X, formerly Twitter, perseveres despite uncertainty under Elon Musk

When Tesla billionaire Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, mostly left-wing pundits predicted that the social media service would fail under the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist.”
But despite some unpopular changes under Musk, Twitter, now called X, remains the internet’s public square. Copycat services like Bluesky, Mastodon and Threads haven’t gotten much traction because they simply don’t have the reach of X and don’t offer anything new and exciting. One alternative service, Pebble, previously known as T2, shut down in October.
Twitter has proven to be a sticky service for sports fans, news junkies and other users.
The latest challenge to X has come from advertisers deciding not to do business with it after Musk made some controversial comments on and off the service.
But singling out X was stupid considering that there’s even worse content on other social networks where those companies advertise. They include TikTok and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram.
Consider these articles:

• UK accuses Meta of empowering child sexual abusers with encryption rollout. (The Guardian; Dec. 7, 2023)
• Facebook and Instagram Steer Predators to Children, New Mexico Attorney General Alleges in Lawsuit. (The Wall Street Journal; Dec. 6, 2023)
• Meta is child abuse ‘breeding ground,’ lawsuit claims. (BBC; Dec. 6, 2023)
• New Mexico lawsuit accuses Meta of creating ‘breeding ground’ for child predators. (CNN; Dec. 6, 2023)
• Meta Is Struggling to Boot Pedophiles Off Facebook and Instagram (The Wall Street Journal; Dec. 1, 2023)
• Google caught placing big-brand ads on hardcore porn sites, report says (Ars Technica; Nov. 29, 2023)
• Google search ads spotted in compromising placements (TechCrunch; Nov. 28, 2023)
• Google Search Ads End Up on Pornographic and Sanctioned Sites (Adweek; Nov. 28, 2023)
• Substack Has a Nazi Problem (The Atlantic; Nov. 28, 2023)

Sure, X has its problems. But for the average person who uses the service as a news feed and for entertainment, it hasn’t changed that much in the last year-plus.
I dislike a number of changes at Twitter under Musk, including the terrible rebranding to X.
My biggest complaint was Twitter changing its blue checkmarks from verified accounts of notable people and organizations to a pay-to-play scheme for anonymous trolls and scammers who get their speech amplified.
But there have been good changes under Musk’s ownership.
The best change has been the ability for the users to fact-check tweets, news articles and even advertisements with the “Community Notes” feature.
Still, X is facing pressure from left-wing groups such as Media Matters that object to X being a platform for freedom of speech.
That’s led advertisers like Apple, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery to pause their ads on X. Musk says those companies are trying to kill X. (See articles by the New York Times, Reuters and CNBC.)
Musk does have his supporters, including Bill Ackman, chief executive of hedge fund Pershing Square. “We all should be grateful that X is owned by Musk,” he said in a recent X post.

Photo: Twitter art by Esther Vargas via Creative Commons.