X's Decision to Remove Communities Feature Sparks Massive Creator Backlash
The social media platform X has announced it will be removing its Communities feature, a decision that has triggered a significant and immediate backlash from the streaming and creator community. Some of the platform's most prominent creators, including IShowSpeed, xQc, KSI, and Clix, have publicly criticized the move, arguing it eliminates a vital tool for direct audience engagement.
Creators Voice Strong Opposition to Feature Deprecation
The announcement was made by Nikita Bier, Head of Product at X, who outlined two simultaneous changes to the platform's group organization tools. XChat is receiving an update that will support joinable links for group chats, allowing creators to share public links directly on their timelines, with an initial support for up to 350 members per chat. Concurrently, X Communities, the dedicated feature enabling creators to build large, organized audience hubs, will be deprecated on May 6. Bier cited "declining usage" as the primary reason for this decision.
The reaction from creators was swift and largely unified in opposition. IShowSpeed, who maintains a community of over 100,000 members on X, offered a rare critique of the platform's direction. He wrote, "I personally don't think this is a good idea. I have a community with over 100k in there and it allows me to talk with my community. You shouldn't do this." He further emphasized, "It's not usual I speak on changes on the app but this is not a good move seriously."
KSI was equally direct in his response, stating, "Legit such a terrible decision. I look at my community daily! Losing that access to my audience is devastating." xQc targeted both the removal and the proposed replacement, commenting, "Don't remove it, I need this. Also, it's a good product, the new product, no one will use." Fortnite professional player and streamer Clix highlighted the frustration many creators felt regarding the 350-member cap on the new group chats, tweeting, "Tf is this decision, how am I gonna put my community in a 350 person groupchat."
X Delays Decision and Increases Group Chat Capacity
Following the intense response from streamers and creators, X decided to delay the deprecation of the Communities feature and also increase the capacity of the replacement group chats. Nikita Bier provided an update, stating, "We've heard you. To give sufficient time to migrate: You'll have until May 30th to transition to XChat. We'll also increase groupchat limits to 500 members tomorrow and aim to reach 1000 in the next couple weeks. This should cover all but a handful of communities on X."
This adjustment means creators now have until May 30 to transition their communities, with the promise of expanded group chat capacities that aim to accommodate larger audiences. The initial limit of 350 members was a key point of contention, as many creators, like IShowSpeed, manage communities with tens or hundreds of thousands of members. The increase to 500 members immediately and a goal of 1000 in the coming weeks is intended to address these concerns, though it may still fall short for the largest communities.
The backlash underscores the importance creators place on direct communication channels with their fan bases. Communities on X have served as a centralized hub for updates, discussions, and engagement, which many argue cannot be fully replicated by standard group chats, even with increased member limits. The delay and capacity adjustments represent a partial concession by X in response to the unified pushback from its top content creators.
