Bluesky thinking -- why left-wingers are leaving X and why X will get over it
Are you still on Twitter (sorry, X)? You can tell us, we won't judge. If you are you may have noticed something interesting since the recent US election.
Celebrities along with people and organizations of a left-wing persuasion have been announcing -- in a markedly flouncy manner it must be said -- that they're leaving the platform. This peaked yesterday with the UK's standard bearer of the liberal left the Guardian broadcasting its intention to depart X -- on X, ironically.
Of course most of these Xits quote weasel words like 'meaningful engagement' and 'inappropriate content' but we all know it's really about the politics. Musk owns X, Musk backed Trump, we don't like Trump, Trump won, it must be X's fault, QED. Bluesky -- which seems to be the favored destination for many of these departures -- is awash with a sea of self-congratulation. Welcome to the echo chamber.
Why is this interesting? Because we've been here before when Elon Musk first acquired the platform, though then the cool kids were headed to Mastodon. And four years ago, when Twitter was still Twitter and Donald Trump was banned, it was happening in the opposite direction with right-wingers leaving for other platforms like Parler (remember #Twexit?). So if the right went then and the left are leaving now where does that leave X?
In a surprisingly healthy state as it happens. It still has 335 million users, down from a peak of 368 million in 2022 when Elon Musk took over, but still above where it was in 2019. Of course Musk's takeover of the platform and his commitment to free speech has seen many previously banned accounts reinstated. The blue tick has also been devalued since anyone with a few dollars to spare can now get one, and there have been other controversial changes.
See also:
Elon Musk kills Twitter with huge X rebrand and relaunch
Elon Musk risks privacy backlash by permitting accounts you’ve blocked on X to see your posts
The Guardian's exit from Elon Musk's X shows a lack of journalistic courage
Even so the alternatives don't come close. Although it's put on over 700,000 users in the last week Bluesky still has fewer than 15 million in total. Meta's Threads, the nearest X rival, has 275 million. It's partly the sheer size of X that means it remains popular, despite changes to the algorithms it still offers a range of views though you might have to work a bit harder to get them.
If you only want to see posts from people who agree with you there are plenty of alternatives available. If you're happy to live in a bubble then they might be for you. Yes, X can be a bear pit of name calling, the quality of discourse may leave something to be desired. You might see things you don't agree with -- the horror! -- but isn't disagreement part of what makes it attractive? Without being exposed to different views you get the incomprehension we see from some when they discover that people outside of their bubble don't think -- or vote -- the same way they do.
Of course all social media platforms have a finite lifespan -- MySpace, anyone? -- but we shouldn't be writing off X just yet. It didn't die when the right said it was leaving, it'll survive the left doing the same.
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