"Instagram is for fools": Charles Barkley's social media opinion U-Turn has Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal mocking co-panelist

After what was an eternity of trying to avoid coming on board social media, NBA legend Charles Barkley now has a presence on Instagram. As a result, his fellow TNT analysts made fun of his about-face.

During the latest episode of NBA on TNT, Kenny Smith revealed that ‘Sir Charles’ has started an Instagram account.

While initially holding himself from verifying it, Barkley eventually made the confirmation sending the rest of the panel, which included Shaquille O’Neal, in collective amusement.

Smith went on to ridicule the one-time NBA MVP for his U-turn on his stand on social media, even citing Barkley’s oft-quoted phrase:

“Instagram is for fools.”

In explaining his decision to start an Instagram account, which is under charleswbarkley, the Basketball Hall-of-Famer said:

“I’m trying out social media. It’s for business purposes… I’ve only had it for like a week.”

Currently, Charles Barkley’s Instagram account has six posts and over 70,000 followers. Among the things he posted involved Birmingham, Alabama’s Redmont Vodka, which he is the majority owner.

While now on social media, Barkley said he is still learning his way through it, even asking Smith and O’Neal to teach him a thing or two about it.

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Charles Barkley explains his issue with social media

Until recently, Charles Barkley did not want anything to do with social media, choosing to stay out of it and shield himself from the negativity it brings.

The former Phoenix Suns great shared this with King Charles co-host Gayle King as multiple social media executives came for a hearing on Capitol Hill last month.

Here's what Barkley told Atlanta Black Star earlier this year:

“I don’t want to bring fools into my life. You know, the negativity. Are there positives to it? I hear there are positives to it, But I don’t want to bring anything negative into my life.”

“You see all the time these kids are committing suicide because some that they’ve shown on one of these platforms," Barkley added. "I think that … the parents deserve some responsibility, Congress deserves some responsibility and the companies deserve some responsibility.”

It is evident that during the hearing of the social media executives, which included Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned them over the effects of their products on teenagers.