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Lush quits social media in UK

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British cosmetics firm Lush is closing several of its UK social media accounts this week.

Announcing the news on Twitter, it said it was "tired of fighting with algorithms" and did not want to "pay to appear" in newsfeeds.

The firm, which sells fragrant handmade soaps, bath bombs and other body products, asked customers to contact it by email, phone, or via its website.

LushUK has 202,000 Twitter followers and 569,000 on Instagram.

More than 423,000 have liked the page on Facebook.

That account name will close on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram along with Lush Kitchen, Lush Times, Lush Life, Soapbox and Gorilla.

"We don't want to limit ourselves to holding conversations in one place, we want social to be placed back in the hands of our communities - from our founders to our friends," it said in a statement.

However, Lush North America tweeted that its channels would remain in operation.

The firm said it was "cutting out the middleman between ourselves and the Lush community".

It also hinted that it would be trying a new social approach - and it suggested a hashtag for those wishing to chat with it.

Mike Blake-Crawford from marketing agency Social Chain said the hashtag hinted at "more work with influencers".

"The challenge for me is how they adequately capitalise on this conversation without a centralised social media 'home' for their products and campaigns," he said.

Other marketers expressed surprise at the move.

Beauty and fashion blogger Leah tweeted that she could not "fathom" why Lush was shutting down an Instagram account with 568,000 followers.

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In 2018 Lush suspended an ad campaign following a storm of criticism on social media.

The campaign related to a public inquiry into claims of wrongdoing by undercover officers who infiltrated activist groups in England and Wales.

Last year British pub chain Wetherspoons removed itself from social media, citing concerns about personal data misuse and the addictive nature of the platforms.

It had a relatively small community of 100,000 Facebook followers and 6,000 on Instagram.