X (formerly known as Twitter) may have a reputation for sparking (and pouring oil onto) internet flame wars, but it was actually a pretty good place to go for customer support. Not from X directly, but as a way to reach companies and get help with their products or services. You could send a @-reply or fire off a direct message—either worked. Sometimes the aid was even better through X than standard channels like email, phone, or live chat.
But a lot’s happened since Elon Musk bought X back in 2022. Much has changed in the course of a year, both online and offline. The site’s new name is just the tip of the iceberg. Amid big policy revamps, some companies have left the platform altogether. Others have scaled back, partially in response to economic uncertainty. Apple’s shuttering of its social media support team (which included assistance over X) is just the latest casualty.
And while that sucks—firing off a tweet (now post) is faster and less stressful than endless rounds of email, long phone wait times, or pleading with a chat bot to just connect you with a human agent—there’s fortunately an alternative to Twitter. It’s one I’ve come to view as sometimes superior, even.
It’s Reddit.
If you’re not yet a Reddit user, think of it as a set of supercharged forums. Each subreddit covers a particular topic, with a format for posts and comments that makes it easier to skim through the conversations. (Seriously, threaded replies are so helpful.)
So while not many companies are on Reddit yet (alas), the ones that are make learning how the site works well worth the effort. Customer service reps act more empowered, and they generally address your issue directly from the get-go. No need to go through rounds of following a soul-numbing script. And, bonus: Other users on the subreddit have often gone through similar issues. Not only can you read posts about their problems, but your fellow Redditors will sometimes jump in to comment on a post with advice faster than customer support will. They may even come to your aid and push back on a customer rep who isn’t quite on their game that day.
And surprisingly, the businesses you can find on Reddit include ones with reputations for bad customer service. Take Comcast, for example. Earlier this year, using their live chat to ask about faster upload speeds in the San Francisco Bay Area was no better than reading one of the company’s press releases—I got the same shallow information with no further insight. However, on Reddit I found more inside perspective in several forum posts, and that information helped start me further ahead in the conversation when I posted a question and chatted with the company rep who answered.
(Tip: If you have to search on Reddit, don’t use the site’s internal search engine. Head to Google and type “<search phrase or question> Reddit.”)
It’s also a great place to hit up when you’re dealing with companies that run leaner on customer support, like cheap cell phone services (MVNOs). You can direct message Red Pocket’s team through Reddit, for example, and they’re often better at fixing problems than the phone line or live chat. US Mobile has an incredibly active support team in its subreddit, too—and CEO Ahmed Khattak can actually be regularly found in the comments to boot. AMD team members often chime in on that subreddit, too.
The lesson here: When one social media site melts down, that’s when the universe is telling you to find another in order to get the help you need.
But not Facebook. That’s just a burning wasteland. That’s been my experience in recent years, anyway.
