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Since Elon Musk took over, many have said goodbye to X. Now cantons and companies are following suit.
Profit, reach and credibility. Elon Musk’s Platform X has lost a lot in the past few months. Cantonal authorities and companies that use X for their communication also notice this. They are increasingly looking for alternatives, and some have already left the platform.
An environment of hate speech and fake news
The canton of Zurich is one of them. At the end of November, he recommended that all cantonal offices deactivate their accounts on X. This excludes the account of the cantonal police and the canton itself.
In the context of hate speech or fake news, the whole environment is no longer right for us.
The background for this recommendation is as follows: “In the context of hate speech or fake news, the whole environment is no longer right for us,” says deputy government spokesman Daniel Eberhard. It feels wrong to post something on X if the post about it contains obvious fake news.
In addition, the tone has become rougher. Seven of the original 26 accounts in the canton of Zurich ceased their activity in 2023.
For the same reasons, the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden has also deactivated its X account. He now moves his communication to Instagram.
“Free speech” at the expense of credibility
Philipp Bachmann, lecturer in media economics and strategic communication at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, explains the changed environment as a result of the lack of content regulation. After taking over, Elon Musk laid off around 80 percent of the employees, including many who were responsible for content regulation.
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With his takeover, Elon Musk turned the short messaging service Twitter on its head.
Reuters/Dado Ruvic
Misinformation, racism and fake profiles – these are the consequences. “As a result of this unregulated culture of discussion, the credibility and seriousness of the platform has declined massively,” says the lecturer.
Musk, on the other hand, calls this “free speech” because almost everyone is allowed to do almost anything on his platform, regardless of whether it is true. Last but not least, the EU Commission opened proceedings against X at the end of December, which, among other things, examines the platform’s content moderation.
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Datarer portal
Musk’s megalomania surrounding his platform is not really justified. If you compare the user numbers of the major social media as of April 2023, X, with its around 400 million users, is at the very bottom.
Facebook achieves 6 times more, with a user base of 3 billion, followed by YouTube with around 2.5 billion users. Approximately 1.6 billion people use Instagram and one billion use Tiktok.
However, it must be mentioned that the purpose and therefore the target groups of the platforms are different. For example, Tiktok is not automatically an alternative to X just because it has more users. That’s why cantons and companies are currently faced with the task of finding a suitable alternative to the short message service.
At the end of November, Graubünden Tourism also teamed up with one post adopted from the platform because the target group is better reached on Instagram, Tiktok or Linkedin. Corporations like Nestlé or Lindt and Sprüngli have stopped using X for a long time.
There are hardly any alternatives yet
Despite everything: There is not really a suitable alternative for the short message service. The general population is not yet represented on alternative services such as Bluesky, Mastodon or Threads. “It is questionable whether there will be another platform that will be as attractive to journalists and politicians as X once was,” says Philipp Bachmann.
The canton of St. Gallen is also looking for this answer. Their X account shows a decline in users. The canton is currently examining the benefits of Bluesky, Threads or Whatsapp. They have classified Mastodon as irrelevant.
In communication, you want to know where and how people are talking about you. If we are no longer there, we can no longer listen.
The decision is difficult, says communications manager Thomas Zuberbühler. This is because too few people are still being reached. «In communication, you want to know where and how people are talking about you. If we’re no longer there, we can no longer listen,” he explains.
How long X will continue to have meaning remains an open question. Cantons and companies will probably turn away from it as soon as there is a suitable alternative. Unlike Musk, they no longer see X as a platform for honest information.