One Tech Tip: Ever wanted to quit Elon Musk’s X platform? Here’s how you can do it

LONDON — Since Elon Musk acquired Twitter, renamed it X, fired much of its staff and made different massive adjustments, a gentle stream of celebrities, public figures, organizations and bizarre folks have give up the social media platform.

Some blame Musk for turning a spot that was enjoyable into one which’s chaotic and poisonous, pointing to strikes like permitting polarizing figures equivalent to Donald Trump again in. Others are turned off by Musk’s juvenile humor or by how he is more and more barging into their feeds together with his posts, usually to amplify far-right tropes.

They’re defecting to rival websites like BlueSky, Mastodon, Meta’s Threads, and Reddit. Some even are — gasp — quitting social media altogether.

So in the event you’ve determined it is time to exit X, this is what you must do:

Start by deactivating your account, which begins a 30-day countdown till your account is deleted completely. Go to settings and privateness, then to the Account tab and click on Deactivate your Account, enter your password and make sure you need to proceed.

When you go forward, your profile and username will probably be hidden from public view. In the event you change your thoughts, you may cease the method by logging in at any level throughout the 30-day interval.

In the event you’ve signed up for a subscription, like a premium account, cancel that in the event you do not need to make one other cost. Subscriptions are solely mechanically canceled when the account is deleted.

In case your account in some way will get reactivated although you did not need to, X says on its assist pages that it could be since you’ve granted entry to third-party apps. These are constructed by different software program builders and might do issues like learn and make posts or entry direct messages in your behalf.

To see which third-party apps you’ve got given entry to, head to the settings menu, then Safety and Account Entry. Click on Apps and Periods, after which Related Apps. You’ll be able to revoke entry to particular person apps by tapping or clicking on every one.

In the event you suspect {that a} rogue app nonetheless has entry to your account, strive altering your password for X.

Earlier than you permit for good, you may obtain an archive of all of your information out of your time on Twitter and X. It could possibly be helpful if you wish to search for a memorable put up you wrote, refer again to direct messages you traded with different customers, or discover the accounts that you simply adopted or had been following you.

Within the settings menu, you’ll must enter your password to request the info, which can are available a zipper file. Once I requested my archive, which amounted to 211 megabytes of knowledge, it was accessible to obtain about 24 hours later.

What occurs to that information when you’re gone for good? X says on its privacy page that it retains customers’ profile info and content material “at some point of your account.” It holds on to different “personally identifiable information” for as much as 18 months, with out being extra particular on what that information is.

It has turn into a ritual for X customers to announce they’re departing the platform. Politicians and celebrities have used their remaining put up to take a parting shot at Musk, warn that the positioning is turning into too poisonous, or let their followers know in regards to the different social media venues they’re utilizing. Then, their statements often disappear as a result of their account is deleted.

Customers who aren’t well-known have drafted heartfelt farewell letters, on X, their blogs or platforms like LinkedIn, explaining their causes for leaving. It is not essential, although it would show you how to obtain closure.

Are you certain you need to depart, completely? In the event you’re not able to decide to full deletion, you can as a substitute lock down your account.

Go to the privateness part in your settings, then click on on Your posts after which tick the bins to guard your posts and movies.

Defending your posts signifies that solely individuals who comply with you already will be capable of see them. Another customers will see a padlock. In the event that they attempt to comply with you, you may get a notification requesting entry.

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