Many businesses are closing down their X accounts for company alignment or operational reasons. Typical responses focus on the platform’s falling engagement value or the rise of misinformation. Emarketer reported a drop from 8 million to 6 million among UK daily users, with 7 million US users leaving the service.
Businesses and individuals typically cite the same reasons for leaving. That might be due to owner Elon Musk’s political views, floods of spammy adverts, unsavoury content and the company’s falling value among other issues.
Whatever the reason, this is not a new trend. Major retailers Best Buy and Target quit in 2023, while the likes of IBM stopped posting at the end of that year. UK’s BMW division recently abandoned X, and SEO and marketing operators are leaving due to X’s unaffordable API demands. Add in an ongoing exit of mainstream media and charities suspending their activities on X, the trend shows no sign of slowing down.
Browsing enough X resignation letters online reveals a variety of different styles from brusque to emotional and even snarky. But, when leaving a social media platform, the two key factors are a brief yet clear reason. And a list of other places your audience can find you.
Take this example from the UK’s University of Leeds, “We are moving away from X following a huge drop in engagement due to developments on the platform. The account will stay open so we can respond to DMs, but you won’t see any new content from us. Instead, we look forward to connecting with the Leeds community on our other active channels.”
Issues to consider when leaving X
Before cutting the cord with X, organisations should consider the audience size and level of engagement. Those with a sizable, engaged audience, have a difficult decision where they need to balance the value of the audience (engagement, sales and promotion) with the downside of shutting down the channel. Keeping the X account open for direct messages is the least most brands can do.
Organisations should also prepare for and deal with any fallout from loyal customers or audiences. Again, keep it professional and about business logic, rather than rise to baited posts. Or, if there is genuine distress among your followers, notable among charities and non-profits, remaining active on X might be an option.
Finally, keep the account (and access to it) secure to prevent others from taking it over, while removing links to X from your website and other portals. That may prove useful in countering disinformation, dealing with queries from lagging customers, and combating fake businesses or brands from mimicking yours.
More social alternatives to X
With most brands already on LinkedIn for B2B content, companies are looking at alternatives to X. Fresh alternatives include BlueSky, which offers another way to provide short and time-sensitive posts. Badged as an early-era Twitter, it has around 32 million users compared to X’s 330 million.
Among a raft of alternatives, Reddit is useful for finding existing communities, and Substack for posting newsletters, with Discord a way to build your ideal community. Others are turning to a more Instagram-focused approach. Wherever organisations go, ensure the content is appropriate for the platform, and the audience can find you easily.