Is Twitter an x platform?

I joined Twitter in 2012. I was working on the London Olympics. Twitter was the shiny new toy we played with when managing the comms for the greatest show on earth. In the following 12 years Twitter has changed.

Some of the most active CSP members on Twitter, I refuse to give the owner the satisfaction of calling it X, are discussing whether to leave and if so where to go. I’ve also had emails asking what the CSP position is. I am not surprised, because I’ve had the same discussion in my head about my personal account and out loud with colleagues in relation to our corporate accounts. This extended blog explores the dilemma.

Does Twitter matter?

Whether Twitter matters depends on what you want from your social media engagement. The CSP guidance on social media can help physios, physio support workers and student physios decide what you want from social media Social media and your professional profile? | The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy ( csp.org.uk )

The CSP took a decision about a decade ago not to endorse specific social media platforms. We also decided not to try and monopolise physio activity by setting up everything as a CSP space. We long supported PhysioTalk as a self-organising online community on Twitter.

We don’t say which social media channels people should use. This is because the nature of social media is fluid. New channels come and go, and you can’t always predict which will succeed or be useful. So, we have always sought to go to where our members and stakeholders gather digitally. Going to members rather than expecting them to come to us is also our general approach to member engagement across the board, not just in relation to social media.

For many years Twitter wasn’t that important, so we were less active as an organisation although some individuals, myself included, did use the channel. As more politicians, journalists, health leaders, academics and policy makers adopted the platform it has grown in importance to the CSP and for those of us who need to engage these audiences.

Leaving would mean turning our backs on a place where thousands of good people we need to engage are to be found. While our audience remains on Twitter we should be there. ?

Twitter under its current owner has become a more hostile place to mainstream views and values. It isn’t, however, unusual for us to have to use media outlets whose values we fundamentally disagree with. We promote physiotherapy via some mainstream media outlets with dubious editorial stances, but big readerships.

What Twitter still offers is a near real time opportunity to hear and speak with a wide range of people, including key players in the healthcare and political systems. Twitter exchanges have led to political influencing opportunities for the CSP. On occasions, Twitter storms have nearly undermined advances for the profession. Not being there would make the CSP less effective and the profession more vulnerable. But it comes with a considerable downside of very limited moderation so bad people can and do abuse the platform to spread hate or to harass other people.

Do I stay or do I go?

At the end of the day, there is no expectation or requirement for anyone to be on any particular social media platform. If you want to either pause your involvement or leave the platform that is your prerogative. Only you know what is right for you.

For individual users or volunteers running network accounts it can be emotionally challenging to be active on Twitter currently. People may also feel at heightened risk of online?attacks because the extremists have become emboldened. This will be especially true for Black, Asian, Muslim and other minoritised users. Seeing Islamophobic, racist and other extremist hate is alarming and can trigger trauma for some people. If this is happening to you, you may need to take a break from the channel. Leaving altogether might even be the right thing for you.

But, if anti racists organisations and individuals leave social media channels it does not change what happens on Twitter. There is no real impact on the bottom line of the owner, but it does surrender the space entirely to racists and extremists to spread their poisonous ideologies.

Much as the response to the far right organising in communities and on the streets needs to be rooted in those communities and on those streets, there needs to be a social media response and that inevitably means challenging them and providing counter narratives on the channels they are seeking to exploit, in this case, Twitter.

This is one of the key reasons I am staying. It is also why, wearing my professional hat, I am talking with other unions and Hope Not Hate about how we can organise against racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism and other forms of hate online.

Some people have highlighted that a handful of corporate bodies have withdrawn from Twitter. For some organisations this might be sensible. If challenging racism isn’t part of their purpose, and all they have to think about is brand association, providing it doesn’t seriously interrupt critical communications with customers or other stakeholders, leaving is an option.

I don’t believe this argument holds for the CSP. I don’t believe the CSP is associated with Muskite views just because we use Twitter. What I or the CSP share on Twitter is obviously not aligned with the owner’s beliefs and we want to challenge those who preach hatred.

If you’re staying, what can you do to make the experience better?

One of the reasons Twitter can feel so negative currently is how the algorithm feeds content into the main feed. Most of us open the “for you” feed which is generated automatically for us by Twitter. This is where you’ll probably see the worst content because if you share something criticising racists it will show you related content including racist content.

There are alternatives. You can use “following” to only see content from people you choose to follow. You can go further still by using “lists” to curate groups of accounts you want to engage with around specific topics. You can also block accounts which you find particularly offensive, or that you just are seeing too much of.

Proactively you can make sure that you are sharing positive content yourself. Avoid sharing negative content even to criticise it. Sharing makes the algorithm want to promote content. To rebut negative content, it is better to put out a separate positively framed message challenging the negative.

If it all feels too much consider having time out. Some people have a regular time each year they opt out of social media to recharge. Taking time out means you can always come back, but it can also be a way to test life without your social fix.

If I leave, where do I go?

Choosing social media channels is not like choosing a brand of cola. Social media channels have quite different characteristics. They differ in user demographics, global reach and in the interests of users. These factors, and their varied formats, lend themselves to different purposes. The levels of creativity or technical skill needed to use different platforms vary. The CSP social media guide covers most of the main platforms and will help you identify candidate channels to use ?Social media platforms | The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy ( csp.org.uk )

There are some less well known or newer channels which people are experimenting with. I’m on Mastodon, Threads and BlueSky but don’t actively use them much as there is neither the community or functionality I get from Twitter and Facebook. That may change if these platforms evolve, grow or become the focus for particular types of activity. I might be more active on a new channel if the policy community comes together there for example.

If you are planning to leave Twitter, it is important to plan your exit and understand the implications. You will lose people and profile in moving. You can’t just “lift and shift” you existing network between channels. Signposting your intention to go and being clear about where people can find you will help but you will need to devote time to finding contacts on your new platform.

Conclusion

I have major concerns about online hate being spread via social media and for the safety of platform users. While Twitter has been particularly visible in this context, other social media platforms such as Facebook have also been the site of far right organising and online bullying. For me, the right response is not to remove myself or the CSP from the fray. To show allyship, promote better regulation and organise against hate we need to be on Twitter and other contested channels.

The CSP will continue to review how, as an organisation, we interact on social media to ensure we maximise the opportunities to support and promote the profession. As usage or the nature of channels change, we will adapt. We don’t have preferred social media channels, just those where our key audiences gather. So, expect to see us testing more content on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.

What is right for the CSP, or for me, might not be right for you. We all need to accept that different people are in different situations and will need to make decisions accordingly. There isn’t a right or wrong view when it comes to personal social media use. The CSP social media guidance is a good place to work through your personal approach. Our social media guidance for members | The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy ( csp.org.uk )

Whatever you decide to do; good luck, stay safe and make a difference.

Rob Yeldham is Director of Strategy, Policy & Engagement at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and a Fellow of the CIPR.