LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – In the wake of Elon Musk taking ownership and lead of Twitter, a number of celebrities and brands have opted to leave the platform for various reasons.  

The first major brand to leave the platform was Balenciaga, luxury fashion designer, which had roughly 950,000 followers before leaving the platform.  On Friday, Playbill announced its exit from the app without a formal reason, though it did confirm its departure with Vogue.  

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General Motors publicly announced it would temporarily halt advertising on Twitter, while some companies like United Airlines and Pfizer have halted advertising quietly.   

On an individual basis, several celebrities have announced their departure from the app including actress and “The View” host View Whoopi Goldberg. 

“I am getting off today because it is so messy,” she said on Nov. 7 during a broadcast of “The View.” “I’m tired of having had certain kinds of attitudes blocked, and now they’re back on.  I am just going to get out and if it settles down enough to feel comfortable, maybe I’ll come back.  But as of tonight I’m done with Twitter.” 

She also cited concerns about Musk’s proposed eight dollar subscription fee which would be imposed on those hoping to maintain their blue verified check.  This would not only generate money for the social media app, but mitigate the number of bots on the app too.  Musk also stated in a tweet, “Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bull****.  Power to the people! Blue for $8/month,” after previously suggesting $20 a month to maintain or receive the verification status.  

American model Gigi Hadid has left Twitter stating, “Especially with its new leadership, it’s become more and more of a cesspool of hate & bigotry, and it’s not a place I want to be a part of.” 

American singer and songwriter Sara Bareilles stated in a tweet “Welp. It’s been fun on Twitter. I’m out. See you on other platforms, peeps. Sorry, this one’s just not for me” on Oct. 30.  

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Horror fiction author Stephen King has threatened to leave the app if the subscription fee is $20 a month, and even tweeted on Nov. 10 “I think I liked Twitter better in the pre-Musk days.  Less controversy, more fun.” 

While numerous celebrities have exited the app, a recent poll by Digital Information World demonstrates that there is not the mass exodus of users as some might suggest.  Of the 1,500 Twitter app users polled, 42% admitted that they would stay while 21% said that they had already left.  However, 25% of users said they are not certain whether they would leave or not.  A separate survey conducted on the Twitter app revealed that 54% of voters would be staying on the app.  

Less than  week after Musk took over the app, Lifewire published a piece suggesting seven alternatives to the app stating “ditch the drama and connect to others with a more modern micro-blogging platform.”  Of the seven, those flying from the app are often turning towards Mastodon, a similar social media platform.