The warning signs were there. Ten years ago, I wrote my first Twitterless article, followed by part 2 in 2017, part 3 in 2022, a “final” chapter in 2023 and an epilogue in 2024.¹ My initial concerns were about Twitter’s financial shape, but after Musk took over, I quickly realized the new service wasn’t going to be for me, closed my accounts, and moved on.

With the latest news about X, the service formerly known as Twitter, I don’t understand how anyone still has an account. People are using Grok to generate non-consensual sexualized deepfakes of women and children and share them on X. This goes beyond politics — it’s really about human decency.

For people and brands, if you continue to stay on X, it tells me you care more about your so-called audience than your so-called values. The time to leave “Twitter” has passed. There are viable options. Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon all provide a similar experience to Twitter. I prefer the smaller, independent Micro.Blog which lets me cross post to other services. None of them are the Twitter you loved, but you know what, X isn’t the Twitter you loved either. It’s gone. And it’s time for all good people to move on. What remains isn’t worth your time.

Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.