How to leave Elon Musk’s Twitter/X

Once upon a time Twitter – now X – THE place to get your memes, world news and pop culture. However, even back then, being an active Twitter user also required sifting through a daily deluge of toxic characters, bots, and deepfakes. Then the Elon Musk circus came to town and began gradually changing the once-popular social network, to the point where many of its followers began to give up, turning to one or more of the newer social networks, such as Topics, Blue skyOr Mastodon.

Now that the 2024 US presidential election is over, Musk appears to be at least one of the powers behind the throne. Add to that recent changes that have made using X less safe, and it’s no surprise that there is now a new wave of X users looking to leave the platform. If you are one of them, here are some tips for deactivating your account.

If you’re still active on One way to do this is to first make your account private so that only your current followers can see your account.

• Look in the browser side menu or tap your personal icon in the mobile app.
• In the browser, select More > Settings & Privacy > Privacy & Security > Audience, Media & Tagging > Protect your posts.
• In the mobile app, select Settings & Support > Settings & Privacy > Privacy & Security > Audience & Tagging > Protect your posts.
• In the browser pop-up, select Protect.

Now only people who follow you will be able to see your posts and other information on your account. You will see a closed lock icon next to your name in the lower left corner of the screen.

What you put in your “I’m leaving now” message depends on who your followers are. If you have carefully verified your account and know almost everyone who follows you, you can let them know where you are going and what your new address is in case they want to follow you.

If, on the other hand, you’re a popular person and you have followers who aren’t completely trustworthy, you can either tell them where you’re going without any details or, to be on the safe side, just say goodbye.

How long should you leave your account private before it disappears permanently? A week or so seems like a good amount of time, but ultimately it’s up to you.

If you’ve been on Twitter/X for a while, you’ll probably have a stockpile of tweets that you might want to keep in case you need information in the future or just to remember past glories. If you haven’t backed up your account regularly, here’s how to do it:

• Look in the browser side menu or tap your personal icon in the mobile app.
• In the browser, select More > Settings and privacy > Your account > Download an archive of your data.
• In the mobile app, select Settings & support > Settings & privacy > Your account > Download an archive of your data.
• You will be asked to re-enter your password and enter a verification code for your registered email account, as well as possibly other verification codes.
• Select Request archives.

It may take up to 24 hours to obtain a copy of your records; you will be notified both through the app and by email. You will get your information in two formats: HTML and JSON. According tothe information will include:

… your profile information, your posts, your direct messages, your Moments, your media (images, videos and GIFs that you attached to posts, direct messages or Moments), a list of your followers, a list of accounts that you follow, your address book, lists you have created, are a member of or follow, interest and demographic information we have inferred about you, information about advertisements you have seen or used with you interacted on X, and more.

Okay, you’ve told your followers you’re leaving and your posts are safely archived. Now it’s time to deactivate your account. Here’s how to do it:

• In your browser, click More at the bottom left of the screen. In the mobile app, tap your profile icon.
• In your browser, select Settings & Support > Settings & Privacy > Your account > Deactivate your account.
• In the mobile app, select Settings & Support > Settings & Privacy > Your Account > Deactivate Account.

There are several paragraphs of information to read before accessing the deactivation link, including links informing you about what data may still be available after deactivating your account, how to change your username, or how to change your current username to another account. .

You will also be informed that your account will not disappear permanently after this process – at least not yet. X keeps your information for 30 days before permanently deleting it. To restore your account within this time, log in again and confirm that you want to reactivate your account.

And don’t forget that if you’re looking for social media, news and conversations, you have several alternatives – or you can just come here to The edge. Don’t worry. We are always here for you.