a marketing stunt for SpaceX and Tesla.
"Him deleting the pages gives him free advertising than his team will just go in and restart fresh and come back even stronger," writes a follower with the username @VHadzovic.
So far, a report states that Musk is the most high-profile tech personality to join the #DeleteFacebook campaign.
