Over the past few months, I've asked myself more than once, "What the hell I am still doing on Twitter?"
Anyone who has been following this saga since Elon Musk took over the company at the end of October 2022 will have noticed a number of changes have taken place at both the organization and the social media platform itself:
- Roughly half the workforce was let go in the days following the acquisition closing, which doesn't so much suggest a strategy as it does a slash and burn approach.
- Those job cuts included the very talented communications staff, which was undoubtedly part of the platform's growth strategy at one point. Initially, any reporters sending queries to [email protected] were auto-responded to with a very professional "poop" emoji. Forget how angry that response feels to me as a PR professional; I can only imagine how it must have felt to a reporter!
- Speaking of the media... they were just some of the important accounts that suddenly lost their verification symbols in the last 10 months or so. This has done nothing but create confusion around the validity of content being posted by everyone from celebrities to dignitaries, and from government organizations to government-funded media outlets such as CBC and NPR.
- Instead of verifying accounts, anyone can now purchase their own for $8 U.S./month. I know this because I bought my own blue checkmark back in February, mistakenly thinking I was now among the social media elite. Needless to say, I have buyer's remorse.
- Now, in case you think that Musk isn't listening to the public, he certainly is. Well, sort of. In November of last year, he published a poll on the platform to gauge whether former President Donald Trump should be reinstated. A slight majority voted in favor of bringing him up, to predictably controversial results.
- In December, he also ran a poll asking followers whether he should step down as the head of Twitter. When more than 57 percent respondents voted that he should, Musk Tweeted “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job!” As of this week... he hasn't.
- Lastly (at least for now!), Twitter changed its name to X last month, part of the platform's so-called ongoing transformation. I'm still not sure how erasing one of the last pieces of goodwill this company created some 17 years ago amounts to progress. One can argue this is Musk's company to do with what he pleases... but it just seems like this unusual rebranding is yet another step in alienating the many customers who had the previous platform.
I'm among those who feel alienated, and it's time to put my money where my mouth is. I've just canceled my X Blue subscription (which runs until February), my first step in gradually weaning myself off the platform. In all candor, I plan to keep my account to monitor what competitors and others in the community may be posting, but that's pretty much it.
And if Threads or another competitor ends up replacing X, not only will I be supportive of the move, but I'll be among those officially saying so long to Elon.
This won't be like Facebook, where I took a year-long break even though I always knew I'd return. These changes have actively pissed me off, and I'm quite ready to X-it what was once an enjoyable social media platform.
