"Break Up With Your X" - Can you do it without hurting your #kidlit career? Brian Kirby has receipts (a.k.a., the stats.)

So I spent years growing a following on Twitter (now X). In the beginning it was really cool, and I could connect with so many other #kidlit folks about our shared enthusiasm, about writing, about inspirations, about a career in children's books...

But about three years ago I left. It felt like an unsafe space, more about heat than light, and made me actively anxious and unhappy every time I logged in. 

I do not believe it's gotten better since becoming X. Most of the conversations I've had about leaving that platform involve some response like "but everyone's there!" and "how can I leave if all the agents and KidLit gatekeepers are still there?"

Since its new ownership and rebranding, there's been quite the exodus from X. And in the last few months, folks have been leaving (or vastly curtailing what they post on) Instagram -- particularly illustrators. The Andrea Brown Literary agency announced on Jun 13:

Due to Meta's AI policies, the ABLA instagrams have been cleared until we can fully assess how best to support and protect our artists and creators here moving forward! In the meantime, head on over to our website and find us on BlueSky.

I'm not an illustrator, and still on Instagram (and Facebook, both of which are owned by Meta), but I have been spending more time on BlueSky (where there are a LOT of illustrators) and it reminds me of those early days on twitter, where you could follow a hashtag and be in a KidLit community not mediated by algorithms. (I basically just look at the KidLit Mega Feed.) 

Back to the numbers... Brian Kirby did this amazing analysis: "Break Up With Your X" looking at what you'd actually be missing if you left X. 

Just one amazing example:

A publishing company has 236,000 followers on X. A recent book announcement post of theirs got zero retweets, 2 likes, and reached 897 accounts.

My favorite line of Brian's analysis:

Posting on X is "getting the sort of response a flyer on a coffee shop bulletin board would get, if soulless robots drank coffee."

Read Brian's full post here.

...so maybe we'll see you on Bluesky! 

(If you're heading over to Bluesky, first thing to do is follow Debbie Ridpath Ohi who is leading our #kidlit community there (Debbie has 21,000 followers on Bluesky. People are there. KidLit people. Brian has been posting about these stats there as well.)

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee