And Rosney
BBC Business Reporter
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Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022
On March 21, 2006, the first tweet was published by the founder of Twitter Jack Dorsey: “I just configured my Twttr”. It was a simple introduction to a brand new platform.
Supported by celebrities, it was different from other social media sites, such as Myspace or Facebook, because you can interact with any user without having to approve a request. Companies rushed to join the service, in the hope of getting closer to their customers.
“If you were a brand that wanted to be part of all the cultural moments that were going on, Twitter was an ideal place to be,” said Alex Wilson, the main strategist at the marketing agency in BBC News.
On June 4, 2010, Elon Musk, the owner of Space X, connected for the first time: “Please ignore the previous tweets, because it was someone who pretended to be me 🙂 It is in Do me. “
Twelve years later, he would buy the platform for $ 44 billion (38.1 billion pounds sterling), reshape the algorithm, restore prohibited accounts, reuse politics around “freedom of expression” and the rename X.
He also dismissed thousands of staff members – about 80% of the workforce.
Since Mr. Musk’s buyout companies have chosen to leave the platform in what was called “the great X-Odus”.
One of their main concerns was the content that would be seen around their publications that users could detect and share.
For example, between June 2022 and February 2023, anti -Semitic messages on X have doubled, according to research from the Institute of Strategic Dialogue.
More recently in the United Kingdom, Mr. Musk’s articles on British politics have aroused controversy.
In particular, his posts on the subject of grooming gangs have put pressure on the government, which announced an examination of the problem.
“There is no doubt that the property of Musk de X has an impact on public opinion in the United Kingdom,” said Luke Tryl of the joint research group in BBC News.
However, according to more in common, only 16% of British think that his interventions are designed to do justice to the victims, while 44% think he is doing so, and his approval rating with the British public Located at -35.
Pitch marketing
X has become “less relevant” around the world called Alex Wilson
The changing tone of X and the controversy surrounding its owner have prompted some companies to leave the platform and others also drawn their advertising.
At the end of 2023, companies, including Apple, IBM and Disney, took an advertising break on the platform.
Other brands such as Unilever and Mars were continued by Mr. Musk, who accused them of illegally accepting the site.
“It is largely fair to say that Twitter becomes less relevant around the world,” said Wilson in the center office of the center of London, with posters of customers ranging from charities, telecommunications and sports leagues .
“It’s been a long time since customers have come to us and say,” Twitter is fun and exciting. We want to be in this space “.
“Unless you don’t care specific audiences, perhaps some political or sports audiences – football is always important on Twitter – it is difficult to see the value in it.”
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The German football club FC Saint-Pauli left X at the end of 2024
Trump’s electoral victory prompted other organizations to leave X, others considering their positions as the influence of Mr. Musk in the White House develops.
From 2013, the German football team FC St Pauli, which plays in the best German league, the Bundesliga, posted more than 60,000 times, accumulating nearly 250,000 subscribers.
But less than 10 days after confirmation of Trump’s return to the White House, the club posted: “You can find our statement on saying goodbye to X on Bluesky. Do not hesitate to follow us there .
“We discussed the decision for a year. We mainly published content with a counter-discourse to hatred. We had a lot of content for diversity, anti-racism and anti-sexism,” said the Club spokesperson, Patrick Longue at the BBC.
“We have seen assaults against X, anti-Semitism, conspiracy theories,” he said.
The argument that these messages are justified by freedom of expression does not convince it.
“We do not think that racism is freedom of expression,” said Highters.
One of the most recent departures of X was from the British BMW branch. At the end of January, he announced that he no longer published on X and directed people to his publications on Facebook and Instagram.
There is no final way to know how many brands choose to leave or reduce their publications on the platform.
As approaching, X did not respond to the points raised in this article. But last year, Mr. Musk said that X had 600 million monthly active users and said the platform maintains “goal was to serve public conversation”.
Mr. Musk “was clear that X is willing to make compromises to adopt a more open and less moderate approach compared to Twitter,” explains Goran Calic, a visiting stock market at the Harvard Business School.
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X remains useful for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
But leaving X can have negative consequences for organizations and their relationships with customers.
“When users leave, the impact depends on who leaves and why. A news from local authority publication offers significant value to the network. If such a share account, this can harm both the platform and its users “He told BBC News.
“Users who protest when leaving should weigh the broader social implications to stay in relation to the exit.”
For some organizations that need to get their message across quickly, X always has value that other competitors simply cannot offer.
“For us, there is always this value (on being on X),” said Andrew Cassidy, principal director of digital strategy and commitment to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).
“We are trying to match where our runners are. When people tweet at MBTA, someone can provide a final response at the time. Our diffusion system is exclusively linked to our X account, but we always pay questions of service client on other platforms. “
“Our goal is to provide customer service to the greatest number of runners we may,” said Cassidy.
“With the current landscape being what it is, X still feeds this need.”
It is “unthinkable”, explains Mr. Changesing, not to have any presence on social networks in 2025.
“We must see all the platforms in a critical way, it’s not only X. The companies behind them have set up the rules of the game and they can change them.”
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