TL;DR: Today we’re releasing a new strategy that anyone -- individuals,
elected officials, or organizations -- can adopt to address the
dangerous, hateful direction of X (Twitter) and help build healthier,
more functional online communities elsewhere.
And we’re asking your help to spread the word.
[ [link removed]- ]Learn More >>
Indivisibles,
A month ago, we emailed to let you know that we were stepping back from X
(formerly Twitter) because the site is increasingly hateful, decreasingly
functional, and absolutely chockablock with conspiracy theories and
misinformation.
If you missed that email, [ [link removed]- ]we go into a lot more detail on the what and
why here but in short: X sucks, we feel icky using it, and it’s quickly
becoming less useful anyway.
The response to our announcement was amazing. Lots of kind words, lots of
pledges to join us on alternative platforms ([ [link removed]- ]Threads, [ [link removed]- ]Bluesky,
[ [link removed]- ]Mastodon), and then… questions.
Questions like, "What’s next?" "How do we bring others along with us to
stop feeding the platform?" "X is dangerous but it’s still popular so wtf
are you doing about that?" "We have an existential election next year and
people are still getting their news and trying to mobilize voters on a
website run by Elon Musk, so for real, what’s your PLAN, Indivisible?"
So we sat down to think up a plan. Because we love plans.
We know there are a lot of organizations and allies in Congress who share
our views about Musk and the direction of X, but aren’t ready to leave the
platform completely. The fact is, it’s SCARY ditching a tool we’ve used so
effectively for so long. Afterall, we launched the Indivisible guide on
Twitter almost exactly 7 years ago and amassed about 250,000 followers on
the platform. A lot of people have spent years building a following on X.
And it’s hard to leave when so many other trusted and important voices
continue to prioritize the platform.
Then it hit us: What if trusted voices no longer prioritized the platform?
What if members of Congress, organizations, and other prominent users
simply decided to post on X… last?
📉 The first thing that would happen is X would no longer be the place
where news breaks first and where conversations happen first. And really,
that’s X’s only remaining selling point. That’s what pulls journalists,
elected officials, high-profile individuals, and organizations back to the
platform.
📈 The second thing that would happen is users would start joining
alternative platforms where the news and analysis WAS starting to appear
first. We'd start seeing our favorite people on those social networks
instead of Musk's.
🌊 From there, momentum would build. X users would see their followers and
engagement growing on alternative platforms, and stepping back from X
wouldn’t seem so scary. If done right, every individual, every elected
official, every organization that adopted this strategy would be part of
building a self-perpetuating wave of exits from X.
We think it’s a pretty powerful idea. A gentle remedy for people who agree
X is crappy but are having a hard time dropping it. We call it the X-Last
approach, and we need your help pushing it out.
The X-last Approach
Let’s start by drilling down into specifics. This strategy is REALLY
simple for anyone on X to adopt. It’s just four easy steps, and we’ve
created [ [link removed]- ]a whole guide here on how to implement them.
[ [link removed]- ]A Graphic with the four steps of the X-last approach: Step 1: Establish
a presence on alternative text-based platforms like Threads, Bluesky, and
Mastodon. Step 2: Post to those alternative platforms before posting on X.
Step 3: Prioritize Engagement — reposts, replies, etc. — on those
alternative platforms. Step 4: Closely monitor metrics on those
alternative platforms to determine where to dedicate greater time and
resources.
How you can get involved
The approach is simple, but for it to make a lick of a difference, we need
a whole lot of people to adopt it. That’s where you come in!
1. Are you an X user? [ [link removed]- ]You can pledge to adopt an X-last approach
yourself.
2. Do you operate an X account for a brand, org, or a local Indivisible
group? [ [link removed]- ]Add your org to the pledge!
3. Are there groups you support who you’d like to see taking a stand on X
and organizing on better, healthier platforms? Email them, hit them up
on social media, or reach out however you can and encourage THEM to
adopt an X-last approach. A great strategy is replying to their posts
criticizing X and/or Musk. “Hey, why don’t you do something about it?
[ [link removed]- ]Sign the X-Last pledge here!”
4. Do you have a Member of Congress whose values are not aligned with the
right-wing cesspool X has become? [ [link removed]- ]Urge them to take the pledge!
However you can do it, help get this out there. Help build our numbers.
Help us organize a real collective response to the major threat to
democracy that X has become.
Today is launch day, but as time goes on, we’ll be listing out major
orgs/political leaders that sign on, celebrating them, and offering more
resources to help Indivisibles build momentum. If there are resources
you’d like to see, please let us know.
We’re so grateful for all the feedback we’ve already gotten on this work
and are excited to build this campaign together.
[ [link removed]- ]Take and Share the X-Last Pledge
In solidarity,
Sarah Dohl
Chief Campaigns Officer, Indivisible
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Here's a graphic you can save and use when asking others to take the
pledge!
[ [link removed]- ]Graphic reads X is Broken. Adopt the X-last Approach to address its
hateful, dangerous direction and help strengthen better, more functional
alternatives. Sign the pledge
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