by Bianca Hanson, Senior Social Media & Creative Specialist

With Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover in full swing, the social media giant is going through major growing pains…and we as users have a front row seat to the chaos. But how should companies that leverage the platform respond to the increasingly unstable Twitter tides?

We’ve got answers.

The biggest question: should I stay on Twitter?

As, what is not-so-fondly known as, “Elon Musk’s Twitter” approaches a full month in the news cycle, many companies are struggling with the decision on whether they should hit publish or leave the nest. Impulse jumps out of the nest can result in big drops in engagement. If your company has a strong presence on Twitter then choosing flight over fight could be a detrimental decision for brand awareness and, in some cases, sales.

While many of us are morally inclined to leave the nest, we feel the need to hang in just a bit longer. The key thing to remember is that Twitter is a “free speech” platform that needs perspectives from all types of individuals and businesses. Even if you don’t want to float advertising dollars over to Elon Musk’s Twitter (hey, we don’t blame you,) you can connect with your audience through an organic content strategy. You may take a temporary hit in reach but strategically planning your content calendar can help with your company’s authenticity and long-term engagement.

Our advice? Hang in a bit longer to further evaluate whether your community decides to stay or go, clean up your following list to only include accounts your brand aligns with morally, focus on an organic content strategy that will help engagement and keep your presence authentic, and lastly redistribute (or hold onto) your Twitter-designated ad dollars until you find a happy medium with the social media platform’s corporate environment.

Should I pay the $8 per month to get a verification badge?

If we’re all blue, then what does blue really mean? The blue-tick used to be a coveted symbol that established your importance and legitimacy on the platform. The idea that you could pay $8 for Twitter’s Blue subscription to get ‘verified’ feels backwards as it takes away the exclusivity of verification, making it available to the masses. Twitter’s executives likely recognize this concept because they are, allegedly, considering multiple badge colors for different types of accounts.

Based on Musk’s decisions so far, it is clear that cold hard cash is the motivating factor. As he continues to publicly feud with Apple, Twitter’s Blue subscription service remains on hold to keep them from taking a 30% cut through app store subscriptions. Unless the subscription service has a better value-add than pay-to-pay verification for all, we won’t be jumping to click the subscribe button anytime soon.

Bottom Line? If you have spent time and other resources building a following on Twitter and have found success on the platform, we suggest sticking it out. Deleting your account for good will do no good for your brand presence. There is no way to predict what will happen in Twitter’s future but sticking it out, even if you push pause on digital advertising and your organic strategy, is your best path forward.