Navigating Twitter/X is not unlike walking through a junkyard and finding gems strewn about. In it, you can find current events, friends, humor, and some brilliant conversations among the Nazis, Antifa, bots, hatemongers, losers, and foreign op shops. It has been this way since Jack Dorsey first put Twitter.com up. We don't have to recap the history here; you probably already know it well.
But one of its highlights was the hiring of Nikita Bier to improve the user experience.
So it is sad to see this.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to pass the torch and demote myself to my natural state: a poster. I'll be stepping back from leading product for 𝕏 and will continue on as an advisor.
— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) August 5, 2026
Serving the X community has been the privilege of a lifetime. X is, and will remain, the most… pic.twitter.com/hHpnY30L6c
The rest of the post.
... important communication technology in history. But running this app is a 24/7 job and it's now time for me to take a breather.
The app is seeing unprecedented growth in new users & engagement. We continue to break records every month. We've climbed 70 spots in the App Store since this time last year.
And in the last 400 days, we rebuilt almost every aspect of X: the Timeline, the Android app, onboarding, notifications, chat and more.
We also launched nearly 30 new products while protecting the integrity of the town square: becoming the first app to show Country-of-Origin on profiles and mounting defenses against AI bots. There's certainly much more work to be done, but our foundation is stronger than ever.
None of this would have been possible without the incredible team here. The next leaders will take X to even greater heights with @benjitaylor on design, @singhai on core product engineering and @dinkin_flickaa on mobile engineering -- among many other great people.
Thank you to Elon and the X team for welcoming me into the company. See you on the Timeline.
Thanks for helping make this platform much better! You will be missed.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 5, 2026
He really did. We imagine keeping Twitter 'clean' is like trying to sweep the ash off your roof as Mount Vesuvius erupts in the distance. The constant battle to keep scammers, content aggregators, paid influencers, and other assorted vermin out while still trying to maximize engagement can't be easy. In fact, it's downright Sisyphean, like in cybersecurity, where every fix is met with countless attempts to circumvent it.
Displaying Country of Origin on profiles was a BRILLIANT idea. My favorite of your features.
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 5, 2026
Went a LONG way in weeding out foreign actors attempting to influence US politics.
Godspeed, Nikita.
Thank you for listening and making improvements for creators!
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) August 5, 2026
But Bier brought creative ideas and technologies to help.
Can you do something about the accounts that tell insane lies all the time but get away with it because they say "parody" in their bios? pic.twitter.com/vBVT2bUcEO
— Max 📟 (@MaxNordau) August 5, 2026
But as we said, it is about engagement, and let's face it, Twitter/X is a mirror of humanity. There are good people, smart people, and, sadly, real sh*t people.
The sendoff was appropriately funny given that this is Twitter / X.
Great. When can you start with us?
— The Mossad: Satirical and Awesome (@TheMossadIL) August 5, 2026
Daddy's home. pic.twitter.com/XCub7OOcKL
— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) August 6, 2026
Apparently there's a 'Bier' / boar connection, or there is an inside joke going on. Perhaps someone in the comments can explain it?
FAREWELL NIKITA pic.twitter.com/L5kMnUWbwN
— beeple (@beeple) August 6, 2026
Regardless, this is art.
a fitting end to the lore.
— Sourabh Ruchandani (@PhiloSourabh) August 6, 2026
thanks for the memories, nikita. pic.twitter.com/fzJFYWjVLd
As someone who spends too much time here, it makes me sad to see you go.
— Chris Bakke (@ChrisJBakke) August 5, 2026
You were the best to ever do it.
I lived a tiny fraction of the wild schedule and hours you've done over the last 400 days, and I hope you're able to get some rest.
That said, I've fully booked your…
It does look like he will both land on his feet and soar to ever higher heights. Godspeed Nikita!