District of North Vancouver exits X. Will other municipalities follow?
The District of North Vancouver (DNV) is saying goodbye to X, formerly known as Twitter.
The municipality’s corporate account was shuttered for good on Wednesday, a victim of falling public engagement and concerns raised by locals about the social media platform, according to the district’s chief administrative officer.
“Some folks used the words “bigoted” and “homophobic,” said David Stuart describing the complaints about X.”What was raised was the question as to why we would use this forum for a public institution, and is it appropriate?”
Stuart said the decision to leave X was made before the widely publicized gesture by billionaire X owner Elon Musk, which some interpreted as a Nazi salute.
“I don’t want to pass judgment on Mr. Musk. But I am responsible for understanding what the views and interests are of the community. When they raise issues like the ones they have raised, I feel I have an obligation to respond in some appropriate manner,” said Stuart.
Technology expert Graye Williams said it’s not surprising to see a city turn its backs on X, given how the site has devolved.
“Did North Van lose a valuable communications tool? They did when Elon bought Twitter,” said Williams. “Just because something was useful before doesn’t mean it’s going to be useful in the future. North Van is probably famously also not on Orkut or Myspace.”
CBC/Radio Canada canvassed three other Metro Vancouver cities about their use of X as a public communications tool.
X, formerly known as Twitter, saw its largest user exodus since the Elon Musk takeover after Donald Trump’s election. The National asks two social media experts to break down whether X is becoming a platform for the hard right, and what happens when people only interact online with people they agree with.
“With an audience of over 269,000 on X, we are currently exploring the operational impacts of deactivating the City of Vancouver’s X account and how this may affect communicating with users across the city,” said a City of Vancouver spokesperson.
City of New Westminster communication co-ordinator Melissa Nilan said New West anticipates there may be a need for change in the near future but nothing has been finalized.
Surrey is not contemplating any changes to its X use at this time, according to a spokeperson.
“We remain committed to reviewing all factors, including any concerns raised, as part of our ongoing evaluation process,” said Amy Jugpal.
Leaving X is a hot topic in online forums these days. On reddit, a campaign has sprung up to get TransLink off X and onto alternative social media platform BlueSky.
“As most of us know, Translink loves to put any transit issues on X … which most of us want to avoid,” it said.
On Tuesday, Metro Vancouver Transit Police jumped into the fray, receiving strong support after posting that it would be using BlueSky more often going forward.
According to Stuart, BlueSky is an option the DNV is considering.
He said closing the DNV X account will have no impact on emergency communication in the district, which also uses Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube to reach the public.
DNV Fire Rescue and the DNV sport fields accounts remain on X, he said.
Williams said public institutions and companies are challenged having to navigate the changing digital communication landscape.
“I look at the way we communicate on the internet and the internet itself, and it feels like it should be a utility,” said Williams. “If it’s the information superhighway, they’re the roads. So why are we putting the future of our communications in the hands of private corporations?”