Why this brand has stopped using Twitter

The GrayFly Group has stopped using Twitter.

Here's what we wrote in our last tweet (@grayflygroup on Dec 15th 2022):

I'm active daily on Pinterest and Plurk as normal. Taking a hiatus from Twitter. I feel that the more sober management styles of the other platforms are a better fit for my brand

The reason for halting our Twitter usage is as described above: the other platforms we use (Pinterest, Plurk) are simply a better fit for our brand.

To explain this a bit more, consider the analogy of two restaurants in town. One restaurant is more chaotic (shoes optional, shirts required, food fights occasionally arise, and the rules change frequently). The other is more buttoned-up and a certain level of dress and decorum are expected, and if a patron doesn't abide by these rules they can expect to be escorted out.

OK, now imagine you want to take a client to a business lunch. Which restaurant would you choose?

This analogy explains exactly why we have stopped using Twitter. This is purely a business decision based on brand fit, brand culture and reputational risks. It is not a type of activism nor is it a political stance. There is no outrage. Our decision simply reflects a business-related distancing from the management style of Twitter.

Have you deleted your Twitter account?

No. This is because if in the future Twitter were to change to a more sober management style, we would consider returning to use Twitter. Therefore the account remains up in case that arises.

Are you replacing your Twitter usage with anything else?

No. We're already on Pinterest and Plurk, so that hasn't changed. Those platforms are sufficient for our social media needs. The time that was previously spent on Twitter can now be spent on other aspects of the business.

But by not using Twitter, aren't you losing out on traffic to your websites from Twitter?

No. The amount of traffic we received from Twitter was miniscule compared to other traffic sources. To be fair, it should be noted that this low amount of traffic referrals is common to other social media too, and it pre-dates the current Twitter management. It's not something that changed recently nor is it specific to Twitter. However, it did mean that there were no real disadvantages to our decision to stop using Twitter.