Social Media
X Exodus: The reason why the Guardian, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Lemon and millions of users are leaving Twitter
Elon Musk won big on Nov. 5, 2024 with Donald Trump’s victory, but users are fleeing the social media platform and looking for greener pastures and less toxicity.
Trump won the US election on Nov. 5, but Elon Musk’s X social platform has seen some big names and millions of regular users leave Twitter in the wake of the MAGA victory. People closing their X accounts is nothing new. Ever since Musk bough Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and changed the brand from Twitter to X, disgruntled users have been looking for alternatives. BlueSky, Mastodon and Threads have all benefited from Musk’s takeover, but it looks like his full blown campaign for Donald Trump has caused a new wave of users to leave.
Who are some of the celebrities who have left X?
Just today Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Lemon have announced they’re parting ways with the social meda platform. Maybe not as famous or well known amongst the average US citizen, but more painful for Musk will be the announcement made by the British media giant The Guardian announcing they will no longer be posting on X.
They are joining the likes of Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg, Amber Heard, Jack White, Toni Braxton, Jenna Ortega… They all made it clear why they left and the reason is similar in most cases: They are against hate speech and dislike how Elon Musk has allowed it to continue. The Guardian media outlet made it clear: “often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism.” On their website the news organization didn’t mince words: “The U.S. presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.”
Where X’s users are going once they say goodbye to Twitter
BlueSky seems to be the big winner after the 2024 presidential election. The social media platform has announced it has gained over 1 million new users in the last week. Although the site is technically more complicated than X, users are thrilled they can create their own communities and rules for the network. BlueSky has over 14 million users, while Threads, owned by Meta, has 275 million users and is approaching the 318 million users X claims to have. The other competitor in the mix is Mastodon, which has grown from 3.5 million users to 9 million after the US presidential election.
If the trend continues, Musk’s X platform will be competing directly with his new boss’ social media brand Truth Social. The two right-wing businessmen will be able to receive applause and support from their MAGA backers in a tone deaf echo chamber if the exodus continues.