By Arianna Crawford
In this post we’ll address X (formerly known as Twitter). It has changed quite a bit in the last several years but is still a popular platform for B2B communications. This said, it’s not for every brand.
Historically, X was one of the most important platforms, and now it’s forcing some intriguing conversations due to many rapid and fundamental shifts within the platform.
The transfer of ownership to Elon Musk led to foundational platform changes that allowed more explicit and extremist content, as well as misinformation, on the platform. Verification became pay-for-play, all content posted on the platform became duty-free training for Musk’s AI bot known as Grok, and the algorithm changes at Musk’s will.
These changes have alienated users, which has, in turn, made many brands question whether they should continue their X activations or jump ship. It’s clear that X carries more traditional brand risk than Twitter ever did, but there are still people and brands that are finding value on the platform. Is the volatility worth it for your brand?
Ask yourself:
- What would I want to get out of a presence on X moving forward?
- Are my target audiences still on the platform? Many security practitioners, journalists, and everyday people have left for Mastodon, Bluesky and other platforms that prioritize data security. But most of the investor and entrepreneur crowd are still active.
- Is it possible to scale your activity up and down as shifts occur, or does your brand need to have an all-or-nothing approach?
- What is your brand’s relationship with politics and cultural conversations and how would that be hurt or helped by your decision to remain or leave X?
- How do your stakeholders feel about the decision to leave or stay? Your customers?
It’s important to remember that there are degrees of activation: if you don’t move forward business-as-usual, you can decrease your activity to the bare minimum, stop all posting and keep your profile up, or completely deactivate and leave.
And If you do decide to leave, be sure to download your twitter – ahem, X – archive, keep a record of your analytics, and announce to your audience how they can find you on other platforms.
