X has announced that it will shut down its Communities feature later this May. The update was shared by Nikita Bier, who explained the reasons behind the decision and what users can expect next.
Communities were originally introduced before Elon Musk acquired Twitter and rebranded it as X. The feature allowed users to create and join public groups based on specific interests. These groups had their own feeds. This makes it easier to follow content related to a particular topic without distractions.
However, the feature never gained the level of adoption the company expected.
According to Bier, less than 0.4 percent of users actively used Communities. Despite this low usage, the feature was responsible for a large share of problems on the platform. He revealed that Communities contributed to around 80 percent of spam reports, financial scams, and malware cases on X.
Bier also said that maintaining the feature required significant effort from the product team. At times, it took up nearly half of the team’s time, which affects the development of other parts of the platform.
While some users did use Communities to connect over niche topics, many of the most active groups were not aligned with the original purpose. Bier noted that several groups were being used for user acquisition or promotional activities rather than genuine discussions.
X is now shifting its focus to other ways of building and managing groups. The company is promoting its new chat-based approach through XChat. This feature allows users to create group chats that can be joined using public links. These links can be shared directly on the timeline, making it easier to invite people.
Currently, XChat supports up to 350 members in a group chat. The company plans to increase this limit to 1,000 members in the future. To help users transition, moderators can pin group chat links inside their Communities. This will allow members to join chats before the feature is completely removed.
The shutdown of Communities will take place on May 30. This is an extension of the earlier planned deadline of May 6.
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