As Elon Musk’s X sees a decline in every day lively customers, some individuals are deciding to ditch the social community totally, whether or not that’s for Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, or maybe, higher but, nothing in any respect.
Because the Tesla and SpaceX CEO purchased Twitter in 2022, quite a few options have cropped up, searching for to ensnare people who find themselves lower than happy with Musk’s administration of the platform. In some circumstances, that time of no return got here when X turned its iconic blue checkmark right into a paid characteristic, rendering a logo as soon as related to legitimacy right into a meaningless insignia. For others, Musk’s political affect inside the Trump administration was the ultimate straw; or possibly that second got here even sooner, when Musk reinstated the accounts of identified white supremacists, or when X made customers’ public posts seen to individuals that they had blocked.
Possibly that is all gravy, and also you’re simply attempting to chop down in your display time. Truthful sufficient, and extra energy to you!
Regardless, for those who’re attempting to make X your ex, learn on.
The best way to obtain your X archive
On X, you’ll be able to download an archive of assorted knowledge related along with your account, together with your posts, uploaded media, direct messages, and your followers and following lists. Whether or not you’re planning to delete your account or not, this type of knowledge will be helpful to have available.
The archive contains some knowledge that X might have collected about your account for advert focusing on, corresponding to any pursuits or demographic identifiers that the app might have inferred about you. X and different social platforms be taught this info primarily based on what sorts of posts you work together with; for those who comply with dozens {of professional} sports activities accounts, for instance, then X will guess that you just’re a sports activities fan, and it’ll present you extra ads associated to sports activities.
Right here’s learn how to obtain this archive out of your desktop browser:
- Click on the three dot image on the underside of the left-hand navigation bar.
- Navigate to Settings and privateness.
- From there, you’ll be dropped at a display that claims Your Account. There, you’ll see an choice that claims Obtain an archive of your knowledge.
- Subsequent, X could have you enter your password as a safety precaution. When you do this, it is possible for you to to request your knowledge.
It might take a couple of days for the app to retrieve and put together your knowledge, so don’t be alarmed for those who don’t immediately obtain a .zip file. However for those who’re planning to deactivate or delete your account, wait till you obtain the hyperlink to obtain your archive. X can’t ship this knowledge to an inactive account.
What else ought to I do earlier than deleting my X account?
Deleting your X account signifies that nobody on the positioning will be capable to see your posts or your account. Nonetheless, social networks don’t have any management over search engines like google and yahoo like Google, which routinely index public posts. Because of this your posts may nonetheless flip up in search outcomes, even when the hyperlink to your submit not exists.
If you wish to be further cautious, listed below are some steps you’ll be able to take to reduce the possibility of your posts residing on:
In case your posts have by no means been public, then you definately don’t have to fret about this. However even for those who make a public account non-public for causes other than eventual deletion, it’s nonetheless potential that what you’ve posted earlier than defending your account can reside on in search outcomes; search engines like google and yahoo cache posts and will have a lag in updating lifeless hyperlinks.
The best way to delete your X account
Alas, it’s time to log out. If deleting your account feels a bit too everlasting and intimidating, the choice provides you a grace interval of 30 days, throughout which you’ll change your thoughts and reactivate. When you deactivate your account, your profile will not be seen on X.
Right here’s learn how to deactivate your X account:
- In your desktop browser, click on the three dot image on the underside of the left-hand navigation bar.
- Navigate to Settings and privateness.
- From there, you’ll be dropped at a display that claims Your Account. On the backside of the record, you will note an choice to Deactivate your account.
- When you click on that, you’ll be introduced to a different web page, which makes certain you actually know what you’re doing.
- Then, click on the pink button that claims Deactivate.
After all, X doesn’t need you to delete your account, which is why it doesn’t soar you straight to the nuclear choice. If you happen to notice that breaking apart with X is a horrible mistake, X will nonetheless take you again, as long as that 30-day window hasn’t elapsed.
When you deactivate, if 30 days cross with out you logging onto X, then your account shall be completely deleted. Congratulations: You’re free. Now go outdoors or one thing.
What social platform do you have to use as an alternative of X?
If you happen to can’t shake that insatiable need to submit, then you’ll be able to try another apps that may scratch that itch, but carry much less baggage. Listed below are some options to X that may fit your fancy:
Bluesky
Bluesky is a microblogging website constructed atop an open supply protocol. That’s numerous jargon, however on a floor stage, because of this the internal machinations of Bluesky are extra clear, and third-party builders can construct on prime of the app.
For individuals who don’t belief giant companies like Meta and Google to carry the keys to their on-line social lives, the open supply nature of Bluesky may very well be interesting, since customers have extra management than they usually do when utilizing an organization’s social product. Nonetheless, Bluesky isn’t utopian — it’s nonetheless a tech firm that has raised $23 million in enterprise capital and must hold its buyers completely happy. However as a public profit company, Bluesky has some responsibility towards doing what’s greatest for the customers (at the very least, it ought to), and never simply its funders.
As of January 2025, Bluesky has about 30 million registered customers. Earlier than Donald Trump was elected in November 2024, the social community had simply 13 million customers, however many X customers jumped ship on account of frustrations with Musk’s involvement within the Trump marketing campaign. Although Bluesky was shaped as a challenge at Twitter beneath former CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey, the corporate not has ties to X, and Dorsey is not a member of its board.
Mastodon
Like Bluesky, Mastodon can also be an open supply social community, and one with an extended monitor file, working since 2016. Whereas Bluesky’s structure largely stays beneath the hood — you don’t must know what a decentralized protocol is to make use of the app — Mastodon’s setup is a little more tech-forward. For some individuals (like a lot of the cybersecurity neighborhood, which has settled on Mastodon), it is a level in favor of Mastodon. However for the much less tech-savvy, Mastodon could also be complicated. The nonprofit has taken steps to streamline the signup course of, defaulting customers to the “mastodon.social” server as an alternative of constructing individuals determine which server to affix earlier than even utilizing the platform.
As of January 2025, Mastodon has round 10 million registered customers, with nearer to 1 million lively customers, in response to open source data. The community has greater than doubled since October 2022, when Elon Musk formally took over Twitter.
Threads
Threads has a severe benefit on this house: It’s owned by Meta, which implies you could switch over your following lists from Instagram seamlessly. Of all choices, Threads makes it best to comply with the individuals you already wish to comply with (although Bluesky and Mastodon have “Starter Packs” to assist, as does Threads).
However Threads’ greatest boon can also be its deadly flaw. If individuals are already bored with Meta’s ecosystem — which additionally contains Fb and WhatsApp — then they won’t soar on the probability to offer Meta much more management over their on-line experiences.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg mentioned in December 2024 that Threads has over 100 million every day lively customers and 300 million month-to-month lively customers, making it rather more standard than its opponents. Although Threads had an enormous head begin on account of its integration with Instagram, the app continues to develop.