The End of Twitter: Is It Time to Move On?

Is it time to give up on X/Twitter?

Amid all the ongoing changes stemming from Elon Musk’s ambition to transform it into an ”everything app,” the platform is in a state of fracture.

At least from a branding point of view, when various reports suggest that hate speech and misinformation are on the rise on the platform, despite X app’s claims to the contrary.

As a result, several users are indeed switching off, with rumors over the weekend that a record amount of X users are deactivating their accounts.

And with Threads looming as a potential alternative, It has already got the attention of several journalists and news breakers, and the change to X is your sign to exit the former Twitter app.

But can you do it? And for brands, should you risk turning your back on that audience?

The Case for X?

First, look at the case favoring Elon Musk’s social media project. He claims his app will become a part of ”the most valuable brand on Earth.”

Elon’s vision for X is an app built on a foundation of payments that stems into banking, remittance, and other financial services.

Musk is basing this on his experience building the original X.com in the late 90s. It is an online banking startup he founded in the past or early days. This startup was eventually merged into what would become PayPal.

Musk has said that he always felt like PayPal could have been so much more; it is what X is aiming to achieve. Here the concept of Musk is that once all of your banking is being conducted in-app.

It will make making payments, buying groceries, paying bills, and conducting transactions via the app much more straightforward.

It could work. Musk’s inspiration here is China and how WeChat has become a transformative app for everyday interactions for users in China.

Chinese users do virtually everything within the WeChat platform; it has also, in many respects, become a critical form of identity.

Yet, while several Western social platforms have tried to emulate the same, Western users have not shown the same interest in having an all-encompassing payments cum social and utility app.

So conceptually, it makes sense, but it would have been a revolutionary idea in the late 90s before WeChat was even launched.

There is little evidence to suggest that Elon’s idea of an ”everything app” will work out and move forward.

But it could, and if Elon can find a way to convince people that X is indeed the app that they need for everything, then the possibilities are enormous. Having an X presence is crucial for ongoing connection.

A successful X would attract more users and, thus, more advertisers. It has become an essential consideration in several respects.

On balance, it seems unlikely that will work out. Still, as many will note, Elon has achieved considerable success in various industries and niches that several previously considered impossible.

Essentially, abandoning X or former Twitter is betting against Elon, and many are still unwilling to do all that. Yet at the same time, in doing so, that could afford you new opportunities.

The Case Against X

The case against Elon’s X plan is relatively apparent. It is unlikely to work, and in the interim, X is becoming more of a confusing mess of mismatched branding and increasing the audience’s anxiety.

Amid its relaxed rules around hate speech, Elon’s ”X” app is pushing toward paid subscriptions and Musk’s propensity to distribute misinformation.

Western users have yet to show genuine interest in combining in-app shopping with social app functionality, while the crypto market crash has also shaken perceptions around online banking.

Hence, relying on digital platforms for financial stability is not trustworthy now. X app is, of course, not looking to integrate cryptocurrency within its payment tools as such.

But several people have lost much money through online banking programs. It could make it a hard sell for Elon and X to stoke interest in its offerings.

The real value of a platform like X is more acutely relevant in Asian economies and developing markets. It is the place where the use cases are far more significant.

Remittance, for example, is a much bigger deal in India, where people are regularly looking to transfer funds back to family, and a fee-free process for such would be a big win.

Developing markets still need to evolve banking systems as US & Europe do in the Western world. In this case, alternatives like Bitcoin could serve a much higher purpose and value.

Given the safeguards and processes already in place for banking in Western regions, it is hard to see that there is a vast or driving push for more people to take up Elon’s banking offer.

Reduced fees could be a way if he can convince enough people to trust the ‘X’ app as their banking platform of choice.

But then there are also the regulatory approvals that would be required that X is unlikely to get. For example, Meta has been trying to reach full backing for Meta Pay and its other payment services for years.

It has been a constant struggle to gain approval in more markets. And again, the crypto crash has made regulators even more sceptical of such programs.

Meanwhile, Musk’s repeated public criticisms of groups like the FTC, SEC, and various other governments and world leaders will also not help ease the path forward for the app.

Apart from that, the concerns around the rise in hate speech in the app, as X looks to lean more on reach restrictions than content removals.

Moreover, the emphasis on forcing people to pay to use it by restricting certain features is a significant and experiential shift. All these new and unwanted changes are convincing users to leave the app forever.

When you look at new elements in the X app, such as in the ‘creator ad revenue share’ program, that incentivizes creators to share more incendiary content.

To spark more comments and increase your potential for ads to be shown in replies, the ”X” app is using content trends. It is different from what most users desire.

So maybe, then, there is a case for a re-think. And with more journalists and influencers finding a new home on Threads, there is evidence that a marked usage shift is coming.

Now, the former Twitter app claims a new all-time high in usage, and Meta admits that Threads usage has declined significantly from its initial hyped launch.

It is a time of change for the social media landscape, and by re-focusing on other platforms. It can deliver better results, both for your usage and also for your brand promotion efforts.

Again, it is too early to write the X concept off completely. But with the holiday push coming, now is the time to experiment with other platforms.

You must find new alternatives if the experiment with the ”X” app doesn’t take off.

Lots of users are suspecting about what is going to happen. More brands will try other social promotion options, like Reddit, Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram.

They are trying to seek the best avenues for their holiday campaigns. Twitter or X app is now a no-brainer than it once was.

For the amount of posting effort, more of that time should be spent on other new initiatives to maximize your attention and resonance.

And Threads, too, could be an attractive organic option to try to see what results you can get after the uncertainty with the ”X” app.

Both X and Threads have their relevance at this stage. It adds another platform into the mix, but at some stage, you will figure out the platforms that work best for you, and that will ultimately define your attention.

But the fact that this is even a debate is a concern for X app as it works to get its business back on track. Only then will people around the X app be sure about what will happen next.

Both Musk and Yaccarino have a big job selling people on X, but it will become the most significant social platform in the world sometime in the near or far future.

Click here to learn more about the ”X” app and all other social media platforms.