Users grapple with whether to leave social media sites

Some social media sites have undergone major changes since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, has seen the most modifications, doing away with fact checkers and even allowing anti-LGBTQ speech on its platforms.

That, combined with the Trump administration’s unfurling of anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion and anti-transgender executive orders coupled with layoffs, bans, and policies impacting marginalized communities – raises questions among some users along the lines of “What should (or can) I do?” and “How should I respond?”

The decision to stay or remove oneself from a major social media platform, like Meta, in response to reduced or inadequate content moderation and discriminatory policy changes is neither easy nor straightforward.

“The dilemma is … we live in this world where we're so reliant on these giant private companies, and then it ends up feeling like we don't have other options. It can be hard to get away from that, if one is habituated to it,” said Jenni Olson, a lesbian who is GLAAD’s senior director of its social media safety program.

She noted that people have removed themselves from platforms at different times, such as leaving X in response to owner Elon Musk’s implementation of new terms of service.

“But then it's hard, because you feel like you're ceding the space and not reaching the people that you wanted to reach. But at least then you're not complicit in it. … I think people are really grappling with what to do and feeling very trapped,” said Olson.

Amanda “Annie” Brown, co-founder and CEO of ethical AI company Reliabl, noted that people use different platforms for different reasons, with the reliability (ease of use), features, and accumulation of followers as central aspects in terms of why they continue to use an app and maintain a presence via posts, comments, likes, sharing, and by other means.

“I think, ultimately, what keeps a lot of people on [a platform like] Instagram is that their audience is already there, especially for queer content creators and queer businesses. … I think if it was just solely entertainment-based, or just solely like, ‘Oh, I'm just using this for personal use,’ then it would be a lot easier to move from one platform to the other. But if you've built an entire business on one platform, to move to another platform is quite difficult,” she said.

She described the circumstance as a “recreating loop,” with businesses staying on a social media platform because that's where the audience is, and audiences staying on the platform because that's where the content creators are.

“It’s this loop of profit, really. And I think it's starting to get to the point where people will move, but until that rug is completely pulled out from under the queer community, which it might be soon, as long as they're still able to make a profit on those platforms, it's hard to leave,” she added.

Some political leaders aren’t waiting. On March 27, California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) announced that he and 57 of the 60 Assembly Democrats had left X.

“There are real risks with relying on a private company, owned by Elon Musk, as a channel for communications,” Rivas stated. “Democracy depends on impartial information, not the shifting whims of one billionaire. Hate speech is everywhere on X, the company has no accountability, and the flood of misinformation from fake accounts is just that – fake. I don’t think taxpayer resources should go to X.”

As of Thursday, a check revealed that all seven of the out assemblymembers either stated on the platform that they were leaving, haven’t posted since Rivas’ announcement, or weren’t on X to begin with.

Rivas noted that he and his fellow lawmakers will be accessible on other platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) previously announced he was leaving X for Bluesky.

Alternatives
While the queer community’s mass exodus from, or complete boycott of, Instagram and Facebook or other major social media apps seems implausible, those looking to make an exit, statement, or both can turn to online spaces that foster inclusion and diversity.

“Alternative social media platforms see this as an opportunity to differentiate themselves. So while maybe they don't have the money to build a bunch of fancy new features like Instagram, what they can do is they can find where Instagram has its gaps and then fill that space, or fill where cis male-dominated spaces online have gaps,” Brown said.

She’s connected with a few inclusive-centered platforms via her company, Reliabl, including the app Lex, the leaders of which she’s had conversations with and done some consulting. Launched in December 2019, Lex was featured in a previous story by the B.A.R. on LGBTQ online spaces.

“They've been really excited about having ethical AI be at the center of what they're building, because they know that a lot of their users are nervous about AI, nervous about data privacy, things like that,” she said.

Reliabl is not currently working directly with Lex but is hoping to do so in the future.

“We’ve talked to them a lot about how you can build algorithms that actually serve a social good. So you can say, ‘By bringing this algorithm into our community, we're making it safer. We're bringing the community into how we train this algorithm to make sure that it's reflective of users’ values, not just this top-down rule system that's being imposed,’” Brown shared.

Lex did not respond to a request for comment.

Olson pointed out that while viability is an ongoing issue for smaller platforms, their existence matters.

“It’s really exciting that people are like, ‘Let's make other alternatives,’ and ‘We want to connect with each other and in a way that we're not under attack and that we're not in this place that hates us and then actively attacking us in its own policies,’” she said.

This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.

Updated, 3/27/25: This article has been updated with news that nearly all California Assembly Democrats announced they were leaving X.