Businesses Are Fleeing This Controversial Social Media Channel

Here’s an up-to-date list of big businesses that have already left X:

• 3M
• Balenciaga
• Berlin Film Festival
• Best Buy
• Dagens Nyheter (Swedish newspaper)
• Department of Families, Fairness, and Housing (Victoria, Australia)
• Devon County Council (UK)
• Eli Lilly
• European Federation of Journalists
• The Guardian
• La Vanguardia (Spanish newspaper)
• London Marathon
• Magers & Quinn Booksellers
• North Wales Police (UK)
• NPR (National Public Radio)
• Playbill
• Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (UK)
• St Pauli (German soccer club)
• Target
• UnitedHealth Group
• Werder Bremen (German soccer club)

It’s safe to say that Elon Musk is a controversial figure for many reasons. Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the platform has rebranded to X, seen a decrease in advertiser support, altered content moderation policies, and given users the ability to pay for the recognizable blue tick.

With a rise in extreme content, hate speech, and misinformation on the platform, many businesses have fled to avoid being negatively associated with X or Musk. And, for many, Musk’s support for President Trump during his election campaign and early administration days put the nail in the coffin.

While big names like NPR and Target have left X already, it’s up to you if your business uses the social app or not. If your business or personal values don’t align with the platform, seek engagement and community elsewhere.

But, if the majority of your target audience is active on X, it’s worth weighing up the potential risks to traffic and sales if you do decide to leave. Thankfully, it’s likely that all of your customers will be present on alternative platforms as well.

Arguably, the best social media strategy you can have is to diversify your channels and post regularly across apps to boost reach and engagement. So, if your business decides to leave X, there are plenty of alternatives to choose from, including:

• Bluesky
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Threads
• Mastodon
• TikTok
• Snapchat

You can also build a website for your business and promote that as a way for visitors and customers to stay in touch, learn about the latest products, and leave feedback.