As the year draws to an end, we have been reflecting on the work of the charity during 2024 and our plans for the new year, and we are sharing our decision to leave the X social media platform.
In recent weeks we have witnessed multiple NHS organisations, journalists, academics and of course charities taking the difficult decision to walk away from the platform previously known as Twitter, now X.
We have found ourselves becoming increasingly concerned with the direction that the platform has taken since it was acquired and rebranded as X in July of last year. During 2024 we have undertaken a consultation process, including speaking directly to the charity commission, and as a result of this, OCD-UK will be ending our use of the platform during December 2024.
As one of the leading charities for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder our voice remains an important seat at the table to represent those affected by the condition. In the past we have successfully used our platform on Twitter to engage in discussion and debate that influenced change, for example helping retailers understand the severity of the condition which led to the withdrawal from sale of products trivialising OCD.
Our commitment to this work is unwavering, the only difference is we will now engage with users and organisations away from the X platform.
Understanding our reasons
Since twitter transformed into X, we no longer believe that the platform provides a positive or safe space to engage in discussion, as moderation appears to be limited and our voice and that of users who may wish to engage with our content is not given an equal priority due to X algorithm changes. Other concerns around the new algorithm implemented by X include:
- The new algorithm discourages sharing external links, something we do frequently to signpost people access to advice pages, information, research participation updates and other additional content.
- Those that can afford to and choose to pay for verification are amplified on the feed with a ‘reply boost’, meaning ourselves and other unverified users are not given equal voice on the platform
- The public must now have an X account to even view our tweets/posts.
In reality, the charity has rarely used the platform at all in 2024 whilst we took a step back to assess the changes being made by the platform, so this now feels like a natural step to close our account.
As a charity that recognises the importance of social media to engage with our supporters and the wider public we have not taken this decision lightly, but right now we feel that this is right decision for our organisation. Thank you to our supporters on Twitter that engaged with us over the years and we truly hope you will understand our decision to move on from the platform.
Moving forward the best way to engage with OCD-UK is through our website, and should you wish to follow our social media interaction, you can currently find us on Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, our account handles are shown on the image.
