I got made fun of the other day because I dropped “how is Q1 already over?” small talk. Honestly, fair—I was in LinkedIn writing mode. I’m trying to spend a little less time in the biz, a little more in real life, especially since Spring finally Sprung. Also getting ready to start a Dobrik-style body transformation attempt, so I’m enjoying once last Cheesy Gordita Crunch.

But hey, let’s talk about why I’m bailing on the blue bird.

—Jack Appleby

Why I’m finally leaving Twitter

I owe so much of my life to Twitter.

That’s not hyperbole. I’ve got 80,000 followers over there. My 20-tweet threads on social media case studies started this whole full-time writer journey. My last 3 full-time jobs? All started in the Twitter DMs, including a reach out from Morning Brew to start this newsletter. College me co-founded an emo blog with 20 volunteer student reporters, every one of which was recruited from the bird app (RIP MindEqualsBlown). I’ve quite literally made lifelong friends on Twitter!

But now, I’ve decided it’s time to let the platform go for a handful of reasons, none of which are a ragey “F*** Elon!” perspective.

The people I loved to tweet with aren’t tweeting anymore.

I’m a nerd who’s always ached for great intellectual conversation. For years and years, Twitter was the best source of that! My entire account was built around writing analysis of social media campaigns, and my replies were full of curious marketers looking to chat about the space!

Now? That exact same type of content gets crickets on the platform. It’s not a lack of industry interest—the social media industry has probably 10xed in staffing and spending since I started in the field—it’s that those industry folks just aren’t on Twitter anymore.

Meanwhile, I throw the same content I’ve always been known for on my LinkedIn, and BOOM—the comments section is full of fascinating perspective! It feels like most industry discussion has migrated to the more professional social network.

Brands aren’t sponsoring Twitter influencers anymore.

I’m just wrapping up a brand deal with one my dream partners. Our deal included sponsored content for my LinkedIn (75,000 followers) and my Instagram… but uh, I have less than 5,000 followers on my Instagram. They didn’t even ask about my Twitter.

Some of my reoccurring sponsors who originally found me through Twitter? They started by making deals for me to tweet things. Then we upsold each other to include my LinkedIn and my Twitter. But now? They only want my LinkedIn. When I’ve asked why, I’ve gotten the same responses from everyone—they don’t view Twitter as brand safe or effective anymore.

So if the people I enjoy talking to most have left Twitter… and I can’t even get paid to tweet now… that alone is pretty good reason to bail on the bird.

Twitter became my most mindless scrolling.

I’ve spent literally a decade starting my mornings by opening the Twitter app. That’s a hard habit to break, and has remained true pretty much every day in 2025… but I’m not really even… reading the content. I flip it open, flick my thumb a few times, and close it. Not like anything, not reply to anything.

If I’m gonna mindlessly scroll, I’m gonna do it on Instagram or TikTok where the algorithms are better at serving me content I care about.

I don’t like the energy it brings out in me.

My college coach used to say “the refs only see the second punch.” It was his plea for us to not retaliate if a player’s being physical with us.

I wish that was advice I’d taken to Twitter. I’ve let so many bad actors get under my skin in the replies—people who at even the quickest profile glance are plainly rude people. But I’ve struggled with post-pandemic Twitter as I’ve battled depression and loneliness.

I’ve punched back hard at times, which those aforementioned awful humans then championed as “see! Look at this guy being rude!” when they were, excuse my french, dicks in the first place. I wish I’d just ignored, but when people get personal, it’s hard to not want to defend yourself and fire back.

That just doesn’t happen on LinkedIn, a platform where your personal account is quite literally tied to your career. The stakes are higher on LinkedIn because you have to use your real name. People are legitimately curious to learn on LinkedIn because 99% of the content is on professional development!

And honestly, give me corny content over sarcastic content any day of the week.

Did I delete my account?

Nah. I opted to put my Twitter on private, change my bio to direct people to my LinkedIn, and just leave it up. You never know, right? Plus I’d rather have my name parked.

I’ll probably use one of those tools so I can delete every tweet I’ve ever tweeted. The content doesn’t reallyyy have any value at this point.

I did delete the app off my phone, so I won’t be scrolling the platform anymore (which means following Shams Charania on Instagram so I can get real-time NBA news).

Which platforms will I use with all this freed up Twitter time?

LinkedIn is my favorite for sharing marketing thoughts, though I admittedly don’t find myself learning much when I scroll the feed—they’ve got a long way to go with their algorithm.

I’ve got Substack curiosity—not for writing a newsletter (I’m a happy Beehiiv boy), but for their app’s culture of thoughtful content. I think their notes update was wise, inspiring a feed of supplementary small thoughts to long-form. Not sure about this video update they just announced, but I’ll probably lurk that platform a bit.

Like every human, I scroll Instagram and TikTok incessantly.

Should you quit Twitter? Should your brand quit Twitter?

That’s a personal question. I know a lot of people who still love Twitter! I know a lot of people who’d rather eat glass than tweet.

If Twitter’s serving your personal needs, keep on keepin’ on.

If Twitter’s serving your brand needs, stay the course.

If it’s not? There are a lot of other options out there.

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