I worked at Twitter – these are the five simple steps Musk must take to save X

In the face of a mass X-odus, Musk must heed the call and reform the platform he bought for $44bn, writes Marc Burrows. As an ex-employee, I know just how he can do it

As someone who spent seven years as a Twitter curator, I’ve watched Elon Musk systematically dismantle a platform I loved, encouraging its users to be their worst selves while applying dangerously inconsistent approaches to crucial issues like hate speech and misinformation. I’ve started to find a community that was once riveting and fun to be exhausting, dispiriting and maddening. And I am not alone.

The “X-odus” is real. Top brands like The Guardian, Balenciaga, Best Buy, NPR, and even the Clifton Suspension Bridge, have opted out already. It’s an easily observable phenomenon: in the last week my followers on the platform have shrunk by around 1,000, while by absolutely no coincidence, I seem to have gained 1,000 followers on rival platform Bluesky. It’s a familiar story across what we still stubbornly call Twitter (because literally no one calls it X).

I’d be able to enjoy the schadenfreude of Musk captaining a sinking ship if he wasn’t so dangerous. This is, after all, the man developing neural implants, attempting to colonise Mars and being given the task of restructuring bureaucracy in the US government. If he can’t maintain basic platform stability, how can he be trusted with tasks that literally involve rocket science, brain surgery and the smooth running of an entire country?

Musk’s tenure has been defined by contradiction. He claimed to buy Twitter to “help humanity, whom I love” and create a “digital town square”. Instead, he’s created a playground for trolls, where hate speech flourishes and abuse from his new blue-ticked elitists remains unchallenged. Ad sales have plummeted and in less than a year the company was worth less than half of what Musk paid for it. That is not a well-run organisation; that is a corporate and cultural disaster.

Nowhere is this contradiction more evident than in content moderation. In recent months, X declared that “cisgender”, a neutral term for people who aren’t trans, was a slur, while allowing actual anti-trans slurs to remain on the platform. When AI-generated explicit images of Taylor Swift circulated, X restricted searches for her name – a protection not extended to other celebrities facing similar abuse. The platform labelled NPR as “state-affiliated media” (a designation previously reserved for propaganda outlets), yet didn’t apply this standard to other publicly-funded broadcasters.

I remember when our curation team worked to contextualise conversations, debunk misinformation, and create thoughtful timelines of major events. We believed in Twitter’s mission. The #LoveWhereYouWork slogan, displayed proudly on the wall in every Twitter office, wasn’t just corporate propaganda – we were genuinely invested in making this insanely powerful platform a force for good.

But Twitter can be saved. Here’s how:

First, establish consistent moderation standards. When parody accounts face suspension based seemingly on whether they mock Musk or his allies, and when reporting about certain public figures is removed while similar content about others remains, it erodes trust in the platform’s fairness.

Second, restore robust content moderation. Community Notes are useful but insufficient. When misinformation on X contributed to real-world violence following the Southport tragedy, it demonstrated how platform policies directly impact public safety. We need dedicated teams – human and AI – actively working to maintain platform integrity.

Third, Musk must stop being his own platform’s worst troll. His behaviour sets the tone for the entire platform. When the owner engages in provocative conduct, he legitimises and encourages similar behaviour from others.

Fourth, fix the advertising experience. Under previous management, Twitter’s ad targeting was precise and effective. Now, users scroll past endless low-quality promotions instead of the premium brands that once dominated the platform. This creates a vicious cycle where reduced ad revenue forces greater reliance on subscriptions, further entrenching the two-tier system.

Finally, Musk needs to answer an existential question: What is X for? If it’s truly meant to be the “world’s town square”, it can’t be shaped around one person’s ideology or personality. Currently, many users feel the platform isn’t “for” them anymore – and they’re voting with their feet by moving to alternatives like Bluesky, Mastodon and Threads.

The clock is ticking. Each day that passes without addressing these fundamental issues pushes more users toward alternative platforms. The question isn’t whether X can be reformed – it’s whether Musk is willing to put aside his personal agenda for the greater good of the platform he spent $44bn to acquire.

For now, many of us watch and wait, one foot already out the door, hoping for changes that seem increasingly unlikely to materialise.