Bye, Twitter: Knowing when it’s time to part

On Oct. 27, 2022, Elon Musk acquired Twitter and eventually renamed it X. Musk’s acquisition resulted in restoring the accounts of individuals spreading misinformation, racism and antisemitism as well as former President Donald Trump’s Twitter/X account. Musk also laid off employees who moderated content to reduce the spread of hate messages and other forms of toxic content.

At Spitfire, we’ve been closely monitoring the use of Twitter/X, sharing questions to consider in the early days, and organizing sessions to help communicators consider whether to stay or leave the platform. The day has arrived when we’re clear that it’s time for us to leave. As communications strategists, we share our reasoning for doing so in the context of four questions to consider regarding your social media mix. Spoiler alert: We’re not saying you should follow our lead. Instead, we encourage you to periodically ask similar questions to ensure your channels are working for you. 

1. Where is your audience? As a strategic communications firm, we aren’t trying to reach specific segments of potential voters or engage specific audiences in behavior-change campaigns. We do that through our partners’ channels. Instead we’re looking to connect and build relationships with nonprofits, foundations and values-lined social change businesses that want to leverage communications to advance equity, save the planet from environmental destruction or create a society in which people can live their best possible lives — and sometimes all three at once. For a while, Twitter/X was a great place to reach and robustly engage with like-minded partners. Over time, as algorithms have changed and more partners have left the platform, it has become harder and harder to both reach and engage our audiences. We also have found that journalists have changed the way they use the platform and, for the most part, have stopped being open to outreach via direct messages. Live tweeting seems to have become a strategy of the past. We are no longer afraid of missing out on the party. It has become clear: For the most part, for our primary audiences, the party has moved elsewhere.
2. Are you getting results from your efforts? We encourage our clients to look at both outputs (ways to measure your efforts and activities to move the strategy forward) and outcomes (the changes you see occurring because of the outputs). Over time, the changes to the algorithm, clutter from mis- and disinformation, and loss of trust in the platform have made it harder to reach and meaningfully engage with our partners. It’s worth noting that we also have seen this on Facebook. So, it has come down to a question we encourage all our clients to ask: Is the return worth the effort? We have come to a clear conclusion for both platforms: No. (Oh, yes — we’re also jettisoning Facebook. Bye!) 
3. Does the platform align with your values? This one is pretty easy. Twitter/X is a network that spreads mass amounts of disinformation, white nationalism, transphobia, antisemitism and hate of all kinds. While there is no perfect platform — we refer you to our technology justice friends at Fight for the Future for more on that — Twitter/X has become a tool for spreading extremism, not expanding justice. That’s why we’ve long recommended against supporting paid content on the platform. No social network is benevolent or holds the prize for being a perfect platform, but as you evaluate where your organization stands, consider values alignment and make a values-aligned choice. 
4. Are there better options? While we have seen our reach and engagement decline on Twitter/X and Facebook, we have seen it increase on LinkedIn. We’re also seeing this trend among our partners. Twitter/X’s decline has coincided with LinkedIn’s rise. The platform has emerged as a dynamic space for professional networking with more opportunities to share ideas. The proof is in the engagement. And for us, there is a natural fit of a professional context to engage. Are we considering TikTok? While we can help you better engage with content creators on that platform, we’re taking our own advice and not jumping on more platforms without a clear sense of goals, strategies and plans to do that well. But stay tuned. 

As you consider your own challenges, think about the high school alum who wore the letterman jacket too long. Times change. Ask yourself whether your social media platforms are still working for you or whether it’s time to make a change too.