Students said last month they don’t use the social media platform X, which used to be called Twitter.
In an informal poll of 50 students on the Arnold campus, 31 said they do not use X, while 19 said they are regular users but they have had problems with the platform or with the changes Elon Musk has made to it.
“I see people leaving all the time because of the changes that are being made,” Jocelyn Helwig, a first-year astronomy student, said.
Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022 and changed the name from “Twitter” to “X” in July. In the past year, 60% of Americans who are frequently on the platform have taken a break from using the app, according to Pew Research Center.
Some users called the new X “toxic.”
“The people are pretty toxic on there … and the control,” Brooklyn Page, a first-year art history student, said. “I don’t really like what Elon Musk is doing on there. … He’s not really thinking about the people. I think he just likes having control. … He is dragging people away from the app.”
Others said they’re finding more and more errors since Musk took over.
“They have a bunch of errors, like not being able to see quoted tweets,” Joan Kim, a second-year undecided student, said. “It’s pretty uncomfortable to use.”
Others said they don’t like Musk personally, so they don’t use his platform.
“I do not like Twitter [X] and I do not like Elon Musk,” Paige Corbe, a first-year transfer studies student, said. “You can’t be for the people and be a billionaire. … [He] alienated it for the average user.”
Some students said they still enjoy using X.
“I like Twitter [X] because you know, people share their opinions,” Yasmine Riley, a first-year general studies student, said.
A handful of students said they hadn’t realized that Musk made changes to the social media platform since he changed the name to “X.”
“It’s kind of the same layout,” Javon Ellison, a first-year cybersecurity student, said. “I haven’t noticed a difference.”