Leaving by X-ample?

Across the last few months many Christian organisations and individual evangelicals are among those who have left social media platform X.

Reaction to this has been varied – do Christians have an obligation to be a light in dark places (there are over 600 million on X)? Or is our presence on the platform implicitly condoning what goes on there?

One easy mistake to make in this debate is to assume that ‘all social media is the same’ – that Bluesky, Threads, or TikTok are ‘just as bad’, and if you abandon one you should probably abandon them all. They each have trolls, don’t they? Fallen human nature will be the same on every platform, won’t it?

True, but we can also look more critically at what we’re exposing ourselves to. In February 2024, cybersecurity firm CHEQ tracked how much bot traffic came to its clients’ websites – roughly 75% of traffic from X was fake, compared to less than 3% from TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.

And in May 2024, X formally tweaked its rules to allow ‘adult content’ – something Facebook, Instagram and TikTok don’t do. In the wake of this, Christian author and evangelist Beth Moore, who has wrestled with whether to leave the platform, stated: ‘We surely have numerous people in our community who’ve struggled with [porn]. Is it irresponsible of us, then, to stay? If I were a recovering alcoholic, for instance, I’d very much wish my friends would think of a different place to meet up than a bar.’

So, should we stay, or should we go? (Evangelicals Now currently has an active account on X). As of October, Moore herself was still on the platform – it is clearly not an easy question to answer.

And the answer may well be different for each of us, but for all of us it will require genuine reflection. As we’re reminded in Galatians 6, each one should ‘carry their own load’ and ‘test their own actions.’

When did we last consciously ask ourselves: what are our motives for being on these platforms? Are we investing in God’s kingdom when we’re there? How good are we at critically analysing what we see? How tempted are we by certain topics? Who are we setting an example for?

Our honest answers may reveal if we are to continue being salt and light there – or if we’d be better doing so elsewhere.