When Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022 (and renamed it X) he was widely seen as a deluded narcissist, who’d just blown $44 billion to have his subpar memes beamed directly into our newsfeeds. In the following years, though, a darker picture emerged, as hate speech and other harmful content thrived on the platform, and right-wing politics gained the upper hand. Now, in the aftermath of the 2024 US election, many users are questioning whether X played a direct role in putting Donald Trump back in the White House. Some have gone even further, joining a mass exodus that’s seen rival platforms like Bluesky pick up more than 700,000 new users in the last week alone.

Is it any surprise that X users are looking for an alternative? No. In fact, it’s “entirely understandable,” says Kulvinder Nagre, a research and policy coordinator at Race on the Agenda. Engaging with the platform in 2024, he notes, feels as if it represents some form of complicity with Elon’s agenda, including his use of X’s hundreds of millions of users to “leverage influence” with the upcoming Republican administration, where he’ll oversee a newly-created ‘department of government efficiency’. Plus the general atmosphere’s not likely to improve over the next four years, with a presidency that is “far friendlier to Musk’s increasingly populist, right wing Libertarianism”.

Is the solution really as simple as logging off X, though? That’s not an easy question to answer, with many good arguments both for and against. As Nagre says: “There is an argument to be made that abandoning the platform could send a clear message that X is no longer a forum for the unbiased exchange of ideas and healthy dialogue.” On the other hand, says Paul Reilly, a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow: “Twitter/X has arguably been an incubator for right-wing extremism since Musk took over... For those staying, there is the hope they can positively influence political discourses.”

At the end of the day (or until Trump starts holding press conferences exclusively on X) it’s a personal decision with lots of different factors at play. Below, we’ve gathered everything you need to know to make an informed decision about whether to jump ship, plus some tips on how to navigate the chaos if you stay.

HOW DID X INFLUENCE THE 2024 US ELECTION?

Another complicated question. “I’m sure a great deal is going to be researched and written about this topic over the next few years!” says Nagre. “That said, I think it is clear at this stage that Musk’s repositioning of X as a platform that is more open to misinformation, populism, and racist dialogue has had an effect on the outcome of the US election, and Trump’s victory.”

Arguably, the platform’s real impact began with the reinstating of Trump’s Twitter account shortly after Musk bought the platform (Trump had been banned in the wake of the January 2021 riots at the US Capitol). “[This] allowed the president-elect to appear legitimate once again, and not as a disgraced former president who incited a riot in order to attempt to subvert proper democratic processes.” It goes further than that, though: under Musk’s reign, X also lifted bans on a range of controversial figures like Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson, and Marjorie Taylor Greene – and whether or not you agree with their right to free speech, all have played a role in the mainstreaming of fringe beliefs aligned with Trump’s campaign.

One of the world’s wealthiest individuals used his social media platform to amplify disinformation to undermine public trust in democratic institutions. Musk’s claims that the site is a politically neutral world ‘town hall’ look rather hollow now – Paul Reilly

OK, BUT TRUMP DIDN’T JUST SHITPOST HIS WAY TO VICTORY

That’s true. We should be careful not to overstate X’s influence, Reilly suggests, noting that it’s too early to tell how instrumental it was to Trump’s success. “It certainly amplified misinformation about topics, such as the state of the US economy, that favoured Trump over Harris,” he says, with early signs suggesting that misinformed voters were more likely to vote Trump. But: “In terms of X itself, its influence on voters is often exaggerated.” Pre-Musk, less than a quarter of US citizens ever logged onto Twitter (loads less than platforms like YouTube and Facebook) while only 10 per cent of global users found their news on X in 2024. These numbers could come as quite a surprise, if you’ve been trapped in X’s hall of mirrors these past few years.

Nevertheless, says Reilly, it remains significant one of the world’s richest men bought a social media platform and used it to “amplify misinformation” and undermine public trust in democratic institutions. “Musk’s claims that the site is a politically neutral world ‘town hall’ look rather hollow now.”

SO TRUMP’S HATERS ARE LEAVING FOR BLUESKY

Between Elon cosying up to Trump, and the president-elect’s history of prolific posting on X, now seems like a pretty good time to jump ship if you’re not on board with the best billionaire buddies’ agenda. But it’s not the first time we’ve seen an exodus of X/Twitter users, notes Reilly. “Just a few months ago we saw UK users announce they were off to Bluesky and Threads in protest at X’s amplification of hate speech and misinformation during riots in England and Northern Ireland.” The protest seemed to stick – in September 2024, it was reported that active daily users had dropped from 8 million to 5.6 million. Reilly expects a similar trend in the US.

ISN’T THERE A WORRY THAT X BECOMES ELON’S PRIVATE FASCIST INCUBATOR?

While there are plenty of reasons you might want to abandon X – from complicity in the growth of right-wing politics, to the “sheer volume of hate speech and online abuse” – what happens to the platform you left behind? Without any dissenting voices, will the platform’s right-wing users simply be left to radicalise at their leisure?

“There is, of course, the danger that abandoning X will just allow more and more destructive, misinformative, and extreme narratives to fester,” says Nagre. “However, siloing users into increasingly isolated and extreme echo chambers is an inevitable consequence of the way in which major social media platforms are designed. The algorithmically-mediated user experience already works to only expose users to perspectives with which they are already sympathetic.” When Elon Musk first took over, he promised to turn X into a virtual “town square” where these barriers could be broken down, but that hasn’t really happened. In fact, research suggests that recent changes have increased polarisation and the formation of echo chambers.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that we shouldn’t try to counter the hate-filled discourse on X, though. “There is evidence that counteracting disinformation works – allowing falsehoods to circulate without challenge is more damaging for democratic political institutions,” adds Reilly. “Those wishing to push back on such narratives may have some influence on how others perceive these issues.”

There is [a] danger that abandoning X will just allow more and more destructive, misinformative, and extreme narratives to fester – Kulvinder Nagre

HOW COULD AN X-ODUS AFFECT OUR ALREADY POLARISED POLITICS?

With X emerging as the right-wing platform of choice – the equivalent of an old-timey bar where the music stops when an outsider walks in the door – and the likes of Meta’s Threads billing itself as a direct rival, it seems like we’re headed for an internet where political polarisation is pushed to even further extremes. Both Nagre and Reilly agree that this would be bad news for society at large.

“At present [despite algorithmic bias] it is possible to find other viewpoints, should you choose to look for them,” notes Nagre. “Having these further siloed away in the ‘right wing’ social media platform will make it far harder to have a healthy dialogue and understand why people are subscribing to increasingly hostile, racist, xenophobic perspectives across Europe and North America.”

“If the US election results have shown us anything, it’s that we choose not to engage with other perspectives at our own peril. We now need to work to understand these positions, and provide healthy, constructive, hopefully effective critiques of them, rather than hope they go away without any further intervention from activists and politicians.”

THE CASE FOR STAYING ON X

For organisations like Race on the Agenda, it’s important to stay plugged in to the kinds of conversations happening on X, to better understand how online myths and misinformation can spill over into IRL violence and political unrest. “Clearly writing off racist hate speech as an anachronism hasn’t worked,” suggests Nagre. “It’s important to try to understand why these perspectives and narratives have gained such traction.”

“However, it’s also important to avoid the pitfalls of falling into misinformation and extremism whilst navigating these spaces.” This means developing an understanding of how false narratives form, especially in the wake of a tragedy like 2024’s Southport attack in the UK. Luckily, social media discourse often follows the same predictable patterns, enabling savvy users to “pre-bunk” misinformation and avoid potential pitfalls. If you’re looking for further reading, Dazed has plenty of tips on how to navigate misinformation on social media, from fake news on TikTok, to political deepfakes.

For Reilly, the key is to always think before you act. “If content evokes a strong emotional response, don’t respond to it in the heat of the moment,” he suggests. “Check sources, the accounts responsible for such content, and do your due diligence before you pass anything on. Those engaging in trolling behaviour thrive on getting responses, so don’t give them what they want the most.”

“Most importantly, be aware that X is not a direct proxy for public opinion. It’s a site prone to manipulation through bots and bad actors, not a public space in your local city or town. X amplifies divisive and harmful content in order to generate clicks, likes and shares. So, exercise your voice on these sites wisely.”