So Long, Elon

I kept putting this day off because I didn’t want to cede any more online ground to racists, extremists, and crypto bros. But then I saw Elon Musk offer up a very familiar-looking salute at a rally for Donald Trump’s inauguration, and I knew then and there that I no longer wanted to be on his platform, or have my time and energy benefit him in any way, shape, or form.

I’m under no illusions that my departure will matter to Musk or the vast majority of X. With just 814 followers, I’m the very definition of a small fry. But when the President’s right-hand man — sorry, JD Vance — makes a gesture that neo-Nazis and white supremacists celebrate, doubles down against any criticism, and then cracks juvenile jokes about the situation, I know it’s time to leave, if only for my own integrity’s sake.

Some may attribute Musk’s Nazi salute to his awkwardness, but it’s a far cry from jumping up and down like a caffeine-addled toddler. Ascribing it to his autism is undoubtedly offensive to the countless individuals who also have autism, and yet, somehow make it through the day without throwing up a Sieg Heil. And just for the record, Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, and other Democratic figures have never made Nazi salutes, despite what some of Musk’s acolytes and defenders have claimed.

Comedian Steve Hofstetter said it well:

I’d go one step further, though, and say that Musk can’t do that because he’s spent too much time coddling Nazis and promoting conspiracy theories. Which means that if he did admit he messed up, he’d appear weak to both them and his new boss, Donald Trump. He’d lose some of his power and allure as an edgelord and chaos agent, as someone who riles people up because he’s the world’s richest man and thus, the basic rules of human decency — e.g., don’t ever make Nazi salutes — don’t apply to him.

So yes, I’m leaving X, and I don’t foresee returning. I’ve spent the last few days reviewing my “Follows” list, to see who or what I might be missing out on after I leave. As it turns out, many of the folks I follow have already migrated to Bluesky or I follow them via RSS. Others have been inactive for months, even years. Finally, some of the folks I follow no longer post stuff I’m interested in, or I can no longer remember why I followed them in the first place. (That does leave a handful of delightful, mostly film-related accounts that unfortunately, are only available on X, and I will miss seeing their updates.)

As for my own updates, you can always find the most important ones here on Opus; I highly recommend subscribing to my RSS feed as well as my Substack. Social media-wise, I’m primarily active on Bluesky and to a lesser extent, Threads. I will no longer post links to any Opus content on X, which won’t be much of a loss; X never generated much traffic for Opus, and that number has only decreased as Musk makes his platform more closed and restrictive. I’m downloading all of my info since I don’t trust Musk to preserve things long-term, but I won’t shut down my account or delete any of my posts, if only to prevent link rot.

After months of saying that we’ve never really needed X — or any social media platform, for that matter — it’s time to put my money where my mouth is and shake the dust off my feet. I won’t begrudge anyone who chooses to remain on X, but I no longer want to give Elon Musk any more of my time, energy, or attention unless I absolutely have to.