Stay on X or not, a dilemma for cultural actors

France. As Donald Trump’s inauguration day approaches on January 20, calls to leave the social network X (ex-Twitter) continued to multiply. An act of protest against disinformation and the extreme right ideology favored by the platform since its acquisition by billionaire Elon Musk in 2022. If the approach is mainly carried by associative, political and journalistic circles, the question of staying or No on X also arose for the art world.

Various cultural institutions symbolically left the social network on January 20, more or less discreetly. Some have formalized their departure via a press release, like the Arts and Crafts Museum and the National Institute of Art History (INHA), both followed by around twenty thousand subscribers. The city of Paris has adopted the same line of conduct, deploring “The growing toxicity and political instrumentalization which X has been the subject since its acquisition”. His departure led, by repercussion, the closure of the accounts of Paris Museums and all the Parisian municipal museums – including the Museum of Modern Art or the Petit Palais, which had built a large community on X.

Other institutions have preferred a laconic publication on X which announces their departure and invites to follow them on their other networks. This is the case of the Cluny museum, the DCA network of art centers and the Capc-Museum of Contemporary Art, which, like the other Bordeaux municipal museums, poster “Closed account” By decision of the city. However, a large part of those who left X did not report it, preferring to stop publishing without announcing it. The Center Pompidou, which has the second most important community on X after the Louvre with 1 million subscribers, confirms that it has decided to suspend its publications (without closing your account, read below), just like the Museum of Arts decorative, the National Museum of Natural History, the Center of National Monuments (CMN) or the Palais de la Porte Dorée, which castigates “An absence of moderation and a contempt for scientific rigor” on the platform.

This desertion is far from being a massive phenomenon. It is not new either. Since the acquisition of Twitter, a certain number of cultural institutions had gradually stopped fueling their account (Les Beaux-Arts de Paris, the Avignon Festival, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, the trip to Nantes …), or At least slowed down their pace of publications. The initiative was notably carried by actors committed to social themes, such as the Gaîté-Lyrique and the Palais de Tokyo which no longer published since 2023 already despite their important community on X. “We left it in July 2024 for ethical but also ecological and strategic reasons. Because it was also the network on which we stagnated from the point of view of our number of subscribers (72,600) ”, explains Flore Bonafé, director of communication at the Centquatre, a multidisciplinary place which, from its creation in 2008, had positioned itself on Twitter – “We were then few in number”, she notes.

The decision to leave X remains above all the fact of institutions that were little followed there – at least compared to their other networks – or recorded a drop in engagement with their community. “The exchanges were less numerous and more and more degraded”, notes the Cluny museum, which has “Taken the time to weigh the consequences of this decision” since Twitter was the “First social network on which the museum has developed a digital community, and the one that brings together the greatest number of subscribers (86,000) ”. This growing divestment, the CMN (87,000 subscribers) also notes: “Since 2022, hearings have not been there, cultural subjects no longer have the favor of algorithms and our most invested and passionate subscribers of the beginning have deserted the platform. »»

To this trend are added the reservations vis-à-vis the very format of X. Vanessa Cordeiro, general co-delegate of the professional committee of art galleries, notes that “The frequency of posts required by a network like X and immediacy in use is not what (their) best suits “. The trip to Nantes points to its side “The limited number of characters (Who) forced to publications whose text and the subject were necessarily reduced ”, and therefore not adapted to “Contextualization and a nuanced pedagogy”. Others, conversely, appreciate the effectiveness of X in “Emergency communication cases”. Thus the Grand Palais-RMN (785,000 subscribers), which suspended its publications, he hired an internal debate on its presence on X.

Close your account, a difficult decision

Leaving X does not mean deleting your account. If a few structures have done so-the Caen Memorial, the Arles Meetings, the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation-most of them just stopped their publications. Because to close your account, a delicate operation for a museum with a strong community, also includes a risk of usurpation of its identity, as the Paris Fine Arts or the Center Pompidou point out; The latter suspends his publications but his account x “Stay open to protect the brand”.

The safeguarding of the community and the archive is also a question that arises everyone. “An important time has been invested to build a profile. It is not a job that can be suspended and delete without thinking about the consequences: it is important to think about the archiving of the data and to ensure that you do not fully lose access to a community that is is built over time ”, underlines Marie Chênel, director of DCA. The proposal of the HELLOQUITTEX platform to transfer its data and subscribers, in particular to Bluesky is received for the moment with caution. “It is important to observe this network and to know the codes, to assess its development in order to measure the opportunity to open and above all to animate new accounts. Other platforms exist (threads, mastodon, etc.), you must be able to be able to invest a new network with means that will have to be mobilized in the long term to succeed in rebuilding a entirely community ”, Explains Agnès Benayer, Director of Development, Communication, Publics and Digital of Paris Museums.

The reasons to stay on x

Many of this community, many of them do not want to lose it. Especially when it is important, their number of subscribers grows and the institution has engaged human and financial resources for this purpose. The Quai Branly museum, which remains on X, underlines: “In almost fifteen years, we have built a quality and important audience in volume (301,200 subscribers). This result required means. We therefore do not want to cut ourselves from this audience. »» To leave X is to lose a communication channel. No question for the Louvre who, with 1.57 million subscribers, records a record figure in France. Nor more for France Culture (935,700), the Musée d’Orsay (749 200), the Château de Versailles (496,000), the Gagosian Galerie (374 400), the Philharmonie de Paris (347 700) or the National Library of France (245,800), who continue to be active on the social network. But the National Museum of Natural History (46,700) or the Institute of the Arab World (IMA) (41,000), to the number of subscribers, just as much.

For the IMA, stay on x “Based on both the activity of the Institute and the Philosophy of Jack Lang (its president), fervent defender of freedom of expression for whom it is a question of not breaking the thread with those with whom we do not share the same opinions ”. In November 2024, Sibyle Veil, President and CEO of Radio France, spoke publicly on the presence ” necessary “ of his antennas on X in order to be able to “Continue to speak to the 18 million French people present on this network”. A position in line with that of the Ministry of Culture: “Government and state communication must remain close to the information practices of citizens and to maintain direct contact with them, he declared to Journal des Arts. Maintaining an active presence is therefore important to guarantee public and institutional speech accessible to the greatest number. This is the position that the ministry shares with the government’s information service. »» And the rue de Valois to note that these varied profiles that x: “Journalists and media professionals, Relais d’Opinion and decision -makers, the general public engaged in public debate”, are not“Not necessarily active on other social networks”.

Chambord Castle, which records a high American audience rate on this network, underlines: “X offers an opportunity to strengthen our visibility with decision -makers, institutions and large companies, paving the way for strategic partnerships, patronage or large -scale projects. »»“Tomorrow, if you have a massive migration of journalists for various and varied reasons towards another social network, I think we will rest the question of our presence on X”, recognizes the IMA. Others like the BNF or the Quai Branly will follow the directives of the Ministry of Culture. While for the palm game, the question is part of the internal reflections but “For the moment no decision has been made”. The coming months will say if the movement continues and makes snowball.