The number of users of social network X (formerly Twitter) has slowed sharply after two major events directly related to it: its purchase by Elon Musk and the launch of rival microblogging platform Threads from Meta. According to one of the previously unpublished X documents, the number of daily active users of X in the second quarter of 2024 was 251 million, which is only 1.6% more than a year earlier.
This is an extremely low figure because in the years leading up to Musk’s purchase and privatization of Twitter, the social network demonstrated double-digit growth rates. The new owner was perceived ambiguously by the public and the community of the subsequently renamed X platform – partly due to his commitment to “absolute freedom of speech” and the decision to significantly reduce the staff of moderators, as a result of which the social network lost many advertisers. Musk’s critics said the atmosphere at X had become unpleasant, and he admitted that “drastic action” was needed to stem the financial losses.
Rise of Competitors
The number of competitors of the social network is also growing. Meta launched rival microblogging platform Threads a year ago in a bid to challenge X, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said had grown to 175 million monthly active users. This is comparable to the 600 million monthly users that X has. However, the number of daily active users of Threads is only 38 million, indicating the platform is used less frequently than other popular social networks.
In the first days after its launch, Threads experienced a surge of interest: in less than a week, 100 million people registered on the platform. But after that, the performance dropped sharply – in February, Zuckerberg admitted that Meta was simply not ready for such success. But after an initial decline, Threads’ numbers have shown steady growth since last fall. This was facilitated, in particular, by the launch of the platform in the EU in December and the appearance of popular singer Taylor Swift on it in April. Until now, two-thirds of Threads’ traffic is provided by the mechanism for promoting posts on its sister platform, Instagram, notes NIXSOLUTIONS. Meta deployed a staff of moderators and committed itself not to support the dissemination of news and political materials on the site.
Current Landscape and Future Updates
Meanwhile, a recent UK survey found that 17% of UK adults use X as a news source. At the same time, during the national election campaigns in the UK, USA, and France, activity on the platform decreased, according to Similarweb statistics. X itself rejected this data, saying that the number of monthly active users in the UK and US increased from August 2023 to June 2024 but did not provide specific indicators.
We’ll keep you updated as the situation develops, providing the latest insights and statistics on the growth and challenges faced by social network X amidst rising competition.