Soulja Boy has announced he plans on launching his own social media platform, as he joins the growing list of celebrities leaving Twitter since Elon Musk acquired the app.
Earlier this week, the “Crank That” rapper shared his frustrations with all the changes Musk has made to Twitter ever since he purchased the social media platform for $44bn.
“Bro leave twitter alone @elonmusk wtf are you doing,” Soulja Boy tweeted on 11 November.
“Wow… I can’t believe this. F**k it I’m going to create my own app,” he wrote in a separate tweet.
The 32-year-old rapper bid farewell to the app with one final tweet, which included a peace sign emoji. “Bye twitter,” he said. “Catch me on Instagram until my app launches”.
The “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” singer also criticised the app’s new Twitter Blue feature, which allows users to pay $8 a month for a blue checkmark verification added to their profile.
“Now u can just pay to be verified?” he tweeted, before leaving the app. “Twitter has been destroyed.”
Soulja Boy’s Twitter exodus comes as many celebrities have decided to leave the social media platform. Whoopi Goldberg, Shonda Rhimes, Sara Bareilles, Toni Braxton, Jameela Jamil, and Gigi Hadid have all announced their exit from Twitter, while simultaneously calling out the “hate speech” they’ve witnessed on the app.
“I’m shocked and appalled at some of the ‘free speech’ I’ve seen on this platform since its acquisition,” read singer Toni Braxton’s last tweet. “Hate speech under the veil of ‘free speech’ is unacceptable; therefore I am choosing to stay off Twitter as it is no longer a safe space for myself, my sons and other POC.”
Model Gigi Hadid wrote on her Instagram story that she deactivated her Twitter account, calling the app a “cesspool of hate and bigotry”.
“I deactivated my Twitter account today,” she said. “For a long time, but especially with its new leadership, it’s becoming more and more of a cesspool of hate and bigotry, and it’s not a place I want to be a part of. Only sorry to the fans, who I’ve loved connecting with for a decade on Twitter, but I can’t say it’s a safe place for anyone, nor a social platform that will do more good than harm.”
Ever since Elon Musk finalised his $44bn purchase of Twitter last month, the Tesla founder has introduced several changes to the social media platform. Those changes have included a number of new features which were later rolled back, as well as firing top Twitter executives and hundreds of layoffs.
