For the first time in a long time, there’s a sense of flux around mass social media. Users are making moves in what has been a stable market for a good few years now.

But as Elon Musk enters the court of President-elect Trump and as his X/Twitter empire struggles with declining user numbers and declining revenues, there’s something of a dilemma for those swimming in the waters of corporate news and opinion.

While there’s a flurry of news organisations following the Guardian out of there, many news operations are staying and plenty of journalists remain reluctant to leave what remains a useful source of information, capricious algorithms notwithstanding.

Some are staying reluctantly and others belligerently (the difference often decided by their political views). But the numbers remain significant – and if you are concerned about how audiences of scale may affect the reputation of your business amongst peers and/or consumers, then you should be on there too.

But the fact is, whether you are posting or just monitoring, X feels like a much less positive place than in years past. Culture wars and politics have combined with algorithm changes to produce a platform that seems more combative than constructive. That’s alongside a decline in click-thrus that have made advertisers depart for economic as much as reputational reasons.

If it’s communications advice you’re after, then the thought is that you should stick with it: posting your own news may not change too much, and you may feel like you’re surrounded by crowds of shouting people - but you may as well try, and staying on there allows you to monitor for early warning of reputational challenges.

If not X, then where? What else gives that news-hit, alongside the opinion of a random guy in Idaho who suddenly has strong feelings about you?

The coming brand is Bluesky – an earnest younger sibling of the old Twitter, reasonably enough since Jack Dorsey fathered both. And has since abandoned both.

It operates much like Twitter used to, with the exception that you can adapt your timeline with filters and algorithms created by other users. That means many people are creating an echo chamber, but that seems to keep them all much happier. The vibe is more positive – which is why it’s now up to 23 million users (around 2.7 million in the UK). It’s newsy, not least because the liberal journalists are migrating like wildebeest, but whether it’s a fad or the long-term replacement remains to be seen. If one sign of life is referrals to news sites (ie click-thrus), then signs are promising.

The previous fad for an X alternative came roughly when Elon Musk bought Twitter (as it then was) and it was Mastodon. The momentum fell away because … it’s complicated.

It’s literally complicated – it’s not a single platform, it’s a federation of social networks, and each runs to its own set of topics, rules and moderation procedures. It’s nerdy and with each post up to 500 characters, it can feel more like a retro-blogging platform (like Tumblr), than a fast-moving, user-generated news feed. Its more steampunk than corporate and while it’s easier to use than you might think when you sign up, it feels more populated by enthusiasts of beards, sleeve tattoos and single estate coffee than is compatible with corporate needs.

The third option is Threads – the version of Instagram which makes the caption the point, rather than the picture. But it shares the aspirational lifestyle approach of the Insta-mothership (and shamelessly migrated users and followers from there). It has a huge number of users – 275 million, and growing rapidly in absolute terms, though they are actively discouraged from posting news and political content and it tends more towards a slightly Stepford Wives amalgamation of lifestyle, showbiz and self-promotion. Not a space for your third quarter financials…

So, if you’re jaded by X, then there’s alternatives to choose, but it depends where you can jump and find your tribe – for driving users to your news and thought leadership, give Bluesky a run. For tech, try Mastodon. For consumers, perhaps Threads.

But the real answer lies in the entirety of your social media strategy – mapping message to audience to platform. As platforms evolve and users hop around, we should chat about your social and digital strategy. Get in touch and let’s work out the roads maximising your reach, with the right audiences.