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Posted: Tue 20th Jan 2026
Last updated: Tue 20th Jan 2026
5 min read
The recent discovery that Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok has been used to create sexually explicit deepfakes has reignited the debate over whether small businesses should abandon X.
A quick poll of Enterprise Nation members via our What's App group showed 60% had left and another 20% were considering leaving.
But while some marketing experts are telling clients to abort, others argue the platform still offers unique advantages that make the controversies worth navigating.
For Alison Battisby, founder of social media agency Avocado Social, the Grok scandal was simply confirmation of a decision she'd already made.
She left X in November 2023 and says she's since advised major clients to no longer use the platform.
Alison says:
"It's not a good look for a brand to be present on a toxic platform.
"All the tools marketers will find valuable are now only available to X subscribers, meaning you need to fund Musk to see any success. The AI tool Grok is deeply disturbing."
Kantar's Media Reactions 2024 report found a net 26% of marketers planned to reduce ad spend on X in 2025.
Just 4% of marketers thought ads on X provide brand safety compared to Google, which topped the rankings at 39%.
Enterprise Nation member Jon Davies, founder of tech consulting firm SecondBrain Consulting and previously co-founder of an ad agency, said he didn't even consider using X when launching his consultancy last year, primarily due to brand safety concerns.
"The negative content out there on X is very easy to find and they aren't things I want my message sitting next to.
"You're the product of the people you rub shoulders with, and that's not where I want my brand to be hanging around."
Jon also pointed to a broader trend of "digital migration" by marginalised groups, where the prevalence of hate speech, including transphobic rhetoric, was met with a perceived lack of strong moderation.
"Not all people on X are transphobic, but all of the most vocally transphobic people are on X.
"And when a business proactively chooses to use X over and above other channels, it does make me question their judgement."
Despite the challenges, X could still offer some benefits for small businesses.
Dan Martin, a Bristol-based freelance small business journalist with over 20 years' experience, says the platform remains useful for his work.
"I've been on Twitter since 2008 and I'm still there!
"There is definitely a lot wrong with the site nowadays and some of it is very disturbing but I’ve stayed there because it's still useful for me as a journalist.
"X remains one of the quickest tools for finding business owners and experts to speak to on particular topics.
"I also think small business owners may be missing out on PR and media coverage by not using the platform to engage with journalists.
"Even if your presence is simply following your target journalists and the #journorequest hashtag, it could be worth using X for your business."
Despite the controversies, X still boasts more than 540 million monthly users, with 35.7% using it to follow or research brands and products. For some businesses, that reach remains compelling.
Bluesky reached 40 million users in October 2025, while Threads reached 400 million monthly active users by August 2025, partly through its umbilical link with Instagram.
Jon Davies has embraced Bluesky, saying, for him, it captures all the positives of what Twitter used to be. At the same time, Alison Battisby predicts both Bluesky and Threads will grow in 2026 because of X's failures.
What do you think? Are you staying put or are you considering a move to Threads or Bluesky? Let us know!
