- Is Elon Musk Facing an X-Odus?
- Media Companies That Have Quit X
- Businesses That Have Quit X
- Sports Teams That Have Quit X
- Celebrities That Have Quit X
- And the Most followed Account on X.com is….
- Pity the man that builds his business on rented land
On first reading the statement; “The EFJ (European Federation of Journalists) is the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing over 295,000 journalists in 44 countries has announced that it will stop posting content on X,” one immediately thinks that all of the EFJ’s journalists will also be doing the same.
Now that would be a massive exodus from the platform and leave PR Professionals wondering where they should go next to stay close to journalists.
As with any news story, journalists know that eyeballs (and clicks) are most attracted to disaster (If it bleeds it leads!) so the numbers and reporting on people who have left the platform are myriad. Try searching for articles naming people and institutions that have joined the platform since Musk took over in October 2022 and one name dominates the reporting – Donald Trump (effectively he didn’t leave and had his ban lifted).
Frankly – leaving any ‘controversial’ platform denies a journalist the opportunity to ‘get the other side’, find newsworthy articles and keep a finger on the pulse so I suspect that many journalists will not actually leave the platform but rather become underground trolling users.
Those X.com users that are comfortable with publicly leaving the platform have done so using the #eXit hashtag.
On a cursory search it would appear that Austrian journalists are at the vanguard of the #eXit movement with well-known names such as Armin Wolf (ORF), Florian Klenk (Falter), and Corinna Milborn (Puls4). Wolf, who had 639,000 followers, declared in his last post: “Elon Musk has ruined Twitter.”
Most of those leaving X.com cite reasons including Elon Musk’s political action committee (PAC) – an organisation that raises and distributes campaign funds to US candidates seeking office. America PAC, reportedly spent around $ 200 million to help elect Donald Trump as President of the United States, with the vast majority of funds coming from Musk himself.
SIDE NOTE: Beware of the rise of social media posts claiming that Big Names have left or stopped posting on Twitter – many unscrupulous people are using this as a form of clickbait as recent fact checking by Reuters revealed recently that 8 of the 10 media and technology accounts in a widely shared online list have not stopped posting on X in November 2024, as social media posts have claimed. Reuters says only 2 on a list of 10 organizations that includes Disney, Marvel, IBM, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Comcast, Paramount, Sony Pictures, CBS and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, that was shared on social media saying that they all stopped posting on X and referring to them as sources of “propaganda.
Here are some of the more high profile names that have publicly left X.com:
Media Companies That Have Quit X:
The Guardian: On 13 November 2024, The UK-based newspaper announced that it would no longer post on X from any of its editorial accounts, which number more than 80. In a significant blow to its social presence, the news group decried “far-right conspiracy theories and racism,” which have proliferated since Musk took the helm in 2022.
NPR: National Public Radio (NPR) sent shockwaves through the US media landscape when it left X in April 2023. This came in response to Musk labeling the station “state-affiliated media.” The tech mogul moved to remove similar tags from Xinhua News, a Chinese outlet, and several journalists, but the damage was done – arguably, it was NPR that laid the gauntlet down for what was to follow.
Dagens Nyheter: Sweden’s “newspaper of reference” stopped posting on X on 15 November 2024 in defiance of a “harsh and extreme” climate. Said Editor-in-Chief Peter Wolodarski: “Since Elon Musk took over, the platform has increasingly merged with his and Donald Trump’s political ambitions,” as reported by NDTV World.
La Vanguardia: La Vanguardia joined the exodus on November 14 2024. Referring to X as a “disinformation network,” the Spanish newspaper came to the decision after President-elect Donald Trump announced that Musk was to head up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Businesses That Have Quit X:
Balenciaga: In an industry first, world-famous fashion house Balenciaga left X in 2022, shortly after Musk assumed ownership of the site. The brand has refused to comment on the decision, but it is thought that it was spurred by concerns over Musk’s strategy and its impact on advertising revenue.
Berlin Film Festival: One of the world’s major film festivals stopped posting on X after 15 years on the site.
Best Buy: The budget electronics store left X without ceremony sometime in 2022. There’s a scarcity of information to be found on what inspired the move, but considering that it maintains an Instagram presence, perhaps traffic was poor on X.
Target: In a similar vein, the Minnesota-based Target has ceased posting on X, while declining to comment on its motivation. The retailer last posted on January 31, 2023.
Joining the above were: 3M, Berlin Film Festival, Devon County Council, Eli Lilly, Magers & Quinn Booksellers, North Wales Police, Playbill, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, UnitedHealth Group and Victoria’s Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
Sports Teams That Have Quit X:
St Pauli: German soccer club St Pauli left X on 14 November 2024, becoming the first major soccer team to quit the platform in the process. Describing the site as a “hate machine,” St Pauli urged its fans to switch to Bluesky
Werder Bremen: Another German soccer club, Werder Bremen, followed St Pauli just a few days later. The club issued a statement that read: “Under the guise of freedom of expression, hate speech, hatred towards minorities, right-wing extremist posts and conspiracy theories have been allowed to spread on X at an incredible pace.”
Celebrities That Have Quit X:
Jamie Lee Curtis: The Oscar-winning actress shared a screenshot on her Instagram account showing showing that her X account had been deactivated, where she also shared the Serenity Prayer.
Don Lemon: The news anchor announced his X departure on Instagram and in a statement on X; “I have loved connecting with all of you on Twitter and then on X for all of these years, but it’s time for me to leave the platform,” Lemon said in the Instagram video known as a Reel. “I once believed it was a place for honest debate and discussion, transparency, and free speech, but I now feel it does not serve that purpose.”
Bette Midler: The Beaches actress’ X account disappeared shortly after Trump won the election.
Mark Hamill: One of the best Twitter follows in Hollywood, Mark Hamill decamped from X and wrote on BlueSky, “I’m sure I’ll be called an #Ex-X, but personally, I’ll always consider myself a #TwitterQuitter.”
Alyssa Milano: Alyssa Milano’s personal account is gone, but a post on the Twitter page for her podcast Sorry Not Sorry directs users to a BlueSky account.
Gabrielle Union: Gabrielle Union left X on November 15, posting a long missive that included her other social media channels and promising, “I am committing to engaging in spaces that truly value inclusivity, respect, and integrity in the digital world. Sometimes, that means recognizing the last straw and knowing when to step away.”
Stephen King: Longtime Twitter warrior Stephen King announced his departure from the platform saying; “I’m leaving Twitter,” wrote the author. “Tried to stay, but the atmosphere has just become too toxic. Follow me on Threads, if you like.”
Barbra Streisand: On November 14, Barbra Streisand made what she said was her last post on X, writing, “Effective immediately, any comments I post will be on Bluesky. #TwitterExodus”
Guillermo del Toro: On 10 November, Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro told his millions of Twitter followers that his account “will stay mostly unused… I will be more and more at BlueSky.”
Matthew Lillard: On 9 November Matthew Lillard wrote; “It was nice knowing you
Other celebrities that have recently deactivated their X account or indicated they’ll no longer use X include: comedian Andy Richter, film director Lilly Wachowski, actress Gabrielle Union, actress Yvette Nicole Brown, actor Alex Winter, journalist Joy-Ann Reid.
According to reports many companies across many industries are rethinking their association with the site. Several have echoed similar concerns over brand safety, content moderation, and the platform’s increasingly polarising environment.
BONUS – Most Followed Accounts on X.com: Dwarfing the second place incumbent – Barack Obama (with 131.2 Million followers) is the owner of X – Elon Musk with 205 Million followers. Musk’s new boss, Donald Trump is in 8th place on the list with 95.4 Million followers). In comparison South Africa’s current President, Cyril Ramaphosa has 2.9 Million followers.
Top 10 Most Followed X Accounts:
- Elon Musk: 205.0 Million
- Barack Obama: 131.2 Million
- Cristiano Ronaldo: 113.8 Million
- Justin Bieber: 109.7 Million
- Rihanna: 108.2 Million
- Katy Perry: 105.6 Million
- Narendra Modi: 103.6 Million
- Donald Trump: 95.4 Million
- Taylor Swift: 94.7 Million
- NASA: 83.8 Million
Yes, it is kinda humbling when I admit that the MyPR X Account has only 199 followers asof today’s date!
Although my personal Twitter account has 7 501 followers with NO people being followed!
And Finally….
Pity the man that builds his business on rented land for the landlord can take away his priveleges at a moment’s notice. All Social Media takes place on ‘rented land’ and can be taken away at a moment’s notice so our best advice is for anyone online to concentrate on building their business on owned land – get your own domain name, your own web space and ONLY use Social Media to drive free traffic to your owned space.
Read the full article by Alan Straton here: MyPR
