'Vile propaganda machine' – As the big names quit, is the world falling out of love with X?

The day after the U.S. election on November 6, X experienced its largest user exodus since Elon Musk bought the platform in 2022, according to social media reports.

Only those at X know the real figures and its CEO insisted the platform's usage was "at an all-time high and continues to surge." However, there is no doubt users are flooding to alternative text-based social media apps like Bluesky and Instagram's Threads.

There has also been three major European newspapers leaving X, accusing it of spreading disinformation. Some very high profile users have also left.

The British daily The Guardian announced on Wednesday it would no longer publish content on this "toxic media platform." The Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia and Swedish Dagens Nyheter have followed.

Author Stephen King, who has a following of 7 million, is quitting after describing X as "too toxic." Sport is also affected – Germany's Bundesliga football club St Pauli is withdrawing because X had become an "amplifier of hate" that could influence German politics.

In response to the Guardian announcement, Musk said: "They are a laboriously vile propaganda machine."

Is the world's love affair with X over? Could other big names follow or, rather more importantly for the business, will advertisers follow? The question had already been asked in 2022, when Musk bought Twitter. The Tesla and SpaceX businessman renamed it X and drastically reduced moderation, in the name of freedom of expression.

After Donald Trump's election to the U.S. presidency, with Musk's active support, "we can expect other press publishers to leave X," said Stephen Barnard, a researcher at Butler University in the U.S.

He added: "Their numbers will likely depend on the actions of X, Musk and the Trump administration toward the media. If they are as hostile toward them as they have been in the past, it will likely lead to more departures."

A self-proclaimed opponent of the media, himself accused of promoting disinformation, Musk was appointed by Trump to head a new commission tasked with cutting public spending.

As well as turning out on the election trail to support Trump, Musk donated tens of millions of dollars and held $1 million giveaways in key battleground states.

In justifying its departure from X, The Guardian said "the advantages" of being there were now outweighed "by the disadvantages," including the omnipresence of "far-right conspiracy theories and racism."

Conversely, when it took off in 2008-2009, Twitter was seen by the media as the place where it was absolutely necessary to be, to have direct contact with readers and sources of information, experts and politicians alike.

The media "found and expanded audiences, built brands, developed new journalistic practices, formed a community," which in turn "significantly increased Twitter's influence," Barnard said.

It remains to be seen whether leaving X will be detrimental to the newspapers, which are already hit by a serious economic crisis.

"We will probably lose subscriptions, because some readers subscribe after seeing a news story on the social network," said Jordi Juan, director of La Vanguardia. Short-term hit, long-term gain perhaps?

For those leaving X, where next?

It's likely Musk will care little for those heading for the door. 

X CEO Linda Yaccarino remains buoyant and said this week: "To all of our users - of every interest, political party, and point of view - You will always have a place to engage and join the global conversation freely and safely."

Some internet users are advocating a move to another American social network, Bluesky, which announced on Friday it had registered a million new users in one day.

But its 16 million registered users still weigh little compared to the active users of X, estimated at several hundred million.

Initially created and funded by Twitter itself, when the network was then led by its co-founder Jack Dorsey, Bluesky opened to the general public in February 2023 on Apple's iOS operating system and at the end of March on Android. It is now headed by Jay Grabber. 

The network claims 16 million users, a strong growth for a platform that had 10 million in mid-September. It had already benefited from a spotlight in late 2022 when Musk took over Twitter.

Threads, another alternative to X and owned by Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram), was created in July 2023 and has also seen an increase in users. 

"Two huge weeks for Threads. Over 15 million signups in November, and three months with over a million signups per day," Instagram head Adam Mosseri posted on the network on Thursday. It claimed 275 million users at the start of November.

Whatever platform wins the battle for social media users, there is no doubt Musk will carry on making noise in the White House and on X for his 204.8 million followers. 

Only time will tell if others stick around to actually read his posts.