Celebrities are looking for exit strategies

PARIS: This has become the buzzword of the moment on Twitter — something along the lines of: “In case this is the end, please find me on…”

For some Twitter celebrities, particularly those in crypto politics and finance, the platform’s potential demise under Elon Musk’s erratic stewardship presents a serious problem.

“As a backup plan, follow me on Instagram @AOC – it’s really me out there,” US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted to her 13.4 million followers last week.

But for many celebrities, this wouldn’t be a huge loss.

Many have long been wary of the hate-filled criticism invading Twitter, with pop stars like Selena Gomez, Charlie XCX, and Shawn Mendes among those already on extended hiatus.

But Musk’s scorched-earth approach to the administration and reinstating Donald Trump risks making Twitter not just bad — but also unkind.

Fashion lovers like Gigi Hadid and Balenciaga, or rock star Jack White, were among the first to close their accounts since the billionaire took over.

“We really see Twitter becoming a taboo for celebrities in the next month or so – becoming a Truth Social type of environment where it’s a contentious situation for celebrities,” said Lorraine Beeching, co-founder of Honest London. A public relations firm that manages major celebrities and brands.

Beeching said her company tested the waters with an (unnamed) public figure’s Twitter account that received immediate backlash from fans, criticizing them for still being on the platform.

“Of course, they were saying this on Twitter, so there is some hypocrisy involved.”

“But I personally expect a massive exit. Twitter has always been known as toxic but now it’s also controversial.”

– ‘The audience can move’ –

Actors and models can continue to feed their fan bases on Instagram and TikTok, but Twitter currently remains the easiest way to share breaking news, making it difficult to replace political discussions and segments like crypto finance, which are firmly established on the platform.

However, that could change quickly.

“I’m eagerly trying Mastodon, Farcaster, Lens, etc,” tweeted Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, to his 4.6 million followers last week, adding: “Let the best social win!”

“The masses can move,” Robin Collet, director of France’s digital communications agency Conversational, told AFP.

“When there was a Facebook outage, we realized that netizens immediately switched to another network.”

However, for some niche users, replacing Twitter can be difficult.

French train driver Wilfred Demaret, nicknamed “BB27000,” has slowly amassed some 78,000 followers on Twitter with his wry tales of life among the “shadow workers,” as he calls them.

His writing works perfectly on Twitter, and he says he would feel uncomfortable switching to video on TikTok or elsewhere.

One option might be to go back to an older medium.

“If Twitter sinks, I will keep my stories and publish a book one day,” he told AFP. “But I realize that this is a huge job. When I think of copying each tweet one by one, I realize that I wrote too much!”