So, you want to axe, X?

We have seemingly hit a moment in the social media ether where being on X (formerly Twitter), is as controversial as what you post. More and more individuals and organisations across the charity sector are either leaving X or, considering if they should even be on it at all. 

Early September CharityComms announced they’d be drawing back their usage of X so they “can monitor the role X has for the sector and our members…”. And, they’re not the only ones. Since divisive content has been on the rise on the platform many charities are leaving the platform in their droves. 

So, if you haven’t already, many comms, marketing and social media personnel working in charities will be asking too “should we continue to use X?”. So we asked our Head of Digital and Campaigns what her thoughts were. Othnielle shares that her response will always be to assess the platform for your audience needs and use case. Are you launching a campaign targeting many MPs who you want to see your content? Then you need to assess if your stakeholders are on the platform and are engaging with it. If they are, then take a pulse check, and potentially think through alternative timing to descaling campaigns content which is helping you make your issue a conversation piece. The wider objective should always prevail. 

Are you targeting Gen Z’s and realising your follower base and engagement is decreasing as a result because they’re not on the platform as much? Consider a wider strategy that supports you maximising efforts on platforms like Reddit and Tik Tok. What if it’s a moral case and actually the direction of travel no longer fits with your organisation’s clearly stated value system? 

Then consider an approach similar to CharityComms, scale back and continue to assess the bigger picture whilst you divert more attention to your LinkedIn strategy. Side note, it’s a great time to invest efforts into LinkedIn with the recent additions of video content, games, the sharper algorithm and insightful analytics things are heading in the right direction. 

Which brings me to another point; from my experience of working with social media for over a decade it is absolutely a flowing stream, never ever stagnant, X may grow out of this phase or Threads may finally find its moment in the chaos and begin to house homeless X users in a community style approach. TikTok or other social apps may even launch new features to mimic the nature of first-response posts Twitter became so popular for. Who knows, but what is certain; no choice you make has to be final! It’s social media, make sure it’s working for your audience, assess its impact in meeting your objectives often and when a platform stops helping you reach your goals – pivot your strategy. 

Just don’t forget to keep your well nurtured audience informed and take them on the journey with your decision making. Loyal supporters will always be keen to follow you wherever you’re most active and most will understand your values enough to understand whichever decision you end up making. But your use of social media for an organisation (and this can stretch to the organisation’s CEO in many cases)  is not an individual decision, it is a business one, and must be made in the round. 

Happy aXing (or not)!