Using X as a distribution channel

Setting aside what X was, here is what it is still genuinely good for. The list is shorter than it was, and the items on it are real.

Real-time relevance

Nothing has replaced X for reacting to something as it happens — an outage, a product launch, breaking industry news, a live event. If your value depends on being fast and visible while something is happening, this is still the venue.

This is the strongest remaining case, and it is why support and developer-facing teams often keep X after marketing has left.

Niche professional communities

Several communities did not leave: parts of tech, finance, sport, gaming, and a range of specialist fields with dense networks. Inside those, X remains the default meeting place and the conversation is high quality.

The test is empirical and specific to you: search your category and see whether the people you want to reach are posting this month. Not whether the accounts exist — whether they are active.

Founder and expert presence

A named person with a point of view still travels here, helped by the reply mechanic. For founder-led businesses in the communities above, this can be the highest-leverage personal channel available.

Note what that implies: X rewards individuals more than brands, more sharply than LinkedIn does. A brand account posting announcements is close to worthless.

Customer support

Public, fast, visible. Still a real use case, and the one most likely to survive a decision to stop marketing there.

What it is bad at now

Broad brand reach, link-driven traffic, and anything requiring predictable brand-safe adjacency. If your plan depends on any of those, the channel is fighting you.

How to run it, if you do

• Post frequently and cheaply; nothing here should be expensive to make.
• Spend more time replying than posting.
• Put the value in the post, not behind a link.
• Use a person, not a logo.

What trips people up

• Running it as a broadcast channel and measuring impressions.
• Keeping it out of habit without checking whether the audience is active.
• Abandoning it while your competitors' customers are still asking questions there.

You have got this when

You can name the one job X does for you that another channel would do worse.