Elon Musk's actions have made many subreddits consider banning links to X, as there is a widespread notion to abandoned the social media site despite its widespread use.
It's no surprise that the richest man in the world continues to dominate the news, but many across social media truly believe that Elon Musk has reached the point of no return after the tech CEO was accused of performing a Nazi salute on stage at the presidential inauguration.
There have been plenty of previous exoduses to phoenix sites like Bluesky since Musk purchased then-Twitter for $44,000,000,000 back in September 2022, but X has managed to retain a strong user base in the meantime.
Advert
Following instances of so-called 'advertiser blackouts' though, many communities on Reddit are considering their own form of blacklisting as countless subreddits opt to ban content from X in both posts and comments.
This is a major decision due to the content aggregation nature of a site like Reddit, where many new threads are based on real-time information that is shared on platforms like X and then cross-posted into themed subreddits.
r/soccer, for example, is one of the most popular subreddits on the site having over 8,300,000 members, and their 'meta thread' to discuss the banning of X/Twitter content has garnered over 3,300 comments.
Advert
This would be particularly pertinent for a subreddit like r/soccer, as much of the content posted to the page is social media posts from clubs or journalists that largely isn't posted anywhere else.
Many within the post appear to be in favor of the ban, with one comment urging: "I would say ban it, it's a dying platform anyway and needs to be put out to pasture."
Another adds: "I'm in favor of a complete ban, screenshots too. There are always alternate platforms and outlet to share a story and every mention of X is an unneeded promotion of it."
What some have raised as a concern though is the prospect of alternatives, as if you're not going to X you're likely heading to platforms like Instagram and Facebook instead to source content.
Advert
While he might not have the same reputation as Musk right now, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg was not only a keen financial supporter of the Trump campaign, but he has also controversially removed hate speech guidelines which many have found worrying in the wake of Trump's return to power.
Some subreddits have received pushback for the actions of their moderators though, as reported by 404 Media, with r/antiwork a particularly intriguing case study.
Advert
The moderators informed users that not only would content from X be banned, but alongside it joins any Meta sites and critically: "Platforms affiliated with the CCP, such as TikTok and Rednote, because China is a hostile foreign government and these platforms constitute information warfare."
While the vast majority of users on Reddit are from America (around 35.82% according to BackLinkO), many have criticized the mods for what they call 'US defaultism', as China isn't a 'hostile foreign government' to most countries across the globe.
Some have even pointed out that Reddit itself is 11% owned by Chinese mega corporation Tencent and 9% by Trump-associated ChatGPT owner Sam Altman, so some argue that actions like these begin to open the Pandora's Box of social media.