D.C.-based has lost interest in Twitter.
鈥淗ey Twitter! We鈥檙e moving the party over to Instagram. Follow and message us there,鈥� Founding Farmers posted on Twitter July 3.
Hey Twitter! We’re moving the party over to Instagram. Follow and message us there
鈥� Founding Farmers (@FoundingFarmers)
Co-owner Dan Simons makes no connection between the decision and any changes Elon Musk has made to the Twitterverse since he bought the company.
鈥淔rom a business perspective, I don鈥檛 get much engagement on Twitter, and it attracts so many haters to any topic that does seem to have traction,鈥� Simons said.
It is also a personal decision. Simons cited the need to stop focusing on degrading content and to stop being immersed in the 24-hour news cycle.
Founding Farmers has about 9,300 followers on Twitter, and, until this past weekend, posted frequently, sometimes daily. It has more than 30,000 followers on Instagram, where it also posts content frequently.
Other local restaurateurs have thoughts about Twitter.
鈥淲e鈥檝e never been on Twitter, even before the Elon-ification and subsequent meltdowns. It never seemed a great marketing tool for our businesses,鈥� said Nick Freshman, owner of , whose restaurants include Spider Kelly鈥檚 and The Freshman.
Mothersauce Partners has active Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Geoff Tracy, whose restaurants include and , has staff who manage the restaurants鈥� Twitter accounts, but he personally manages a separate .
鈥淚 tend to keep it a mix of personal (golf, family, bacon), polls and et cetera. I still like Twitter. I鈥檓 a big believer in tweeting love and happiness. I鈥檓 not sure either Twitter or Instagram are great at putting 鈥榖utts in seats,鈥� but they are super cheap platforms,鈥� Tracy said.
Mark Bucher, co-owner of and founder of , uses both Twitter and Instagram with no complaints, though he says they aren鈥檛 interchangeable social media platforms.
鈥淲e aren鈥檛 leaving a platform. We just use them for different purposes. They are two very different platforms for two very different purposes,鈥� he said.
Farmers Restaurant Group is majority owned by farmers groups, including the North Dakota Farmers Union, and operates six locations in the D.C. metro area and one in the Philadelphia area, with plans for an eighth opening next year in Arlington鈥檚 Potomac Yard.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of locations Farmers Restaurant Group operates in the D.C. area. The story has been updated.聽
