Should my Organization Stay on Meta and X?

With the recent change in leadership in the White House, never before have people, influencers, and organizations been forced to ask themselves if they should remain on social platforms. Twenty years after their birth, much has changed in the world of social media and community-building.

I joined one of the upstart social media agencies in 2012 when no one knew what social media was. Vaynermedia was then, and is now, at the forefront of mass media social marketing. I got my chops working for brands like Green Mountain Coffee, Pepsi Co., and Dr. Scholl’s. It never occurred to me that the platforms that I once thrived on and built a career on would become places of hate and division.

Meta’s decision to end fact-checking on its platforms, citing a “cultural tipping point” in politics and the need for more masculine energy, has, from my perspective, caused me to be disappointed — and in many cases — severely disgusted in the leadership of companies near and far.

Without content moderation, there are a few risks companies will need to accept going forward:

• There is a near-certainty that misinformation will sit right next to your content.

• There is a certainty (happened to me this past weekend), that hate speech will run rampant and you will be very limited in your ability to respond and manage.

After over 20 years on Meta and nearly 15 on Twitter / X, I have withdrawn usage and have moved to BlueSky and LinkedIn predominately.

There are risks with any marketing strategy. This is one of them. And as a long-term veteran of the best day of social media, this is a sad day for building community.