“God, please give me the presence of mind to accept the things I cannot change,” Jamie Lee Curtis wrote about her decision to leave social media site X.
The actress is one of several big-name celebrities to jump off Elon Musk’s platform this month, citing his shift to the right, misinformation and lack of moderation. Author Stephen King said, “I tried to stay, but the atmosphere became too toxic.”
According to Similarweb, “X-odus” or “X-it” as it is variously called, an average of 60,000 people deactivated their accounts every day last week, leaving a void in the lives of many workers. Professions such as teachers (#edutwitter) and doctors (#medicaltwitter) have long used the site formerly known as Twitter to foster communities and exchange ideas. It has provided an enlightening commentary on office life and ways for freelancers to promote themselves and network. Many people are now abandoning their career resources and wondering where else they can find the benefits they offer.
Organizations such as Balenciaga and Guardian also removed themselves. The paper said in an editorial that the U.S. presidential election was the result of a long-standing argument that “X is a toxic media platform whose owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.” He said that it brought to light what he had been thinking about. Supporters have criticized the withdrawal as a tantrum by progressives. X did not respond to requests for comment.
LBC radio presenter and author James O’Brien said that from a work perspective, X was less productive, had few sincere responses, and was “more likely to be seen as a sewage in his feed than someone he might actually be interested in”. is being prioritized.” For people who value “interaction, plurality of opinions, and good manners,” it’s “bordering on intolerable,” he says. He is now posting more frequently on Bluesky, a new platform whose usage has skyrocketed as people move away from X.
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Rhett Butler, chief executive officer of the nonprofit environmental organization Mongabay, said profits from Twitter began to decline in November 2022, a month after Musk acquired the company. In addition to lower engagement, “more negative interactions, accusations of bias, and other difficult situations” occurred, “making the platform intolerable for the staff who manage it.”
LinkedIn has emerged as a popular alternative. “As a nonprofit organization, we prioritize understanding who views our reports and how they use that information, rather than just focusing on traffic numbers,” Butler said. I say.
Oncologist Tatiana Prowell has historically used Twitter to share knowledge about cancer. During the pandemic, she used this to highlight emerging data and help “keep the public and my colleagues informed.” She co-founded Healthcare Workers vs Hunger (@HCWvsHunger), a friendly competition that has raised more than $2.3 million for food banks.
Now, she has started posting on Bluesky as well. “Twitter feels like it was a few years ago. The interactions are more productive and the atmosphere is more positive,” Prowell says. But she will stay with X because patients’ voices can be heard and “people deserve science and health information that they can trust, balance, and understand.”
Others with public obligations reached different decisions. North Wales Police have withdrawn from Twitter, saying it was becoming “increasingly difficult to operate”. . . According to Sergeant Amanda Blakeman, communicate timely, factual and relevant information. Patrick Hurley, a member of the British Parliament, believes that X is currently promoting an “agenda that is at odds with the values of the British people” and encouraging angry clicks. He finds Facebook and Nextdoor more useful for reaching voters, while Bluesky is more useful for opinion formers and peers.
Moving away from X would mean losing a lot of viewers, but some creators believe that X is no longer fit for purpose and they have no other choice. “My sense is that the harmful nature of X works against the desire to spread joy through reading,” said Johnny Geller, CEO of talent agency Curtis Brown Group. As the novelist John Niven put it bluntly: “Using your news feed or promoting your book is no longer worth wading through a sea of filth.”
Comedy writer John Harvey, better known as Count Binface, believes the flood of “undesirable content” is having a significant impact on networking and idea generation. “A lot of what I do is passive and imitates what’s on my feed,” he says. “As the algorithm became more malicious, we started seeing far more tweets from users we didn’t follow.”
But while many have migrated, it can be difficult to find an audience or serendipitous opportunities on other platforms. Camille Charrière, a fashion blogger with more than 1 million followers on Instagram, left X after the US election and misses the text-based platform. “On Instagram, I feel like a fashion girl influencer. (X) has allowed me to connect with people who didn’t see me that way.”
Harvey says losing the opportunity to challenge viewpoints is a loss. “For many people, Blue Sky feels like a new start, but there will likely be a price to pay as different parts of society all retreat to safer places.”
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