Why I'm not on 𝕏?

I joined Twitter in 2009, and microblogging quickly became my favorite way to interact online.

I then left Twitter, which was renamed X in 2022, because I was not satisfied with the way this social network was evolving. My main motivation was to avoid supporting its new owner, as he clearly stated that he wanted to use this network to promote his political agenda. I could not stand this obvious interference with democracy. You may know how important it is for me, and so I left the platform.

Where can you follow me?

You will now find me on the Fediverse. I mainly post thoughts on my Mastodon account and photos of my bike on Pixelfed.

To know more, watch Introducing the Fediverse: a New Era of Social Media

Why you should also leave 𝕏?

After I left, X has evolved even further as I could read people talking about it. It seems it is turning into a propaganda machine to promote hate speech, lies, and racism. AI is trying to boost this and adds pedophilia to the list.

When you use X, you openly call people to follow you there, and therefore, you somehow promote this platform with its unhidden goals. Many companies, media outlets, or politicians even link directly from their website and blogs to this platform. Readers may associate you with the values of hate, racism, and pedophilia.

How can you leave 𝕏?

Many are reluctant to leave X because they have built an audience over the years and would not like to lose it. Often, this audience does not have the impact you seem to think. When a French newspaper (was it Ouest-France?) left Twitter, they realised that this had a very limited impact on their web audience.

Nevertheless, if you want to join another, more peaceful microblogging platform, it is possible to inform your followers that you do so and let them know where they can follow you next. Since Twitter is mainly about who you follow, you will be surprised that many people you follow have already made the move.

There are tools like Openportability that help you leave X without leaving behind all that you’ve built. It will help you to

• get your X archive with all messages and followees
• connect you with your former followees who are on Bluesky, Mastodon or both

Additionally, you can request that your political representatives do the same and leave X too.

I hope I can see you there.