The Exodus from X

It’s been more than two years since Elon Musk took ownership of the company formerly known as Twitter. Now named X, the social media platform has seen an exodus that has come in successive waves. Most recently, following the presidential election in the U.S., about 115,000 users fled the social platform on one day alone.

Over the past two years, accusations of toxic content have run rampant, and Elon Musk has admitted to censoring news. Things are so bad that Reporters Without Borders (RSF) took X to court in France for letting fake news spread unabated. It’s easy to see why, since the change of ownership in 2022, many journalist users have been seeking a viable alternative.

In its earlier form, X was an important place for reporters to not only promote their work but to follow developing news, find stories and sources, and grow an audience. Alternatives to X have popped up, but how do they measure up? Let’s find out!

The front runners to replace X

Twitter burst onto the scene in 2006 as the latest addition to the growing number of social media platforms, and by around 2009, it began to gain real traction with powerful users and became a source for breaking news. Back then, it was unique. Now, though, there are a host of similar platforms looking to be the next Twitter. Three front runners have emerged, and journalists looking for a new place to land may have a tough time choosing.

Threads

This Meta-owned companion to Instagram grew quickly. Back in July, Mark Zuckerberg said Threads had more than 175 million monthly users — but that hefty user count does not seem to translate to political clout. Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram and Threads, has said publicly that Threads won’t be downranking news (like Facebook does) but won’t promote it over other content and that it is not the platform’s place to show users political content from people they do not follow. The team seems to think it would be more trouble than it is worth.

This could make it harder for journalists to gain traction and be found by new followers. Additionally, journalists looking to share real-time takes may want to look elsewhere, as Nieman Lab found Threads “next to useless” on election night and reports Mosseri “has said that though Threads is ‘actively pursuing’ news about ‘sports, music, fashion, [and] culture,’ the platform is not encouraging news about politics.” So, while fashion or technology journalists might find a home on Threads, it may not be the right for political or news reporters.

Bluesky

Bluesky got a lot of press immediately after Musk took over Twitter, and the experts at Nieman Lab seem to think it's got what it takes. After garnering more than 2 million users in the first couple of weeks of November 2024, it has surpassed 16 million users. While that number may pale in comparison to Threads’ numbers, the consensus seems to be that it's easier to follow live events on Bluesky, and frankly, it looks exactly like the old Twitter. Tech Crunch reports, “Bluesky is a decentralized social app conceptualized by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and developed in parallel with Twitter. The social network has a Twitter-like user interface with algorithmic choice, a federated design and community-specific moderation.”

In other words, people who were once Twitter devotees will recognize much of what they loved (or at least recognize) about their old micro-blogging platform. The team is still developing new features and monetization models, so expect it to continue to change — perhaps along the same lines you may have wanted Twitter to evolve. The familiar interface and understanding of what made Twitter so popular make it a top pick for the journalist’s new platform of choice.

Mastodon

Mastodon is actively courting news fans and the people who make it. Clickable author bylines on link posts will direct users to the author’s account on the 'fediverse' (more on that later). This is designed to attract those who like following the news on social media while letting journalists gain exposure and increase their following — but there is a catch.

Mastodon is open source and decentralized, which makes it appealing to some and possibly a bit too troublesome for others. For instance, TechCrunch reports that to access the clickable bylines, “you’ll need to be using the main Mastodon server (by way of users) at mastodon.social either on the web or in an official mobile app, for the time being. If using another Mastodon server, it will need to support the recent Mastodon nightly release, but the feature will only work for moderator-approved websites.” This may be more effort than the average user is willing to put in for a social experience.

Will the fediverse be the real winner?

While the competition to become the new Twitter is fierce, the idea of the fediverse may make the need to choose one platform irrelevant.

What is the fediverse? TechCrunch explains, “In a nutshell, it’s a collection of social networking services that can communicate with each other (formally known as a federation).” In other words, the new breed of micro-blogging platforms — yes, even Threads — seem to want to play well with others. Whether or not the fediverse ever takes off with users, it does seem to signal a new era for platforms that, in the past, would have been in direct competition with one another. This may be good news for journalists who still are not sure which platform to throw their weight behind.