“I have not enjoyed that app. It’s not very fun. It’s fun to watch out little highlights or lowlights, and that stuff is fun. The rest of it’s probably not great.” This is what Max Homa had to say a few weeks ago about his experience on X. The 34-year-old has had enough of the social media platform. Despite gaining a huge following after being active for years, he was done with the hate and criticism he was receiving. He expressed the same more recently as well.

Hours before the 2025 John Deere Classic, Homa sat down for a presser where he mentioned, “Twitter or X is an awful, awful place. It took me a while to catch onto how impactful that can be and how much of a waste of energy… it’s a safe haven for a**holes, for lack of a better term. Sorry, PGA Tour.” With nearly 700k followers on X, Homa was once a fan favorite on the social media channel. He used to be quite active and often engaged with his followers a few years ago. But he had finally had enough, and he had called out the netizens yesterday. Today, Homa was asked about his comments again after the end of the first round at TPC Deere Run. And he continued to show disdain towards the platform.

Responding to another reporter, Homa mentioned, “I think the further I’ve removed myself from Twitter, you stop thinking about it so much. I think that’s what I was getting at yesterday is it’s draining, it’s probably in the back of my mind, and I just wouldn’t — I just — there is just no point to give any attention to that. Like I said, my friends and family, a lot of strangers out here, and any week on the road are so kind. It is a lot smarter to surround yourself with real people than whatever that is on the internet.” 

Homa seems to be over trying to maintain a social persona. And he is focusing on interacting with real people instead of alter egos on the internet. Surprised by his reaction, another golfer/social media celebrity, Michael Kim, was asked about Homa’s statements. During his presser following the first 18 holes, a reporter asked Kim to react to the 6-time PGA Tour winner’s comments. He replied, “I mean, he has a much bigger following than I do, so that means he gets way more the bad stuff than I do. I have a feeling that he’ll come back at some point, but I think everyone needs a break off social media once in a while. I think it’s probably better for his mental health for him to take some time off.”

While understanding what Homa is going through, Kim seemed more hopeful than critical of the situation. He believes that it’s hard to cope with the pressure of managing a social media account when you’re famous. But he also thinks that the 34-year-old is just taking a break from the tweets and will be back posting after a short break. That’s what prompted one of the reporters to ask him if he had faced any negative comments. Kim replied, “I mean, everyone has it, I feel like. Whether it’s the daily Fantasy crew that gets mad at me that I play bad, or even someone like the LIV paid guys that will tweet at me. But before, I used to kind of just look away. Now I just block them, and it’s just a much better way after that.”

After months of dealing with the negative comments, it seems that Kim has found the appropriate way to block out the negativity from X. And that’s by literally blocking the profiles that post them. The drastic steps he takes surprised the reporters as well as one of them questioned, “That’s how you deal with it, you just block it? You don’t get into any back and forth?” Kim replied, “Yeah, I used to. I just realized, might as well just yell at a wall. So, yeah,” suggesting that there is no point in fighting a losing battle.

But not all is bad on X for Michael. As he also mentioned, “I really enjoy the relationship I have on Twitter with my followers, but at the end of the day it’s the real friends and family that have been with me for a long time that I cherish way more,” while drawing parallels with real relationships. It’s clear where Kim’s priorities lie, but he still loves indulging in parasocial relationships with his followers. Whether it’s Q&A sessions during delayed flights or performance reviews post rounds, it’s evident that Michael Kim is all in on his pursuit to gain more fame on X.

However, there is a big difference between the way the fans interact with Max Homa and Michael Kim. And that might be based on their perception of either of the players.

Why might Michael Kim find more success on social media than Max Homa?

Self-admittedly, Michael Kim took inspiration from Max Homa for his social media tactics. When he was asked what drove him to X, the 1-time PGA Tour champion confessed, “I got bored, for one. When I was on the Korn Ferry TOUR a few years back, yeah, really saw the following that Max had made and just wanted to try it out and see what happened. So far it’s been great.” Much of the tweeting approach is reminiscent of what Homa used to write when he was a regular. But there is one thing that separates the two in the eyes of the fans.

While they may have gained fame on social media, both of them a perceived quite differently on the course. Fans have higher expectations from Homa, having seen him dominate packed fields in the past. Kim, on the other hand, has enjoyed a relatively modest career. There is no doubt he has found success as well, winning the 2018 John Deere Classic. The Seoul-born golfer has also had a few high-ranked finishes in 2025, including the runner-up at the WM Phoenix Open. But the fact is, Max Homa’s winless run has always received a lot more spotlight than many of his peers and Michael Kim can enjoy sliding under the radar while still delivering on the course and X.