Is The Great X Migration Finally Happening?

Story by Njera Perkins. November 15, 2024.

Xmay soon be dead in the water.

Two years after Elon Musk’s controversial takeover of the platform formerly known as Twitter, users are threatening to leave (again) — this time for good.

It’s no secret that Musk has given X users numerous reasons to want to exit the social media app over the years, starting with the peculiar “X” rebrand and reported uptick of hate speech under the Tesla CEO’s reign. However, Musk’s involvement in the 2024 election — during which he served as a massive donor and echo chamber for [President-elect Donald Trump](https://x.com/realdonaldtrump (and his Republican campaign — and new changes to his platform seemingly sealed the deal for many who have already declared their exit.

On Wednesday, Don Lemon announced that he’s quitting X after realizing it is no longer “a place for honest debate and discussion, transparency, and free speech” as he once believed it was, per a public statement. In an accompanying video, the former CNN anchor also mentioned alarming updates to X’s terms of service — which include directives that all legal disputes be “brought exclusively in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas or state courts located in Tarrant County, Texas,1” beginning Nov. 15 — as another reason for his departure.

Jamey Lee Curtis Screenshot of Her Deactivated X/Twitter Account – Instagram2

That same day, Jamie Lee Curtis posted a screenshot on Instagram showing that she successfully deactivated her X account, although she didn’t explain why.

Public figures aren’t the only ones denouncing their use of the X platform. This week,The Guardian told its readers it would no longer post content from their official X accounts, largely due to Musk’s impact on the “toxic media platform” and for using “its influence to shape political discourse,” which The Guardian said includes amplifying “far-right conspiracy theories and racism.” Add to that an influx of X users seeking refuge on alternative platforms they deem less volatile than X, like Meta’s Threads.

But why the seemingly sudden change?

This isn’t the first or second time X users have threatened to take their social media activity elsewhere. It’s also not the first time Musk’s actions have contributed to X’s declining reputation. However, the deciding factor this time seemed to be Trump’s second election win, as anyone who was still on the fence about remaining on X took his victory as a sign to log off permanently.

After Election Day, Similarweb, which tracks website traffic,reported that X experienced a record number of users who shut down their accounts (roughly 115,000), marking the biggest drop since Musk purchased the app in October 2022. Since then, a new platform has quickly gained popularity, Bluesky, which functions similarly to X but has more liberal sensibilities than its divisive competitor. PerThe Verge, about 1 million new users have migrated to Bluesky in the last week alone, and the platform recently crossed the 16 million user mark, remaining No. 1 in the iOS app store.

With growing fears surrounding X’s new updates and increasing right-wing rhetoric on the Musk-owned platform, some people seem ready to call Bluesky and others their new social media home. But others are still not convinced that Bluesky is a viable replacement or are perhaps too accustomed to X to consider switching over now, having spent years on the app.

It remains to be seen whether this is indeed the end of X as we know it. What is clear, though, is that a number of people still value community, meaningful connections, free speech and safety on online platforms, even as those principles seem to be decaying — and they’re determined to find them beyond X.

Good luck to those still searching. Long live the platform we used to know.

  1. @RalphHightower: Limiting where legal disputes will be heard is a sure sign of a predetermined verdict. ↩

  2. @RalphHightower: I wish that I had saved a screenshot when I deactivated my Twitter3 account. ↩

  3. @RalphHightower: It was still called Twitter back then. I revoked my account when Musk](https://x.com/elonmusk) revoked Trump’s permanent ban. ↩