The AEJ-UK has disengaged from the social media platform X.
It voted to leave at its Annual General Meeting in a judgment that X, formerly Twitter, appears to have become a toxic platform for disinformation and propaganda.
The AEJ UK can still be followed on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ukaej
Many other social media platforms provide space for public debate.
A number of media and journalist organisations, individual journalists, a variety of other groups, and corporate brands and companies have left X in recent years, particularly since tech billionaire Elon Musk bought it in October 2022 and fired an estimated 80% of staff including content moderators – although there are reports of some new hiring.
The growth of X and the number of active users are reported to have stalled or declined as Elon Musk has become a major supporter and ally of U.S. President Donald Trump although the data can be complicated to interpret.
In the UK, the communications regulator Ofcom’s 2024 annual report released in November says the UK adult “reach” of X “continues to gradually decline” although it “remains the highest-reaching microblogging service”.
Ofcom uses data from Ipsos Iris to understand the popularity of online services- using a measure of the number of UK adults aged at least 15 who visit a website or app.
In 2021, before its acquisition by Elon Musk, the Ofcom report says UK average monthly adult reach on X was 27.9 million. This declined by 1.5 million in 2022 and “..following Musk’s acquisition in October 2022, X’s UK reach has continued to decline” with an adult monthly average of 23.7 million in 2023 and 22.1 million in the first nine months of 2024.
Ofcom annual report 2024
X and other media on U.S. election night – Sensor Tower data analytics company
X struggles one year on – Sensor Tower
X problems – NBC News March 2024
Musk’s cuts at X and his DOGE plans to reshape America’s civil service – Forbes
Leaving X can be a tricky decision – BBC
Leaving X: a leap into the unknown? – Al Jazeera
